SMART-1 osculating orbit up to 16 November 2003
Date: 18 November 2003
Satellite: SMART-1
Copyright: ESA
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In this diagram the GTO, the osculating orbits at launch and at different times are plotted. The large orbit, marked 'final', is the one we expect to achieve at the end of the radiation belt escape in about one month.
From the start, the electric propulsion system has managed to increase the semi-major axis of the orbit by 4083 km, increasing the perigee altitude from the original 656 km to 4466 km and the orbital period by more than two and a half hours, from the initial 10 hours 41 minutes to the present 13 hours 27 minutes.
Last Update: 1 September 2019