Critical solution for a Hill's type problem (Q1867249)

The motion of two satellites around a planet is studied through a Hill type model. The satellites are initially united in one body, which moves on a circular orbit around the planet and abruptly splits in two pieces. The mass of the satellites is considered much smaller than the mass of the planet, but no hierarchy in the masses of the satellites is assumed. The Levi-Civita regularization scheme is applied and it is shown that the critical solution corresponding to the circular orbit of the united satellites is a relative equilibrium. An integral of motion in the extended phase space is found and it is used for the reduction of the dimension of the system. The stability of the critical solution is studied and the existence of two families of almost periodic orbits, bifurcating from this solution is proved.