Tundra orbit

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Ground track of three satellites of the Sirius Satellite Radio constellation in a tundra orbit

Tundra orbit is a type of highly elliptical geosynchronous orbit with a high inclination (usually near 63.4°) and an orbital period of one sidereal day (almost 24 hours). A satellite placed in this orbit spends most of its time over a chosen area of the Earth, a phenomenon known as apogee dwell. The ground track of a satellite in a tundra orbit is a closed "figure-eight" lemniscate.

These are conceptually similar to Molniya orbits which have the same inclination but half the period (about 12 hours). The only current user of tundra orbits is Sirius Satellite Radio, which operates a constellation of three satellites.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

• Sample Mission Analysis from the Danish Space Research Institute (see page 8).

[edit] See also

• List of orbits

v • d • e Orbits   Types General Box · Capture · Circular · Elliptical / Highly elliptical · Escape · Graveyard · Hyperbolic trajectory · Inclined / Non-inclined · Osculating · Parabolic trajectory · Parking · Synchronous (semi · sub) Geocentric Geosynchronous · Geostationary · Sun-synchronous · Low Earth · Medium Earth · Molniya · Near-equatorial · Orbit of the Moon · Polar · Tundra · Two-line elements Other Areosynchronous · Areostationary · Halo · Lissajous · Lunar · Heliocentric · Heliosynchronous   Parameters Classical  Inclination ·  Longitude of the ascending node ·  Eccentricity ·  Argument of periapsis ·  Semi-major axis ·  Mean anomaly at epoch Other  True anomaly ·  Semi-minor axis ·  Linear eccentricity ·  Eccentric anomaly ·  Mean longitude ·  True longitude ·  Orbital period   Maneuvers Bi-elliptic transfer · Delta-v budget · Geostationary transfer · Gravity assist · Gravity turn · Hohmann transfer · Oberth effect  · Inclination change · Phasing · Rendezvous · Transposition, docking, and extraction   Other orbital mechanics topics Apsis · Celestial coordinate system · Epoch · Ephemeris · Equatorial coordinate system · Ground track · Interplanetary Transport Network · Kepler's laws of planetary motion · Lagrangian point · Low energy transfers · n-body problem · Orbit equation · Orbital speed · Orbital state vectors · Perturbation · Retrograde and direct motion · Specific orbital energy · Specific relative angular momentum List of orbits

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