A Comparative Study of the Calculation of

Partial Derivatives in Space Dynamics

H. G. WALTER
Astronomisches Rechen-Institut
Heidelberg, Fed. Rep. of Germany

Abstract
In the rigorous treatment of the partial derivatives
of the instantaneous state vector of a spacecraft with
respect to the initial state vector the pertinent vari-
ational equations are usually integrated numerically.
Since the procedure is a laborious one, its optimiza-
tion is desirable. It is to be expected that a broader
knowledge of the mathematical aspects of the variation-
al equations is remunerated by an improved computation-
al efficiency.

The means for making the integration of the equations

faster and more accurate in applications to orbit de-
termination and error analysis are elaborated and com-
pared in relation to the choice of coordinates and in-
dependent variables, and the types of spacecraft orbits.
Starting with the classical form of the variational
equations and the utilization of regularized coordin-
Baker method of solving a system of linear differential
equation and the utilization of regularized coordin-
ates for the calculus of partial derivatives are in-
vestigated. Several case studies lead to distinctive
results in terms of time consumption and accuracy.

Introduction
While orbit computation of natural and artificial ce-
lestial bodies has regularly attracted the mathemati-
cians and has become the driving force behind the de-
velopment of sophisticated numerical and analytical
theories, only sparse attention has been given to the
calculation of the concomitant partial derivatives.
They play, however, an important role in the deter-
mination of orbits, in error estimation, navigation
and trajectory optimization. Whenever the state tran-
sition or Jacobi matrix is wanted, its components, the
partial derivatives, must be procured as a function of
time.
G. E. O. Giacaglia et al. (eds.), Satellite Dynamics
© Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg 1975
 1~

Essentially, there are two conceivable approaches to

obtaining the partial derivatives:

1. The analytical formulation while mathematically

and computationally the most efficient means of cal-
culating partial derivatives, encounters the severe
limitation that the various perturbing accelerations
usually do not lend themselves to an analytic solution
analogous to the one established by Goodyear (1) for
the unperturbed two-body motion. A simplification of
the force model with the objective of attaining analy-
tic formulae entails unpredictable effects which im-
pair the accuracy of the results (Rice (2)).

2. The direct numerical integration of the variation-

al equations provides a mathematically rigorous solu-
tion and is readily applicable in the presence of an
open-ended variety of disturbing forces. Furthermore,
it includes the possibility of dealing with parameters
in addition to the components of the state vector such
as physical constants, by simply extending the system
of variational equations. This method, however, neces-
sitates the simultaneous integration of the equations
of motion and their variational equations and usually
requires high order formulae and small integration
steps, thus making the procedure time consuming.

The observations above gave rise to a comparative study

of the efficiency of several procedures leading to the
components of the transition matrix by numerical inte-
gration of the variational equations. Hereby emphasis
is placed on their mathematical treatment in terms of
regularized coordinates, choice of independent variables
and factorization of state transition partials, rather
than on the expediency of any of the customary inte-
gration techniques.