GEOM 315: SATELLITE GEODESY

Presented By

Basant Awasthi
basant.awasthi@ku.edu.np
2
 According to the law of conservation of energy, the total energy of a system is
always constant.
 Simply it states that the initial amount of total mechanical energy of a system plus
the work done by external forces (Wext) on that system is equal to the final amount
of total mechanical energy of the system.
 The mechanical energy can be either in the form of potential energy (energy of
position - usually vertical height) or kinetic energy (energy of motion). The work-
energy theorem is expressed in equation form as;

𝐾𝐸𝑖 + 𝑃𝐸𝑖 + 𝑊𝑒𝑥𝑡 = 𝐾𝐸𝑓 + 𝑃𝐸𝑓

3
 The 𝑊𝑒𝑥𝑡 term in this equation is representative of the amount of work done by
external forces.
 For satellites, the only force is gravity then 𝑊𝑒𝑥𝑡 term is zero. The equation can then
be simplified to the following form.

𝐾𝐸𝑖 + 𝑃𝐸𝑖 = 𝐾𝐸𝑓 + 𝑃𝐸𝑓 (1)

In such a situation as this, we often say that the total mechanical energy of the system
is conserved. That is, the sum of kinetic and potential energies is unchanging.
While energy can be transformed from kinetic energy into potential energy, the total
amount remains the same - mechanical energy is conserved.
As a satellite orbits earth, its total mechanical energy remains the same. Whether in
circular or elliptical motion, there are no external forces capable of altering its total
energy.

4
 The potential energy for a satellite of mass m in a planetary gravitational field is
𝐺𝑀𝑚 𝜇𝑚
𝐸𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 = − 𝑟 = − 𝑟 (2)

where m is the mass of the planet and 𝜇 = 𝐺𝑀.

The kinetic energy is:
1 2
𝐸𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐 = 𝑚𝑣 (3)
2
Where 𝑣 is the speed of satellite.
Now, if 𝑟𝑝 and 𝑣𝑝 are the position and speed of the satellite at perigee, and if 𝑟𝑎 and 𝑣𝑎
are the position and speed at apogee of the orbit, then from law of conservation of
total energy,
1 2 𝜇𝑚 1 2 𝜇𝑚
𝑚𝑣𝑝 − = 𝑚𝑣𝑎 − 𝑟 (4)
2 𝑟𝑝 2 𝑎

Cancelling out the common factor of 𝑚.

1 2 𝜇 1 2 𝜇
𝑣 − = 𝑣 − (5)
2 𝑝 𝑟𝑝 2 𝑎 𝑟𝑎

5
 From the conservation of angular momentum,
𝐴𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚 𝐿 = 𝑚𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑅𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝑚𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑚𝑣𝑅
Or the specific angular momentum, we obtain;
𝑟𝑝 𝑣𝑝 = 𝑟𝑎 𝑣𝑎 = h = constant
Thus,
𝑟𝑎 𝑣𝑎
𝑣𝑝 =
𝑟𝑝
Now, substituting the value of 𝑣𝑝 in equation (5), we get,
1 𝑟𝑎2 𝑣𝑎2 𝜇 1 2 𝜇
− = 𝑣𝑎 −
2 𝑟𝑝2 𝑟𝑝 2 𝑟𝑎

1 𝑟𝑎2 2
1 1
− 1 𝑣𝑎 = 𝜇 −
2 𝑟𝑝2 𝑟𝑝 𝑟𝑎

1 𝑟𝑎2 − 𝑟𝑝2 2 𝑟𝑎 − 𝑟𝑝
2 𝑣𝑎 = 𝜇
2 𝑟𝑝 𝑟𝑝 𝑟𝑎
6
 𝑟𝑎 − 𝑟𝑝 (𝑟𝑎 + 𝑟𝑝 ) 𝑟𝑎 − 𝑟𝑝 𝜇 𝑟𝑎
1 2 𝑣𝑎2 = 2−
𝑣𝑎 = 𝜇 𝑟𝑎 𝑎
2 𝑟𝑝2 𝑟𝑝 𝑟𝑎
2 1
𝑣𝑎2 = 𝜇 −
1 𝑟𝑎 + 𝑟𝑝 2 𝜇 𝑟𝑎 𝑎
𝑣𝑎 =
2 𝑟𝑝 𝑟𝑎 In general,

2 1
𝑃𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑎 + 𝑟𝑝 = 2𝑎 𝑣2 = 𝜇 −
𝑟 𝑎
We get, This equation is called the Vis-Viva Equation.
𝑎 𝜇
2
𝑣 = Where,
2𝑎 − 𝑟𝑎 𝑎 𝑟𝑎 𝑣 is the relative speed of the two bodies
𝑟 is the distance between the two bodies
𝜇 2𝑎 − 𝑟𝑎
𝑣𝑎2 = ∙ 𝑎 is the length of the semi-major axis
𝑟𝑎 𝑎 𝐺 is the gravitational constant
𝑀 is the mass of the central body
2
𝜇 𝑟𝑎
𝑣𝑎 = 2− 𝜇 = 𝐺𝑀 Standard Gravitational Parameter
𝑟𝑎 𝑎
7
Q. Find the maximum and minimum velocity of satellite in its elliptical orbit.
Hint:
𝑃 𝑎 1 − 𝑒2
𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛 = = =𝑎 1−𝑒
1+𝑒 1+𝑒

𝜇 1+𝑒
𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
𝑎 1−𝑒

𝑃 𝑎 1 − 𝑒2
𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑥 = = =𝑎 1+𝑒
1−𝑒 1−𝑒

𝜇 1−𝑒
𝑣𝑚𝑖𝑛 =
𝑎 1+𝑒

8
Q. The distances of the two points from the sun are 10𝐸13 and 10𝐸12 (AU)
respectively. Find the ratio of time periods and speeds of the planets in that orbit.
Hint:
𝑇∝ 𝑟3

1
𝑉∝
𝑟

Ans: 31.623, 0.3162

9
Q. A body is orbiting around the Earth at mean radius 16 times as great as the
parking orbit of the satellite. Find the time period of the revolution of a body.
Hint:
𝑇 2 ∝ 𝑎3

Parking orbit = geostationary orbit, T = 1 day.

Ans: 64 days

10
Q. Calculate the velocity of an artificial satellite orbiting the earth in a circular orbit
at an altitude of 150 miles above the earth's surface. Also calculate the period of
revolution for the satellite.

Hint:
𝜇
𝑣2 =
𝑟

𝜇 = 398600.4405 𝑘𝑚3 /𝑠 2

𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = 6371 𝑘𝑚

Ans: 7.764 km/s, 5348 sec

11
Q. A satellite in earth orbit passes through its perigee point at an altitude of 200 km
above the earth's surface and at a velocity of 7,850 m/s. Calculate the apogee
altitude of the satellite.
Hint:

2 1
2
𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 =𝜇 − a=?
𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑎

𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝑎 1 − 𝑒 e=?

𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑎(1 + 𝑒) ?

Ans: 411.764 km

12
Q. A Satellite is orbiting in an elliptical orbit with apogee height at 20000 Km and perigee
height at 400 Km. The ratio of velocity at perigee to that at apogee will be
A. 3.89
B. 7.07
C. 15.15
D. 2.56

Hint:
𝑟𝑝 = 6371 + 400 = 6771 𝑘𝑚
𝑟𝑎 = 6371 + 20000 = 26371 𝑘𝑚

𝑟𝑝 + 𝑟𝑎
𝑎= = 16571 𝑘𝑚
2
𝑣𝑝
= 3.89
𝑣𝑎

13
 TRANSIT
First Satellite Navigation System

14
Thank you for your attention.

Any Queries?

15