Method for placing an artificial satellite on a geostationary orbit
AssigneeSociete Nationale Industrielle et Aerospatiale
InventorAlain Wagner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention concerns a method for placing an artificial satellite on a geostationary orbit injected on said orbit by a launch vehicle. The method is characterised in that the assembly consisting of the last stage (L) of said launch vehicle and satellite (S) be injected on the geostationary orbit (G) is first directly sent on a circular orbit (C), called extinction orbit, near the geostationary orbit, but sufficiently distant therefrom to avoid possible interferene with space objects already on the geostationary orbit (G), the satellite (S) is separated from said last stage (L), which stays on said extinction orbit (C), and the satellite (S) reaches the geostationary orbit (G) from said extinction orbit (C).
Claims9
A method for putting in geostationary orbit an artificial satellite placed on said orbit by a space launch vehicle, said method comprising:
- (a) sending an assembly including the final stage of the launch vehicle and the satellite to be placed on the geostationary orbit to a graveyard orbit;
- (b) separating said satellite from said final stage while maintaining said final stage on said graveyard orbit;
- and
- (c) thereafter, causing said satellite to join the geostationary orbit from said graveyard orbit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.