Approximate analysis for relative motion of satellite formation flying in elliptical orbits (Q880947)

The authors study the relative motion of satellite formation flying in elliptic orbits without perturbation using the spherical triangle formed by the projections of two trajectories on the sphere and by the celestial equator. The dimensionless distance is defined as the ratio of maximal distance between two satellites to the semi-major axis of the leader satellite. In close formations the dimensionless distance as well as some vertex angles and arc-distances of the spherical angle are small quantities. Then, as an example, the authors study the periodicity condition of the relative motion by expanding the semi-major axis of the follower as Taylor series around that of the leader.