Kepler’s law

and
Orbital Parameters
 1. Kepler's First Law
•Keplars Laws applies to any 2 bodies in space which interact through gravity

 Kepler's first law states that the satellite will follow an elliptical path in its
orbit around the primary body.
 The center of mass of the two-body system barycenter is always
centered on one of the foci
 Due to the enormous difference between the masses of the earth and the,
satellite, the center of mass always coincides with the center of the earth,
which is therefore always on one of the foci .
 An ellipse has two focal points and eccentricity e=(a2-b2) 1/2/(a)
 2. Kepler's Second Law
 Kepler's second law states
that for equal time intervals
the satellite sweeps out
equal areas in the orbital
plane, focused at the
barycenter
 Assuming that the satellite
travels distances s1 and s2
meters in 1 s, the areas A1
and A2 will be equal.
 Let average velocities be vs1
& vs2 m/s
 Due to equal area law,
velocity vs1 > vs2
 velocity is greatest at – perigee (min distance point from earth)
 velocity is least at the – apogee (max distance point from earth)

 Line of Apisides : Line joining apogee and perigee

 3. Kepler's Third Law
 Kepler's third law : states that the square of the periodic time of orbit is
proportional to the cube of the mean distance between the two bodies .
P2 α r3 OR
n2= /r3
where  = GM = earths geocentric gravitational constant
G=gravitational constant equal to 6.672x10-11 m3 Kg-1 s-2
M= mass of the earth equal to 5974x1024 Kg.
 = GM= 3.986x1014 m3/s2
n=mean motion of satellite in radians/s
 Orbital period P = 2  /n Hence n2 = 4  2 /P2
 Substituting 4  2 /P2 = /r3
r3 4  2 =  P2
P2 =(4  2 /  ) r3
Orbital
parameters

c=ae

• True anamoly ( ) is the +ve angle oriented according to the velocity

vector of the spacecraft, between the earth’s center to the satellite axis
and the earth’s center to the perigee axis. It specifies the position of
satellite in the orbit.
 Orbital parameters

c=ae

•Eccentric anamoly (E) is the central angle measured from the X axis to
the vertical projection of the satellite point over a circle of radius ‘a’. 
and E are related by the expressions
cos E = (e + cos  )/(1+e cos  )
cos  = (e- cos E)/ (e cos E -1)
tan ( /2) = [(1+e)/(1-e)]1/2 tan(E/2)
 Orbital parameters
•A satellites movement in an orbit
follows 3 Kepler’s laws:
•1st law: satellite moves along a
conic on the orbit plane (elliptical
orbit) defined by equation
r = p/ (1+ e cos  )

P= a locus parameter
 = central angle (True anomaly) c=ae

E= Eccentric anamoly
e = eccentricity , determines the
type of conic.

0 circle
e= <1 ellipse
=1 parabola
>1 hyperbola
 Orbital parameters
•The orbital period is given by the expression
T=2 a3/ 

where a = Semi-major axis

 = GM G=gravitational const equal to 6.672x10-11 m3 Kg-1 s-2
M= mass of the earth equal to 5974x1024 Kg.
 = GM= 3.986x1014 m3/s2
•Satellite velocity for circular orbit Vs=  /a where a= radius
•Satellite velocity for orbital point s in terms of r (distance to center of
earth) is given by

Vs2 = 2  /r -  /a
 Orbital parameters

B
O A
c=ae

Defining the co ordinates of the Satellite

x=r cos  = OB – OA = a cos E - ae = a (cos E - e)
y= r sin  = S’B – SS’ = a sin E (1 – e2)1/2
Eccentricity e=c/a= (ra –a)/a now a=(ra +rp)/2
= (ra – (ra +rp) /2) / {(ra + rp) /2}
=(ra – rp) / (ra + rp)
 Orbital parameters

c=ae

Semi-major axis a = (ra + rp) / 2

Apogee distance ra = a+c = a(1 + e)
Perigee distance rp = a – c = a(1 – e)
Locus parameter p = a(1 – e2)=a[(ra + rp)2 – (ra – rp)2 ]/(ra – rp)2
= (ra + rp) / 2 x [ 4rarp / (ra + rp)2 ]
= 2 ra rp / (ra + rp)
Semi-minor axis b = a (1 – e2)1/2
= (ra rp)1/2
 Orbital parameters
•A synchronous satellite has T = n x { the sidereal period of
rotation of its primary body (Tp ) }
• 1 sidereal day is defined as rotation of earth relative to the fixed
stars.
•For the earth Tp is not 24 hrs (called synodal period) because in
one day the earth both rotates once around its polar axis & also
completes 1/36524 of the annual earth orbit.
•T= Tp = {1 – 1/36524} x 24 h
• = 8616344 s
• = 23 Hrs 56’ 4’’
•If T = nTp , n=2,3,4 the satellite is called super-synchronous
• n<1 then it is called sub synchronous
Satellite Location with Respect to the Earth
Basic Concepts :
 O is center of gravity.
 Z axis coincides with the polar axis (N-S).
Inclined orbit  X-Y plane is called equatorial plane.
 i = angle of inclination
where , 0º<i<180º , in degrees.

Equatorial orbit
Satellite Orbits :
When, i = 0º,the orbit is an equatorial
orbit .
When, i = 90º, the orbit is a polar orbit
 When, 0º<i<180º it is an inclined orbit.
 When, i < 90º it is a direct orbit.
When, i > 90º, orbit is a retrograde
orbit
 Nodes :
 These are points at which the orbit of the
satellite cuts the equatorial plane.
perigee
 Ascending node : satellite moves
upwards through equatorial plane.
 Descending node : satellite moves
downwards through equatorial plane.
Parameters for Satellite Orbit Location :
1. Angular distance measured eastward in E.P.

from the x axis is called right ascension (RA)
.
RA of ascending node= Ω which gives the
longitude of the ascending node
2. ω = Angle measured along the orbit from
the ascending node to the perigee.
ω is also called the argument of perigee.

Thus 6 parameters i = Inclination angle a = Semi Major axis

e = Ecentricity Ω = RA of ascending node
ω = argument of perigee and  = true anomoly
defines motion of the satellite in its orbit
 Variations in Satellite Orbit :

Moon

5°
Satellite

23°

7.3°
Sun’s
Earth
Eq. plane
It is due to,
 Non uniform distribution of masses of earth’s surface, thus, at lower altitude,
satellite is affected by the change of the gravity of the earth.
 The effect of Lunar & Solar gravitational forces , thus, at higher altitudes, satellite
is affected by the gravitational forces.
This results into variation in the satellite orbit called Secular variation
 Variations in Satellite Orbit :
Secular variations are of 2 types:
a) Nodal Regression  rotation of the orbit
plane in the direction opposite to the satellite
motion around the axis of rotation of the
earth.
b) Rotation of the lines of the apisidesrotation
of the ellipse major axis around the center
of the earth on a fixed orbit plane.
 These effects causes a change of the satellite
inclination by 1º per year for geostationary
satellite
 The inclination causes the satellite to move in
the form of figure of 8, which gives the
corresponding amount of drift in distance (km)
in latitude & longitude of satellite.
 An Inclination of 1º cause drift of satellite
around 3.23 kms in longitude and
735.9 kms in latitude.
 Look Angles

El North

Projection of path on Az
East
Local horz plane
Look Angles are angles , to which an Earth’s Station antenna , must be oriented / pointed to
a geosynchronous satellite, for communication
These angles are:
 Azimuth Angle (A): is the angle by which the antenna, pointing at the horizon, must be
rotated clockwise around it’s vertical axis, from geographical north, to bring the
antenna boresight into the vertical plane containing the satellite direction.
Value of azimuth angle is between 0º and 360º
 Elevation Angle (E): is the angle by which the antena boresight must be rotated in the
vertical plane that contains the satellite direction from the horizontal to the satellite
direction.
 Look angles
The Look angles are calculated based on the location of earth station.
Procedure to calculate Azimuth angle (A) From the cart we get the value of γ and
substituting in the table to get A or calculate the value of γ using the
formula γ = arc tg (tg θ / sin φ)
True Earth’s
Azimuth Station
Quadrant

A= 180º - γ NW
A=180º + γ SW
A =γ SE
A=360º - γ NE
 Look angles
Elevation angle E
It can be directly computed from the chart
or
Calculated from the formula given below.
E=arc tg [cos θ cos φ – {Re/(Re+Ro)}]
[1- (cos θ cos φ)2)]1/2
Where Re is the earth radius = 6378 km
Ro is satellite radius = 35786 km
Earth station Longitude φ
Polarization Angles (ψ): is the angle between the polarization plane of a linear polarized
wave transmitted by the satellite and the polarization of the earth station antenna.
Calculation of angle ψ
a)Angle ψ may be calculated from the chart or
b)From the formula tg Ψ = sin θ/ tg φ
 Summary
• Orbital parameters – elliptical orbit
• Satellite location w.r.t earth : 6 parameters
i = Inclination angle a = Semi Major axis
e = Ecentricity Ω = RA of ascending node
ω = argument of perigee and  = true anomoly
defines motion of the satellite in its orbit
• Variation in satellite orbit
• Look angles : Earth station w.r.t satellite