SUI Qi-sheng, YUAN Jian-ping

(Astronautics College, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi′an 710072, China)

Abstract: On the basis of introducing the knowledge of the sun-synchronous orbit, the orbit altitude is analyzed emphatically, and the orbit height bound of the in-orbit satellites is given. Then several typical kinds of lower sun-synchronous satellites are introduced, and the status and development trend of the sun-synchronous orbit control are described. Finally an overview of the orbit control mode and maintenance strategy for sun-synchronous orbit are given.

Key words: sun-synchronous orbit; orbit height; autonomous on-board orbit control; orbit control strategy