Gps Satellite Orbit Inclination

If a satellite is at a height of 100 kilometers it must have an orbital inclination of 96 degrees to maintain a sun synchronous orbit.

Gps satellite orbit inclination.

It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. More specifically the time it takes for the earth to rotate on its axis is 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 09 seconds which is the same as a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit. Orbits of the gps satellites distances are to scale the satellites orbit the earth with a speed of 3 9 km per second and have a circulation time of 12 h sidereal time corresponding to 11 h 58 min earth time. View pre launch news release 1.

View space force. View pre launch news release 3. As the satellite moves the earth rotates underneath it. A satellite at this height takes 12 hours to complete an orbit.

The path that a satellite has to travel to stay in a sun synchronous orbit is very narrow. For a satellite orbiting the earth directly above the equator the plane of the satellite s orbit is the same as the earth s equatorial plane and the satellite s orbital inclination is 0. This means that the same satellite reaches a certain position about 4 minutes earlier each day. The gps space segment also consists of nominally 24 satellites which are however distributed over six orbital planes differing from plane to plane by 60 deg in longitude of the ascending node.

The fourth gps iii satellite is scheduled to launch on friday october 2. The gps 3 sv04 satellite separates from the falcon 9 rocket in an elliptical transfer orbit with an apogee or high point near the altitude of the gps fleet located around 12 550 miles 22 200. In 24 hours the satellite crosses over the same two spots on the equator every day. Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object s orbit around a celestial body.

Glonass satellites operate in circular orbits at an altitude of 19100 km an inclination of 64 8 deg and each satellite completes the orbit in. This orbit is consistent and highly predictable. In addition the constellation has 3 backup satellites. The constellation requires a minimum of 24 operational satellites and the official target count is 33.

The space force successfully launched the third gps iii satellite into orbit. As of august 2020 75 global positioning system navigation satellites have been launched 31 of which are operational 9 in reserve 3 being tested 30 have been retired and 2 were lost at launch. The launch window opens at 9 43 p m. The gps receiver needs 4 satellites to work out your position in 3 dimensions.

At any inclination a geosynchronous orbit synchronizes with the rotation of the earth. It is the orbit used by the global positioning system gps satellites.