GUIDANCE AND CONTROL OF 24-HOUR SATELLITES

Roger W. Cole

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	For more than three years Hughes Aircraft Company scientists have been studying synchronous satellite systems. The immediate objectives of the Syncom Program, which is objectives of the Syncom Program, which is currently under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, are to demonstrate the orbit injection techniques for a synchronous satellite having a simple control system, and to experiment with operation of an active communication repeater in high-altitude orbit. The guidance and control aspects involved in achieving the objectives are discussed. They include the mechanics of the motion of the satellite during transfer-orbit and final orbit phases; the attitude control system, which will establish the final payload geometry; and an orbit determination method which will provide a first-order estiamte of the transfer orbit and final orbit parameters. The orbital parameter estiamtes can be found in aprpoximately 10 minutes with the aid of a desk calculator. The method is an on-site backup to the electronic digital computers during real-time flight.
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 9, Number 4
Pages:	270 - 279
Cite this article:	Cole, Roger W., "GUIDANCE AND CONTROL OF 24-HOUR SATELLITES", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 9, No. 4, Winter 1962-1963, pp. 270-279.
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