Mapping Orbits regarding Perturbations due to the Gravitational Field of a Cube

Abstract EN

The orbital dynamics around irregular shaped bodies is an actual topic in astrodynamics, because celestial bodies are not perfect spheres.

When it comes to small celestial bodies, like asteroids and comets, it is even more import to consider the nonspherical shape.

The gravitational field around them may generate trajectories that are different from Keplerian orbits.

Modeling an irregular body can be a hard task, especially because it is difficult to know the exact shape when observing it from the Earth, due to their small sizes and long distances.

Some asteroids have been observed, but it is still a small amount compared to all existing asteroids in the Solar System.

An approximation of their shape can be made as a sum of several known geometric shapes.

Some three-dimensional figures have closed equations for the potential and, in this work, the formulation of a cube is considered.

The results give the mappings showing the orbits that are less perturbed and then have a good potential to be used by spacecrafts that need to minimize station-keeping maneuvers.

Points in the orbit that minimizes the perturbations are found and they can be used for constellations of nanosatellites.