Satellite positioning mission won't complete

[MajorMushroom]

Tell me this isn't the most perfect orbit you've ever seen

[Cpt Kerbalkrunch]

Ah, the classic satellite mistake. Look at your ascending and descending nodes. You're going backwards.

[klesh]

Beat me to it!   I'd bet the barn farm that's the issue.

[MajorMushroom]

Oh fiddlesticks.

And I thought I had achieved a thing of beauty. Anyway to turn around?

(I knew those nodes must have been important. They were meant to be on zero right?)

[klesh]

2 minutes ago, MajorMushroom said:

Anyway to turn around?

 

Best way is to raise your AP way up with a burn at PE. Then at AP retrograde burn till your orbit flips.  Match PE on that flip-burn, and when you get back to PE, lower your AP.

[MajorMushroom]

3 hours ago, klesh said:

 

Best way is to raise your AP way up with a burn at PE. Then at AP retrograde burn till your orbit flips.  Match PE on that flip-burn, and when you get back to PE, lower your AP.

Excellent, thank you. I didn't think something like that would work. Guess my mental simulations aren't very good xD

3 hours ago, Cpt Kerbalkrunch said:

Ah, the classic satellite mistake. Look at your ascending and descending nodes. You're going backwards.

You must admit though other than that she's perfect 

[MajorMushroom]

On 27 September 2017 at 6:14 PM, klesh said:

 

Best way is to raise your AP way up with a burn at PE. Then at AP retrograde burn till your orbit flips.  Match PE on that flip-burn, and when you get back to PE, lower your AP.

Thank you very much, worked just fine! The orbit wasn't perfect but it will do!

[klesh]

50 minutes ago, MajorMushroom said:

Thank you very much, worked just fine! The orbit wasn't perfect but it will do!

 

Awesome!  Every problem's solution is a learning experience.

Now, dig this.  You could've done the retrograde flip burn down low in the orbit that you initially posted.  Flips the direction, and raise the PE to your current alt and you'd be done.  However, that's less efficient fuelwise than raising the AP as high as you can get it, doing the flip etc.  Either way is going to cost some deltaV, but especially in satellites where you have a limited budget, raising your AP like that will save you as much as you can.