CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 8Spacecraft Dynamics and ControlSpace Satellite Systems and ControlSpacecraft Design and Technology

Optimal design of low-earth-orbit satellite constellation for regional fast revisit

Open access
MA, Jian, MENG, YaZhe, ZHU, XiaoLong, HE, ShengMao, GAO, Yang·2018·SCIENTIA SINICA Technologica
DOI 10.1360/n092017-00026
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Constructing a constellation using as few satellites as possible is the main content of the Problem B of the 8th Chinese Trajectory Optimization Competition. This article presents the method and the result (which won the first prize in the competition) of the team from the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In order to establish a low-Earth-orbit constellation that can cover a total of 225 target points on the ground with the revisiting time interval no more than 1 h, we proposed a design method in which the key idea is to place multiple satellites in the same repeated ground-track orbit, and this idea contributes to minimize the number of satellites in the constellation. The process to establish such a constellation consists of three main steps: firstly, constructing the “repeated ground-track orbits vs. target-points” database; secondly, searching for the minimum number of repeated ground-track orbits that can cover all the target points in a repeated ground-track period; thirdly, computing the orbital elements of the required satellites for satisfying the constraint of revisiting time interval less than 1 h. The design result shows that the constellation design method is effective and is expected to extend to be a general method to deal with the problem: constructing a constellation using a minimum number of satellites that covers specified target points on the ground with required revisiting time intervals.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1360/n092017-00026

Cites

12 of 12 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

  • Findingown data
    § 3.2.2 基于遗传算法的全局搜索

    Within each group, the 24 satellites have approximately the same orbital inclination.

    “同组24颗卫星的轨道倾角近似相同”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingown data
    § 3.2.2 基于遗传算法的全局搜索

    The design uses 144 new satellites.

    “综上所述, 论文设计结果如下: (1) 新增卫星颗数: 144.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Interpretationown data
    § Additional information

    The proposed constellation design method is effective.

    “The design result shows that the constellation design method is effective”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Interpretationreasoning
    § 3.2.2 基于遗传算法的全局搜索

    The design achieves the minimum possible maximum revisit period.

    “且最大重访周期最小”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 1
  • May combine two claims. 1

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingnone given
    § 3.2.2 基于遗传算法的全局搜索

    The design uses 0 of the existing satellites provided in the problem.

    “(2) 任务过程中题目所提供现有卫星利用颗数: 0.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingreasoning
    § 3.1 建立"回归轨道-目标点"数据库

    The constructed database contains 388800 circular repeated orbits, of which 194400 are prograde and 194400 are retrograde.

    “共计60×180×36=388800条圆形回归轨道, 其中顺行回归轨道194400条, 逆行回归轨道194400条.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
2 of 2

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • One target is assigned both extreme revisit times

    Minor

    The point (118°E, 13°N) is listed among the targets with the maximum revisit time of 3528 s and is also identified as the target with the minimum of 1275 s.

  • Reported GA outcomes conflict with Table 3

    Minor

    The text says searches with seven or certain six orbits could no longer reach 224 or 225 targets. Table 3 nevertheless reports 224 targets for the seven-orbit and 6 (1+5) cases.

2 of 2

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 13 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. [3]3. Rider L. Optimized polar constellation for redundant earth coverage. J Astronaut Sci, 1985, 33: 147-161
  2. [7]7. Ulybyshev Y. Satellite constellation design for continuous coverage: Short historical survey, current status and new solutions. In: International Workshop on Constellations and Formation Flying, 2008 7 刘刚, 吴诗其. 区域性星座设计. 系统工程与电子技术, 2002, 24: 15-18 8 魏蛟龙, 岑朝辉. 基于蚁群算法的区域覆盖卫星星座优化设计. 通信学报, 2006, 8: 62-66
  3. [8]8. 王瑞, 马兴瑞, 李明. 采用遗传算法进行区域覆盖卫星星座优化设计. 宇航学报, 2002, 3: 24-28 10
  4. [9]9. 张娟, 邓峰岩, 和兴锁, 等. 一种近地回归轨道区域性覆盖星座设计. 飞行力学, 2004, 4: 73-76
  5. [14]14. 吴久银, 甘仲明, 朱德生. 共地面轨迹移动卫星通信星座设计. 电子学报, 1999, 27: 88-91
  6. [15]15. Vallado D A. Fundamentals of Astrodynamics and Applications. 3rd ed. Hawthorne: Microcosm Press, 2001. 782-788 17 杨维廉. 太阳同步轨道的长期演变与控制. 航天控制, 2008, 17: 26-30 18 高扬. 电火箭星际航行: 技术进展、轨道设计与综合优化. 力学学报, 2011, 6: 991-1019
  7. [19]19. Bazaraa M S, Sherali H D, Shetty C M. Nonlinear Programming Theory and Algorithm. New York: Wiley, 1993

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
MA, J., MENG, Y., ZHU, X., HE, S., & GAO, Y.
Affiliations
  • University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
ORCID
Venue
SCIENTIA SINICA Technologica
Publisher
Science China Press., Co. Ltd.
Published
2018-01-17
Volume
48
Issue
2
Pages
170-184
ISSN
1674-7259 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1360/n092017-00026
OpenAlex
W2787205953
Cited by
8
References
13
Citations by year
2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2017: 1
FWCI
0.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Scientia Sinica Technologica (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Spacecraft Dynamics and Control
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Space Satellite Systems and Control
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Spacecraft Design and Technology
Keywords
LEO satellite constellations, constellation design, orbital elements

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-11.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-11.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review