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Development of a Long-Term Earth-Moon Trans-Lunar Libration Point Orbit for a Communication Relay Satellite

Given the absence of an orbital system to communicate from the far side of the Moon, it is likely that such a system shall be needed in the near future with the continued interest in lunar exploration and utilization. A strategy for a long-term libration orbit at the Earth-Moon L2 point is developed. This strategy allows for uninterrupted two-way communication between the Earth and the far side of the Moon and vice versa while also maintaining low fuel costs, thus increasing the duration of possible missions. A scenario was created in STK that created such an orbit. The results of the scenario predict a total station keeping delta-V cost of only 3.23 m/s for a satellite to stay in the vicinity of the EML2 point for five years.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:MSSTATE/oai:scholarsjunction.msstate.edu:td-2413
Date11 May 2013
CreatorsRowells, Michelle Tamasco
PublisherScholars Junction
Source SetsMississippi State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceTheses and Dissertations

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