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My understanding is it’s on an offset elliptical orbit. This is essentially the farthest point away from earth with the other end of orbit being very close to E
by SkyPuncher 2y ago
My understanding is it’s on an offset elliptical orbit. This is essentially the farthest point away from earth with the other end of orbit being very close to Earth.
From a tactical perspective, that means this can interact with basically any other satellite.
- samplatt 2y agoWith a far point so far away from Earth it also means that it requires only tiny amounts of fuel for major orbit changes.
- justahuman74 2y agoMy orbital mechanics is (like most people) weak, is this intended as a generalized physical threat to other satellites?
- samplatt 2y agoIntended? I don't know, you'd have to ask NASA. Does it have that capability? Sure, if it can deploy arbitrary payloads on destination.
- kjkjadksj 2y agoIt has carried payloads before but little is known about its missions.
- everfrustrated 2y agoNot necessarily. These types of orbits also have the property that the perceived loiter time is different for the perigee and apogee. At perigee (closest to Earth) it will be moving very fast and so any changes to velocity will have a large impact (easily change orbit). While at apogee it will appear to sit in space and move quite slowly. As an example this is used for the Russian GPS system so their satellites can sit in high earth latitudes for longer needing fewer satellites to cover Russia.
- xattt 2y agoIsn’t GLONASS in geostationary orbit like NAVSTAR/GPS? This would be a fixed orbital distance from Earth. You may be thinking of highly-elliptical molniya/lightning orbits (1), which enabled state TV broadcasts for high-lat places in Siberia. (1) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molniya_orbit https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molniya_orbit
- rcxdude 2y agoGps isn't in geostationary orbit. They're in medium earth orbit and complete an orbit about twice a day
- inejge 2y agoAs an example this is used for the Russian GPS system so their satellites can sit in high earth latitudes for longer needing fewer satellites to cover Russia. It's used for communications satellites and is called the Molniya orbit[1]. Their GLONASS (positioning system) satellites use circular medium altitude orbits, but with a higher inclination (about 65 deg vs. GPS's 55 deg). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molniya_orbit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molniya_orbit
- Rebelgecko 2y agoIf you can easily adjust your orbit, it's easy to see lots of places on the earth, or tweak what time you will be over a part of the earth (eg if you want to look at something whose owners know to hide it when satellites are overhead)
- dredmorbius 2y agoAs well as change orbital characteristics (apogee, perigee, inclination) at reasonably low cost, enabling closer observation of specific portions of Earth, or of objects in space. Burns at closest approach (perigee) have the largest influence on total orbital characteristics. Burns at furthest approach (apogee) can raise the entire orbit if desired. (Or so I understand.)
- exDM69 2y agoBurns at perigee have best efficiency to make in-plane changes (raise or lower orbit) due to the Oberth effect. Burns at apogee have best efficiency for out-of-plane maneuvers (change orbital inclination plane) due to lowest velocity of the spacecraft. Highly elliptical orbits can do both at a few hours' notice.
- dredmorbius 2y agoThanks, I've got only a vague grasp of this.
- roelschroeven 2y agoBurns at perigee can only raise or lower part of the orbit though, right? A burn at perigee lowers or raises the apogee. To lower or raise the perigee, you need to burn at apogee.
- exDM69 2y agoCorrect. Burns don't have to happen only at perigee/apogee so there's more flexibility in practice. And counter intuitive stuff like bi-elliptic transfers.
- monkeyfun 2y agoAhhhh, bi-elliptic transfers! It's funny, I remember first learning to use such arcane maneuvers in a game called Children of a Dead Earth, in order to get into a terribly low orbit of Neptune to strike a methane refinery... My poor brain was always used to simple Hohmann transfers in games like KSP!
- DoingIsLearning 2y agoInteract as in fly-by repair? Or interact as in interfere/tamper/destroy?
- jl6 2y agoLooks like it would be able to deploy high speed instant-action repair kits.
- tliltocatl 2y agoUnlikely, velocity difference would be too large for anything constructive. One thing about orbits is that velocity difference is sort of a distance dimension in itself.
- NikkiA 2y agoYes, also steal ala Glomar Explorer
- kjkjadksj 2y agoPast flights have been years long and are classified what might have even been achieved. I wonder how much of the space war doesn’t ever get published?