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Spaceflight Mechanics mid-course exam – 24/01/2022

❶ Spacecraft A is initially tracking a geocentric circular equatorial orbit with altitude hi = 500 km,
while spacecraft B is located on a geostationary orbit. At time t0 = 0, spacecraft A is inserted
into a transfer trajectory having eccentricity et = 0.8 with the aim of performing a rendezvous
biimpulsive maneuver with spacecraft B. The first impulse ∆vi is applied such that the true
anomaly of A on the transfer orbit just after the maneuver is ν0 = 45 deg. The rendezvous takes
place during the ascending phase of the transfer trajectory.

1. Calculate the total ∆v required by the whole rendezvous maneuver.

2. Calculate the time ∆t required by spacecraft A to perform the whole rendezvous maneuver.
3. Determine the angular separation ∆ϕ between A and B at the initial time t0 .

Consider now the orbit of spacecraft A and B after the rendezvous. In order to perform some
scientific operations, solar panels must be able to generate electric power.

4. Calculate the total time during a single revolution during which operations must stop due
to the lack of electric power (Hint: this corresponds to the eclipse period). Assume that
the operations take place at the equinox, and use a cylindrical shadow model.

Recall:

R⊕ = 6378 km (Earth’s radius) ; µ⊕ = 398600 km3 /s2 (Earth’s gravitational parameter)