AE 313/AE 613 Space Flight Mechanics

Assignment 1

Chhand Pagariya SC22B047

Department of Aerospace Engineering

Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology,
Kerala, India

Academic year 2024-25

 IIST Space Flgiht Mechanics

Problem 1

Problem Description
At a given instant, a space object has the following position and velocity vectors relative to an
Earth-centered inertial frame of reference (î, ĵ, k̂):

r0 = 20, 000î − 105, 000ĵ − 19, 000k̂ (km)

v0 = 0.9000î − 3.4000ĵ − 1.5000k̂ (km/s)
The task is divided into two parts:

(i) Using Algorithm 3.4 from Curtis

Using the initial conditions r0 and v0 , apply Algorithm 3.4 from Curtis (3rd Edition) to compute
the position vector r and velocity vector v after 2 hours. Detailed steps involved in the algorithm
must be shown, along with the MATLAB code used to obtain the solution.

(ii) Using Different Initial Conditions

Choose a different set of initial conditions (r0 , v0 ) and compute the position vector r and velocity
vector v at a later time t, which could be 1 hour, 2 hours, or 3 hours. This will involve solving the
problem with the new initial conditions and showing the steps as well as the MATLAB code.

1 Solution
1.1 MATLAB CODE

1 clc ;
2 % t a k i n g i n p u t th e v a l u e o f g r a v i t a t i o n a l c o n s t a n t parameter
3 mu = i n p u t ( ” Enter t h e v l a u e o f G r a v i t a t i o n a l c o n s t a n t parameter i n (km
ˆ3/ s ˆ 3 ) = ” ) ;
4 % Take v a l u e o f Ro from u s e r
5 Ro = i n p u t ( ” Enter th e v a l u e o f Ro i n (km) as [ x , y , z ] = ” ) ;
6 % Take v a l u e o f Vo from u s e r
7 Vo = i n p u t ( ” Enter t he v a l u e o f Vo (km/ s ) as [ x , y , z ] = ” ) ;
8 % Take t h e v a l u e o f time a f t e r which p o o s i t i o n i s t o f i n d out
9 t = i n p u t ( ” Enter th e time a f t e r which you want t o f i n d t he p o s i t i o n (
hrs ) = ”) ;
10 ts = t ∗3600;
11 r o = norm (Ro) ; % Magnitude o f Ro
12 vo = norm (Vo) ; % Magnitude o f Vo
13 vro = (Ro ( 1 ) ∗Vo ( 1 )+Ro ( 2 ) ∗Vo ( 2 )+Ro ( 3 ) ∗Vo ( 3 ) ) / r o ; %R a d i a l component o f
Velocity
14 a lp h a = ( 2 / r o ) −(( vo ˆ 2) /mu) ;
15 f p r i n t f (”\ n ” ) ;
16

17 i f alpha >0
18 f p r i n t f ( ” The t r a j e c t o r y i s E l l i p s e \n ” ) ;
 IIST Space Flgiht Mechanics

19 e l s e i f a lp ha < 0
20 f p r i n t f ( ” The t r a j e c t o r y i s Hyperbola \n ” ) ;
21 else
22 f p r i n t f ( ” The t r a j e c t o r y i s Parabola \n ” ) ;
23 end
24 e r r o r = 1 . e −8;
25 n maxi = 1 0 0 0 ; %maximum no . o f i t e r a t u i o n s
26 Xo = ( s q r t (mu) ) ∗ ( abs ( alpha ) ) ∗ t s ; % Value o f U n i v e r s a l Anomaly
27 n = 0;
28 ratio = 1;
29 w h i l e r a t i o > e r r o r & n<=n maxi
30 n = n+1;
31 C = stumpC ( alpha ∗Xoˆ 2) ;
32 S = stumpS ( alpha ∗Xoˆ 2) ;
33 f x= ( ( r o ∗ vro ) / ( s q r t (mu) ) ) ∗Xoˆ2∗C + ( 1 − alpha ∗ r o ) ∗Xoˆ3∗S + r o ∗Xo−(
s q r t (mu) ) ∗ t s ;
34 d f x =(( r o ∗ vro ) / ( s q r t (mu) ) ) ∗Xo∗ ( 1 −alpha ∗Xoˆ2∗S ) + ( 1 − alpha ∗ r o ) ∗Xoˆ2∗
C + ro ;
35 r a t i o = f x / d fx ;
36

37 Xo=Xo − r a t i o ;
38 end
39

40 f = 1−Xoˆ 2∗ ( stumpC ( alpha ∗Xoˆ 2) ) / r o ; % C a l c u l a t i n g v a l u e o f l a g r a n g e f

41

42 g= t s −Xoˆ 3∗ ( stumpS ( alpha ∗Xoˆ 2) ) / ( s q r t (mu) ) ; %C a l c u l a t i n g v a l u e o f

lagrange g
43

44 R = f ∗Ro+g∗Vo ; %F i n a l p o s i t i o n r
45 r = norm (R) ;
46

47 d f = ( s q r t (mu) ) ∗ ( alpha ∗Xoˆ3∗ ( stumpS ( alpha ∗Xoˆ 2) )−Xo) / ( r ∗ r o ) ;%

Derivative of lagrange f
48

49 dg= 1 − Xoˆ2∗ ( stumpC ( alpha ∗Xoˆ 2) ) / r ; % D e r i v a t i v e o f l a g r a n g e g

50

51 V = d f ∗Ro + dg∗Vo ;
52 v = norm (V) ;
53 f p r i n t f (”\ n ” ) ;
54 f p r i n t f (” Final P o s i t i o n : r = %d i + %d j + %d k (km) \n ” , R( 1 ) , R( 2 ) , R
(3) ) ;
55 f p r i n t f (”\ n ” ) ;
56 f p r i n t f ( ” Magnitude o f r = %d km\n ” , r ) ;
57 f p r i n t f (”\ n ” ) ;
58 f p r i n t f (” Final Velocity : v = %d i + %d j + %d k (km) / s ” , V( 1 ) , V( 2 ) , V
(3) ) ;
59 f p r i n t f (”\ n ” ) ;
60 f p r i n t f ( ” Magnitude o f v = %d km/ s ” , v ) ;
61 f p r i n t f (”\ n ” ) ;
 IIST Space Flgiht Mechanics

62

63 f u n c t i o n c = stumpC ( z )
64 i f z>0
65 c = (1− c o s ( s q r t ( z ) ) ) / z ;
66 e l s e i f z<0
67 c = ( cosh ( s q r t (−z ) ) − 1 ) /(− z ) ;
68 else
69 c = 1/2;
70 end
71 end
72

73

74 f u n c t i o n s = stumpS ( z )
75 i f z>0
76 s = ( s q r t ( z ) − s i n ( s q r t ( z ) ) ) /( s q r t ( z ) ) ˆ3;
77 e l s e i f z<0
78 s = ( s i n h ( s q r t (−z ) ) − s q r t (−z ) ) / ( s q r t (−z ) ) ˆ 3 ;
79 else
80 s = 1/6;
81 end
82 end

1.2 Part 1
The given initial values of position and velocity vector are:
r0 = 20, 000 î − 105, 000 ĵ − 19, 000 k̂ (km)

v0 = 0.9000 î − 3.4000 ĵ − 1.5000 k̂ (km/s)

The final values of position and velocity vector after 2 hours are:
r = 26340.98 î − 12, 8768.2 ĵ − 29659.16 k̂ (km)

v = 0.8636392 î − 3.215873 ĵ − 1.462163 k̂ (km/s)

Figure:

Figure 1: Values of Position and Velocity after t = 2 hours

IIST Space Flgiht Mechanics

1.3 Part 2
1.3.1 Taking t = 3 hours

That is we will calculate the values of Position and Velocity after 3 hours. The given initial values
of position and velocity vector are:

r0 = 22000 î + 27000 ĵ + 7000 k̂ (km)

v0 = 0.7000 î + 0.7000 ĵ + 1.000 k̂ (km/s)

The final values of position and velocity vector after 3 hours are:
r = 19890.64 î + 22919.1 ĵ + 13618.98 k̂ (km)

v = −1.152436 î − 1.506447 ĵ + 0.08326165 k̂ (km/s)

Figure:

Figure 2: Values of Position and Velocity after t = 3 hours

IIST Space Flgiht Mechanics

1.3.2 Taking t = 1 hours

That is we will calculate the values of Position and Velocity after 3 hours. The given initial values
of position and velocity vector are:
r0 = 4011 î + 3011 ĵ + 2931 k̂ (km)

v0 = 2.003 î + 2.004 ĵ + 3.000 k̂ (km/s)

The final values of position and velocity vector after 1 hour are:

r = 3199.936 î + 2273.879 ĵ + 1944.501 k̂ (km)

v = 4.599312 î + 3.903782 ĵ + 4.746070 k̂ (km/s)

Figure:

Figure 3: Values of Position and Velocity after t = 1 hours