<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The high-quality satellite orbits of geodetic satellites, which are determined using Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) observations, play a crucial role in providing, e.g., low-degree coefficients of the Earth's gravity field including geocenter coordinates, Earth rotation parameters, as well as the SLR station coordinates. The appropriate modeling of non-gravitational forces is essential for the orbit determination of artificial Earth satellites. The atmospheric drag is a dominating perturbing force for satellites at low altitudes up to about 700-1000 km. This article addresses the impact of the atmospheric drag on mean semi-major axes and orbital eccentricities of geodetic spherical satellites: Starlette, Stella, AJISAI, and LARES. Atmospheric drag causes the semi-major axis decays amounting to about ▲a = -1.2, -.12, -.14, and -.30 m/year for LARES, AJISAI, Starlette, and Stella, respectively. The density of the upper atmosphere strongly depends on the solar and geomagnetic activity. The atmospheric drag affects the along-track orbit component to the largest extent, and the out-of-plane to a small extent, whereas the radial component is almost unaffected by the atmospheric drag.</p></abstract>

The high-quality satellite orbits of geodetic satellites, which are determined using Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) observations, play a crucial role in providing, e.g., low-degree coefficients of the Earth's gravity field including geocenter coordinates, Earth rotation parameters, as well as the SLR station coordinates. The appropriate modeling of non-gravitational forces is essential for the orbit determination of artificial Earth satellites. The atmospheric drag is a dominating perturbing force for satellites at low altitudes up to about 700-1000 km. This article addresses the impact of the atmospheric drag on mean semi-major axes and orbital eccentricities of geodetic spherical satellites: Starlette, Stella, AJISAI, and LARES. Atmospheric drag causes the semi-major axis decays amounting to about ▲a = -1.2, -.12, -.14, and -.30 m/year for LARES, AJISAI, Starlette, and Stella, respectively. The density of the upper atmosphere strongly depends on the solar and geomagnetic activity. The atmospheric drag affects the along-track orbit component to the largest extent, and the out-of-plane to a small extent, whereas the radial component is almost unaffected by the atmospheric drag.

Impact of the Atmospheric Drag on Starlette, Stella, Ajisai, and Lares Orbits

Astronomical Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland,

Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformatics, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wroclaw, Poland

Artificial Satellites

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Impact of the Atmospheric Drag on Starlette, Stella, Ajisai, and Lares Orbits"}

The high-quality satellite orbits of geodetic satellites, which are determined using Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) observations, play a crucial role in...

Impact of the Atmospheric Drag on Starlette, Stella, Ajisai, and Lares Orbits

Published Online: Mar 01, 2015

Page range: 1 - 18

Received: Oct 20, 2014

Accepted: Mar 05, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/arsa-2015-0001

Keywords
Satellite Geodesy, Atmospheric Drag, SLR, Mean Orbital Elements

© 2015 Artificial Satellites

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Impact of the Atmospheric Drag on Starlette, Stella, Ajisai, and Lares Orbits

Published Online: Mar 01, 2015

Page range: 1 - 18

Received: Oct 20, 2014

Accepted: Mar 05, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/arsa-2015-0001

KeywordsSatellite Geodesy, Atmospheric Drag, SLR, Mean Orbital Elements

© 2015 Artificial Satellites

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Satellite Geodesy, Atmospheric Drag, SLR, Mean Orbital Elements