Intermediary LEO propagation including higher order zonal harmonics

TL;DR

This paper introduces two new analytical intermediary orbit models for low Earth satellite propagation that incorporate higher order geopotential effects, offering improved accuracy and efficiency over traditional numerical methods.

Contribution

The paper develops two novel intermediary orbit solutions including higher order zonal harmonics, enhancing accuracy and computational efficiency for low Earth orbit propagation.

Findings

Perform well for low Earth orbits

Free from special functions

More accurate and efficient than Cowell integration

Abstract

Two new intermediary orbits of the artificial satellite problem are proposed. The analytical solutions include higher order effects of the Geopotential, and are obtained by means of a torsion transformation applied to the quasi-Keplerian system resulting after the elimination of the parallax simplification, for the first intermediary, and after the elimination of the parallax and perigee simplifications, for the second one. The new intermediaries perform notably well for low earth orbits propagation, are free from special functions, and result advantageous, both in accuracy and efficiency, when compared to the standard Cowell integration of the J2 problem, thus providing appealing alternatives for onboard, short-term, orbit propagation under limited computational resources.