System and method of bringing into orbit a spacecraft with high specific impulse thrusters

摘要

A spiral trajectory is described to the space vehicle comprising a number of intermediate orbits (104 A-P) through a single continuous firing of the jets mounted on the space vehicle. During the first phase, the perigee is increased and the apogee is changed in a given direction while the inclination of the intermediate orbit becomes closer to the aimed orbit. In a second phase, the perigee and apogee are independently changed in predetermined constant directions while the inclination is converged until all approximate to the required orbit (107). If perigee and apogee increase in the first phase, there is a third phase in which the eccentricity of the orbit is changed to a final value.