Comparison of numerical methods for the integration of natural satellite systems (Q1288684)

The paper deals with a new implementation of the recurrent power series (RPS) method developed for the integration of system of \(N\) satellites orbiting a point-mass planet. The authors show that this implementation is more efficient in comparison with previously known implementations. The method is also compared with the 10th-order Gauss-Jackson backward difference method and with the 17-stage Runge-Kutta-Nyström embedded method of order 12 (10). It appears that the new implementation of the RPS method is more than one order of magnitude better. This conclusion is deduced on the basis of various test problems with initial conditions obtained from ephemerids of the Saturnian satellite system. The results presented by the authors lean towards a presumption that the new implementation of the RPS method can be also applied in modelling other problems in celestial mechanics.