Eccentric conformance, satellite-position determination module

摘要

The invention incorporates an eccentric conformance module that determines time and position for a satellite. The eccentric conformance module eliminates the necessity of computing an eccentric anomaly for non-circular orbits by relying on a comparison of a circular orbit and application of a general power equation. The eccentric conformance module produces coordinates in a reference frame relating to an eccentric conformance model. The invention resolves these coordinates through transformation to a common reference frame by computing the transformation between the conformance displacement angle and the true anomaly. Calculations derived from the eccentric conformance module are applicable for ground-based and space-based systems. Applications include determination of line-of-sight pointing for antennas and predictions of satellite positions for intercept or rendezvous transfers and for safe orbit trajectories. All such computations are simplified with the use of the eccentric conformance method.