4 ms·

Maybe there was a secondary thruster somewhere to provide some separation. I went back and recorded the release speed (km/hr), altitude (km) for each drop: 25

by cmsmith 11y ago

Maybe there was a secondary thruster somewhere to provide some separation. I went back and recorded the release speed (km/hr), altitude (km) for each drop: 25960 626 25954 627 25950 628 25944 630 25937 632 25935 632 A circular orbit at that height is about 29000 km around; 25 km/hour of difference between release 1 and 6 would give them a separation of 6 degrees longitude/day, or ~50 days until the faster satellites 'lap' the slowest one. Not any sort of rocket scientist, but I gather the strategy with these kind of LEO satellites is to just throw a pile of them up there semi-randomly, and count on at least one being in the neighborhood when you want to talk to it. edit: Last paragraph is wrong. See my comment two levels down for the answer.

jacquesm 11y ago
The satellites themselves usually have small thrusters but I'm not sure what kind of orbital change the can effect, usually they are there for detailed maneuvering and to boost the satellite to a slightly higher orbit as it decays. When it runs out of fuel it dies so you'd try to use as little of that as possible during launch.
- cmsmith 11y ago
  >A hydrazine propulsion system is installed on the spacecraft for orbit adjustment maneuvers and orbit maintenance providing a delta-v budget of more than 100 meters per second for each satellite. >Because OG2 satellites are launched in groups of several spacecraft, they require propulsion systems to place the satellite into different nodal planes to begin operations. There's the answer, courtesy Orbcomm.
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    Neat :) So they do their own placement. Nasty stuff, hydrazine. F16's use it as emergency fuel.
    - TeMPOraL 11y ago
      But you can use it to grow space potatoes! :).
      - JabavuAdams 11y ago
        After it chemically burns and then ignites you, yes.
- FeepingCreature 11y ago
  Even a small difference in orbits adds up over time. You don't need much fuel for orbital adjustments, as long as you're staying in the same plane. Say one satellite's orbit is a bit smaller. That means that, over time, they will naturally drift farther and farther apart, until they end up on different sides of the globe. At that point, just raise the smaller orbit slightly. Kerbal Space Program is really good for understanding stuff like this.
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    You just described the way I launched my first comms network constellation[0] - basically loaded a whole bunch of satellites on a single rocket and deployed them on slightly different orbits, so that they'll spread themselves out as the time goes. Only mid-launch I figured out I could just put three of them on Kerbisynchronous Equatorial Orbit at 120° phase difference :/. Yes, KSP is absolutely amazing for learning this stuff :). [0] - useful if you're playing with RemoteTech mod, which prevents you from operating unmanned spacecraft if they don't have a radio connection back to a proper command centre.
    - gchokov 11y ago
      is it this one? https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/en/ https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/en/
      - TeMPOraL 11y ago
        Yes.
mikeash 11y ago
You'll notice that the speed decreases as the altitude increases. That's not maneuvering, that's just an elliptical orbit. There is no actual speed or altitude difference between the various releases, that's just the whole group coasting slightly uphill. Separation will be done by maneuvering the satellites afterwards.

by cmsmith 11y ago

jacquesm 11y ago

The satellites themselves usually have small thrusters but I'm not sure what kind of orbital change the can effect, usually they are there for detailed maneuvering and to boost the satellite to a slightly higher orbit as it decays. When it runs out of fuel it dies so you'd try to use as little of that as possible during launch.

cmsmith 11y ago
>A hydrazine propulsion system is installed on the spacecraft for orbit adjustment maneuvers and orbit maintenance providing a delta-v budget of more than 100 meters per second for each satellite. >Because OG2 satellites are launched in groups of several spacecraft, they require propulsion systems to place the satellite into different nodal planes to begin operations. There's the answer, courtesy Orbcomm.
- jacquesm 11y ago
  Neat :) So they do their own placement. Nasty stuff, hydrazine. F16's use it as emergency fuel.
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    But you can use it to grow space potatoes! :).
    - JabavuAdams 11y ago
      After it chemically burns and then ignites you, yes.
FeepingCreature 11y ago
Even a small difference in orbits adds up over time. You don't need much fuel for orbital adjustments, as long as you're staying in the same plane. Say one satellite's orbit is a bit smaller. That means that, over time, they will naturally drift farther and farther apart, until they end up on different sides of the globe. At that point, just raise the smaller orbit slightly. Kerbal Space Program is really good for understanding stuff like this.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  You just described the way I launched my first comms network constellation[0] - basically loaded a whole bunch of satellites on a single rocket and deployed them on slightly different orbits, so that they'll spread themselves out as the time goes. Only mid-launch I figured out I could just put three of them on Kerbisynchronous Equatorial Orbit at 120° phase difference :/. Yes, KSP is absolutely amazing for learning this stuff :). [0] - useful if you're playing with RemoteTech mod, which prevents you from operating unmanned spacecraft if they don't have a radio connection back to a proper command centre.
  - gchokov 11y ago
    is it this one? https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/en/ https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/en/
    - TeMPOraL 11y ago
      Yes.

mikeash 11y ago

You'll notice that the speed decreases as the altitude increases. That's not maneuvering, that's just an elliptical orbit. There is no actual speed or altitude difference between the various releases, that's just the whole group coasting slightly uphill. Separation will be done by maneuvering the satellites afterwards.