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Walker constellation
A Walker constellation is characterised by the notation i:t/p/f where i is the inclination; t is the total number of satellites; p is the number of equally spaced planes; and f is the relative spacing between satellites in adjacent planes, such that the change in true anomaly (in degrees) for equivalent satellites in neighbouring planes is equal to f*360/t.
Walker delta constellation, with [i: t/p/f] = [98.5 deg : 21/3/1]
Usually there are two types of Walker constellations:
- Delta: Orbit planes are evenly distributed over the full 360 degree range of Right Ascension
- Star: Orbit planes are evenly distributed over 180 degree range of Right Ascension
The following parameters are required:
| Satellites count (t) |
Total number of satellites (t in the t/p/f notation). SaVoir will distribute the satellites equally in the defined number of planes. Therefore t must be necessarily a multiple of p. If not, SaVoir will fall-back the closest multiple below t, e.g. t/p = 20/3 will fall back to 18/3.
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| Planes count (p) |
Number of orbit planes
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| Phasing parameter (f) | It describes the relative angular spacing between satellites in adjacent planes, such that the change in true anomaly (in degrees) for equivalent satellites in neighbouring planes is equal to f*360/t
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| Semi-major axis and Maximum orbit height |
Semi-major axis for all the satellites in the constellation. Both Semi-major axis and maximum orbit height are linked. If you change one, the other will change consequently.
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| Eccentricity |
Eccentricity for all the satellites in the constellation. Usually keep zero for circular orbits
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| Inclination (i) |
Inclination for all the satellites in the constellation.
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| Arg.Perigee |
Argument of perigee for all satellites in the constellation. Usually left to 270 degrees or 90 degrees
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| RAAN spread |
It defines the range of RAAN values for the orbit planes. Select 360 degrees for a Walker Delta, or 180 degrees for a Walker Star. For example a 3 plane constellation will have planes at 0 , 120 and 240 of RAAN in a Walker Delta, and 0, 60 and 120 in a Walker Star. You may select other values of RAAN spread to create custom constellations.
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| Epoch |
Common epoch time for all the constellation orbits
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