Orbital Mechanics

Lecture 3

THE TWO-BODY PROBLEM

•Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)

•Parabolic trajectories (e = 1)

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 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
• Orbit Equation (Eqn. 2.45)

• If 0 < e < 1, then the denominator varies with the true anomaly θ but it
remains positive, never becoming zero
• Therefore, the relative position vector remains bounded, having its smallest
magnitude at the periapsis rp
• The maximum value of r is reached when the denominator of r obtains its
minimum value, which occurs at θ = 180°
• That point is called the apoapsis,
and its radial coordinate, ra, is

• The curve defined by

Eqn (2.45) in this case is an ellipse
• Distance measured along the apse
line from periapsis P to apoapsis A
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 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)

• Substituting expressions for rp and ra

into the above expression

• a is the semimajor axis of the ellipse

• Solving Equation 2.71 for h2/μ and
putting the result into Equation 2.45
yields an alternative form of the
orbit equation

• let F denote the location of the body m1, which is the origin of the r, θ polar
coordinate system
• The center C of the ellipse is the point lying midway between the apoapsis
and periapsis. The distance CF from the center C to the focus F is:
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 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
• Equation 2.72 evaluated at θ = 0

• Therefore, CF = ae,
• Let B be the point on the orbit
that lies directly above C, on the
perpendicular bisector of the major
axis AP
• The distance b from C to B is the
semiminor axis
• If the true anomaly of point B is β, then according to the orbit equation (Eqn
2.72), the radial coordinate of B is
The projection of rB onto the apse line is ae

• Solving this expression for e, we obtain

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• Substituting this result into Equation 2.74 reveals the interesting fact that:
 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
• According to the Pythagorean
theorem,

• which means that the semiminor

axis is found in terms of the
semimajor axis and the eccentricity
of the ellipse as:

• In terms of r and θ the x-coordinate

of a point on the orbit is:

• From this we have:

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 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
• For the y-coordinate we make use of Equation 2.76
( ) to obtain:

• Therefore,

• Using the x/a and y/b expressions we, after some algebra, obtain

• This is the familiar Cartesian coordinate formula for an ellipse centered at the
origin, with x-intercepts at ∓a and y-intercepts at ∓b
• The specific energy of an elliptical orbit is negative
From Eqn 2.71,
then specific energy of an ellipse: 6
 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
• This shows that the specific energy is independent
of the eccentricity and depends only on the
semimajor axis of the ellipse
• For an elliptical orbit, the conservation of
energy (vis-viva, Equation 2.57) may
therefore be written:

• The area of an ellipse: A = πab

• To find the period T of the elliptical orbit, we employ Kepler’s second law,
dA/dt = h/2, to obtain:

• For one complete revolution, ΔA = πab and Δt = T,

• Thus, πab = (h/2)T
• Substituting expressions for a and b (Eqns 2.71 and 2.76), we get:

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 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
• From Eqn 2.71,

• This expression is identical to that of a circular

orbit of radius a
• The period of an elliptical orbit is independent
of the eccentricity
• Since all five ellipses have the same major axis,
their periods and energies are identical
• Equation 2.83 embodies Kepler’s third law: the period of a planet is
proportional to the three-halves power of its semimajor axis
• Dividing Equation 2.50 by Equation 2.70 yields:

Eccentricity of 8
an elliptical orbit
 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
• The average distance of m2 from m1 in the course of one complete orbit:
• True-anomaly-averaged orbital radius, 𝑟𝜃ҧ

The true-anomaly-averaged orbital radius equals the

length of the semiminor axis b of the ellipse
• Since rp = a(1 - e) and ra = a(1 + e), Equation 2.87 also implies that:

Example:
An earth satellite is in an orbit with perigee altitude zp = 400 km and apogee
altitude za = 4000 km. Find each of the following quantities:
(a) Eccentricity, e; (b) Angular momentum, h; (c) Perigee velocity, vp; (d) Apogee
velocity, va; (e) Semimajor axis, a; (f) Period of the orbit, T; (g) True-anomaly-
averaged radius 𝑟𝜃ҧ ; (h) True anomaly when r = 𝑟𝜃ҧ ; (i) Satellite speed when r = 𝑟𝜃ҧ ;
(j) Flight path angle γ when r = 𝑟𝜃ҧ ; (k) Maximum flight path angle γmax and the
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true anomaly at which it occurs.
 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
Solution:
Recall μ = 398,600 km3/s2 and RE = 6378 km
The strategy is always to seek the primary orbital parameters (eccentricity e and
angular momentum h) first. All of the other orbital parameters are obtained
from these two:
(a) Convert the given altitudes to radii:
rp = RE + zp = 6378 + 400 = 6778 km
ra = RE + za = 6378 + 4000 = 10,378 km
(b) The orbit formula evaluated at perigee (θ = 0):

(c) Use the angular momentum formula to find the perigee velocity vp

(d) Since h is constant, the angular momentum formula can also be employed to
obtain the apogee speed va, 10
 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
Solution (cont’d):
(e) The semimajor axis is the average of the perigee and apogee radii,

(f) The period T of the orbit:

(g) The true-anomaly-averaged radius:

(h) To find the true anomaly when r = 𝑟𝜃ҧ , use the orbit formula:

where the satellite passes through

𝑟𝜃ҧ on its way from perigee
where the satellite passes through
𝑟𝜃ҧ on its way towards perigee 11
 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
Solution (cont’d):
(i) To find the speed of the satellite when 𝑟 = 𝑟𝜃ҧ , it is simplest to use the energy
equation for the ellipse

(j) Flight path angle in terms of the true anomaly of the average radius 𝑟𝜃ҧ

when the satellite passes

through 𝑟𝜃ҧ on its way from perigee
(k) To find where γ is a maximum, we must take the derivative of:
with respect to θ and set the result equal to zero

For e < 1, the denominator is nonzero for all values of θ

Therefore, dγ/dθ = 0 only if the numerator vanishes, that is, if cosθ = −e 12
 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
Solution (cont’d):
cosθ = −e; This true anomaly locates the end-point of the minor axis of the ellipse
The maximum positive flight path angle therefore occurs at this true anomaly

θ = −cos−1(−0.2098)

Substituting this into Eqn (a), maximum value of the flight path angle will be:

After attaining this greatest magnitude, the flight path angle starts to decrease
steadily towards its value of zero at apogee

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 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
Solution
(cont’d):
The orbit

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 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
Example:
At two points on a geocentric orbit the altitude and true anomaly are z1 = 1545
km, θ1 = 126° and z2 = 852 km, θ2 = 58°, respectively. Find (a) the eccentricity,
(b) the altitude of perigee, (c) the semimajor axis, and (d) the period.
Solution:
The first objective is to find the primary orbital parameters e and h, since all
other orbital data can be deduced from them.
(a) Convert the given altitudes to radii:
r1 = RE + z1 = 6378 + 1545 = 7923 km, r2 = RE + z2 = 6378 + 852 = 7230 km
The orbit formula relates orbital position to the orbital parameters e and h
For point 1

For point 2

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 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
Solution (cont’d):
Equating (a) and (b), the two expressions for h2, yields a single equation for the
eccentricity e,

By substituting the eccentricity back into (a) [or (b)] we find the angular
momentum,

(b) use the orbit equation to obtain the perigee radius

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 Elliptical orbits (0 < e < 1)
Solution (cont’d):
(c) The semimajor axis is the average of the perigee and apogee radii.
Using the orbit formula evaluated at apogee

From (e) and (f) it follows that:

(d) To find the period

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 Parabolic trajectories (e = 1)
• If the eccentricity equals 1, then the orbit equation (Equation 2.45) becomes:

• As the true anomaly θ approaches 180°, the denominator approaches zero, so

that r tends towards infinity
• According to Equation 2.60, the energy of a trajectory
for which e = 1 is zero
• For a parabolic trajectory the conservation of energy:

• In other words, the speed anywhere on a parabolic path is:

• If the body m2 is launched on a parabolic trajectory, it will
coast to infinity, arriving there with zero velocity relative to m1
• It will not return
• Parabolic paths are therefore called escape trajectories
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 Parabolic trajectories (e = 1)
• At a given distance r from m1, the escape velocity is given by Equation 2.90,

• If vc is the speed of a satellite in a circular orbit of radius r then

• That is, to escape from a circular orbit requires a velocity boost of 41.4%
• However, remember our assumption is that m1 and m2 are the only objects in
the universe
• A spacecraft launched from earth with velocity vesc (relative to the earth) will
not coast to infinity (i.e., leave the solar system) because it will eventually
succumb to the gravitational influence of the sun and, in fact, end up in the
same orbit as earth
• For the parabola, Equation 2.52 for the flight path angle takes the form:

• Manipulate these expressions using trigonometric identities 19

 Parabolic trajectories (e = 1)
• Using the trigonometric identities:

• That is, on parabolic trajectories the

flight path angle is always one-half
the true anomaly

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 Parabolic trajectories (e = 1)
• Equation 2.53 gives the parameter p of an orbit
• Let us substitute that expression into Equation 2.89
and then plot r = p/(1 + cos θ) in a Cartesian coordinate
system centered at the focus

• Working to simplify the right-hand side, we get

This is the equation

of a parabola in a Cartesian 21
coordinate system whose origin serves as the focus
 Parabolic trajectories (e = 1)
Example:
The perigee of a satellite in a parabolic geocentric trajectory is 7000 km. Find the
distance d between points P1 and P2 on the orbit which are 8000 km and 16,000
km, respectively, from the center of the earth.
Solution:
This would be a simple trigonometry problem if we
knew the angle Δθ between the radials to P1 and P2.
We can find that angle by first determining the
true anomalies of the two points.
The true anomalies are obtained from the orbit formula,
Equation 2.89, once we have determined the angular
momentum h.

Evaluating the orbit equation at perigee,

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 Parabolic trajectories (e = 1)
Solution (cont’d):
Substituting the radii and the true anomalies of points P1 and P2 into Equation
2.89, we get:

The difference between the two angles θ1 and θ2 is Δθ = 97.18° − 41.41° = 55.78°
The length of the chord 𝑃1 𝑃2 can now be found by using the law of cosines from
trigonometry

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