Continuous Coverage Rosette Constellation Optimization Design Based on Binary Search

This paper addresses the continuous coverage performance analysis method and the optimization design scheme for a rosette constellation. By learning the geometric features of the sub-satellite point tracks, the continuous coverage analysis, which requires plenty of computation, is simplified to a problem based on “3-characteristics”. The method of binary search is applied to the optimization design to solve the problem that it is cumbersome and complicated to determine the value ranges of constellation parameters in accordance with the continuous coverage condition. The theoretical proof shows that the method based on “3-characteristics” can effectively perform the analysis of a rosette constellation's continuous coverage performance at a small computational cost. The simulation results suggest that the optimization method based on binary search can effectively compromise between the continuous coverage performance and the formation cost, and realize the optimization design of the constellation eventually.