On the Roto-Translatory Motion of a Satellite of an Oblate Primary

We deal with the problem of the motion of a triaxial satellite of an oblate primary of larger mass. We show that the treatment is simplified by using a canonical set of variables previously introduced by the authors, that allows a drastic reduction in the expansions of the potential. A general method to avoid the appearance of virtual singularities when the angles between certain planes are small is designed. Our approach is applicable either to natural or artificial satellites.