Orbits

[ghost22]

So I am using remote tech and I put these satellites in orbits 770 km but they are not perfect so after a few in game days they are out of sync and they are no longer a triangle. So how can I get them in perfect orbits so I don't have to manage them after every time I time warp?

Also I have a contract from orbital science and it says I need a eccentricity orbit of 0.63 what is that?

Edited November 21, 2014 by ghost22

[ArmchairGravy]

In order to get your satellites to not go out of sync, they all need to be in exactly the same orbital plane with the same orbital period. Eccentricity is the difference between the apoapsis and periapsis height. If you install Kerbal Engineer it will give you information on both of these.

[bdito]

The Kerbal Engineer or MechJeb mods have an orbital period readout. Make sure all your sats have the exact same period (well, as close as you can get since it calculates it down to the hundredth of a second). The height of your apoapsis and periapsis don't have to be identical, only your orbital period does.

[WuphonsReach]

Some tricks with the Remote Tech mod and that first constellation of satellites.

Trying to do it with just (3) at 770km is really hard. You'll spend way too much time trying to get them all equidistant and in circular orbits. I suggest planning on a minimum of (4) equatorial satellites, and possibly putting them all at 700km altitude orbits instead.

The first (4) launches should be small and light and only use the DP-10 and Communotron-16. No directionals like the DTS-M1 or KR-7, they consume too much power and require too many batteries to get through the dark period of the orbit. The goal of the first (4) launches is to get omni-directional Comm-16s up with their 2.5Mm range. The advantage here is that they will automatically form a mesh network without any manual intervention.

Shoot for a payload weight of 2250kg and a cost of 4100 for those first few launches. If you have the Stage Recovery mod, you might spend as little as 6300 per launch (net cost, gross cost is 14000). You only need enough Delta-V to get into low orbit, then a bit of DV to get to 700-750km and stabilize the orbit. If you can get into orbit (Ap and Pe both above 75km) with 500 DV left, then you are doing okay.

I like to toss up (4) in equatorial orbits at 700km altitude and another (2-4) in polar orbits (also at 700km). Those form the basic mesh and safety net for anything with a Pe under 1500km. With (6) or (8) satellites orbiting in LKO in various orbits, it will be extremely rare that there are gaps in coverage anywhere within 1500km of Kerbin.

What about the longer-distance stuff? One method is to put up (3) satellites with lots of batteries and PV panels along with (2) active directional link (DTS-M1 or KR-7). Put those in synchronous orbit (KEO) at 2868.75km above the KSC hemisphere. Assuming that your LKO network mesh is working fine, the KEO satellites will often be within 2.5Mm of at least one of your LKOs. So you could get by without needing the 2nd directional link.

Alternately, take advantage of your KLO satellite mesh network and put your long-range comms on satellites orbiting at around 1500km altitude. They can use the 2.5Mm range on the Comm-16 to talk to the LKO mesh and they will only need to keep (1) active directional link to the "active vessel".

Note: The bigger the orbit radius, the easier it is to station-keep. If you have (3) satellites sitting in synchronous orbits you can put one directly overhead of KSC and the others about 2Mm to either side (within range of the Comm-16). Just check on their positions every 30-60 days and fine tune their orbits to stay in place.

[ratchet freak]

The most important factor of keeping satellites in sync is orbital period. It doesn't matter that one is slightly away from ideal as long as they all have the same period than after each orbit they make they will be in the exact same spot every time.

Edited December 2, 2014 by ratchet freak

[Taki117]

The most important factor of keeping satellites in sync is orbital period. It doesn't matter that one is slightly away from ideal as long as they all have the same period than after each orbit they make they will be in the exact same spot every time?

To answer your question, yes they will be in the exact same place in their orbit after the orbital period, however they will not be in the same place relative to each other after the orbital period. Because of the slight differences in AP/PE and orbital period (That hundreth of a second matters here) they will osscilate relative to each other, but if done correctly it will be in-game years before they move far enough out of synch to have issues. You might also consider building a second constellation out at Kerbostartionary orbit.

[ratchet freak]

To answer your question, yes they will be in the exact same place in their orbit after the orbital period, however they will not be in the same place relative to each other after the orbital period. Because of the slight differences in AP/PE and orbital period (That hundreth of a second matters here) they will osscilate relative to each other, but if done correctly it will be in-game years before they move far enough out of synch to have issues. You might also consider building a second constellation out at Kerbostartionary orbit.

wasn't a question but a typo...