Orbital shell (spaceflight)
In spaceflight, an orbital shell is a set of artificial satellites in circular orbits at a certain fixed altitude.[1]
Use in satellite constellations
In the design of satellite constellations, an orbital shell usually refers to a collection of circular orbits with the same altitude and, oftentimes, orbital inclination, distributed evenly in celestial longitude (and mean anomaly). For a sufficiently high inclination and altitude the orbital shell covers the entire orbited body. In other cases the coverage extends up to a certain maximum latitude.
Several existing satellite constellations typically use a single orbital shell. New large megaconstellations have been proposed that consist of multiple orbital shells.[1][2]
List of orbital shells
| Orbital altitude (km) | Inclination | Planes | Satellites | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 550 | 53° | ~10 (deployed) 72 (planned) |
~360 (deployed) 1584 (planned) |
Starlink[1] |
| 781 | 86.4° | 6 | 66 | Iridium |
| 19,130 | 64°8' | 3 | 24 | GLONASS |
| 20,180 | 55° | 6 | 24 | GPS |
| 21,150 | 55° | 3 | 24 | BeiDou |
| 23,222 | 56° | 3 | 24 | Galileo |
See also
References
- SPACEX NON-GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE SYSTEM, Attachment A, TECHNICAL INFORMATION TO SUPPLEMENT SCHEDULE S, US Federal Communications Commission, 8 November 2018, accessed 19 November 2019.
- "Amazon lays out constellation service goals, deployment and deorbit plans to FCC". SpaceNews.com. 2019-07-08. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
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