I am trying to deploy three relay satellite constellations.
One between the orbit of Moho and Eve with four satellites.
One between Kerbin and Duna with six satellites.
One between Dres and Jool with eight satellites.
I would like the satellites in each constellation to be equally spaced.
For the first, I settled on an orbital altitude of 7.5Gm. That gives an orbital period of roughly 184 days. So, for four satellites, they should be spaced about 46 days apart.
I tried launching one satellite every 46 days, but that didn't work. By the time 46 days passed after launching the first satellite, the periapsis moved ahead a bit and the second satellite was ~26 days behind the first.
I figure I could add 20 days to the launch window (launch every 66 days). That still didn't work. It brought me ~30-40 days separation.
I suppose I could launch all of my satellites at (about) the same time (they're too big to practically launch as a single vessel – especially eight of them) and use the calculator to space them out. That would probably be close enough.
But I would like something better.
Is there a way to calculate my launch interval (knowing how many satellites in the constellation, orbital period, and apoapsis/periapsis) so I wind up with an equally spaced constellation?
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ThreeMartiniLaunch
I am trying to deploy three relay satellite constellations.
One between the orbit of Moho and Eve with four satellites.
One between Kerbin and Duna with six satellites.
One between Dres and Jool with eight satellites.
I would like the satellites in each constellation to be equally spaced.
For the first, I settled on an orbital altitude of 7.5Gm. That gives an orbital period of roughly 184 days. So, for four satellites, they should be spaced about 46 days apart.
I tried launching one satellite every 46 days, but that didn't work. By the time 46 days passed after launching the first satellite, the periapsis moved ahead a bit and the second satellite was ~26 days behind the first.
I figure I could add 20 days to the launch window (launch every 66 days). That still didn't work. It brought me ~30-40 days separation.
I found the Resonant Orbit Calculator
I suppose I could launch all of my satellites at (about) the same time (they're too big to practically launch as a single vessel – especially eight of them) and use the calculator to space them out. That would probably be close enough.
But I would like something better.
Is there a way to calculate my launch interval (knowing how many satellites in the constellation, orbital period, and apoapsis/periapsis) so I wind up with an equally spaced constellation?
Thanks
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