Chapter 6. Simple Orbit Transfer

In this tutorial, we will use GMAT to perform a Hohmann transfer from a low-Earth parking orbit to a geosynchronous mission orbit. This requires a targeting sequence to determine the required maneuver magnitudes to achieve the desired final orbit conditions. In order to focus on the configuration of the targeter, we will make extensive use of the default configurations for spacecraft, propagators, and maneuvers.

The target sequence employs two velocity-direction maneuvers and two propagation sequences. The purpose of the first maneuver is to raise orbit apoapsis to 42,165 km, the geosynchronous radius. The purpose of the second maneuver is to nearly circularize the orbit and yield a final eccentricity of 0.005. The basic steps of this tutorial are:

For this tutorial, you’ll need GMAT open, with the default mission loaded. To load the default mission, click New Mission () or start a new GMAT session. We will use the default configurations for the spacecraft (DefaultSC), the propagator (DefaultProp), and the two maneuvers. DefaultSC is configured by default to a near-circular orbit, and DefaultProp is configured to use Earth as the central body with a nonspherical gravity model of degree and order 4. You may want to open the dialog boxes for these objects and inspect them more closely as we will leave them at their default settings.

Now we will configure a Target sequence to solve for the maneuver values required to raise the orbit to geosynchronous altitude and circularize the orbit. We’ll begin by creating an initial Propagate command, then the Target sequence itself, then the final Propagate command. To allow us to focus on the Target sequence, we’ll assume you have already learned how to propagate an orbit to a desired condition by working through the Chapter 5, Simulating an Orbit tutorial.

Create the Target Sequence

Now create the commands necessary to perform the Target sequence. Figure 6.1, “Final Mission Sequence for the Hohmann Transfer” illustrates the configuration of the Mission tree after you have completed the steps in this section. We’ll discuss the Target sequence after it has been created.

Figure 6.1. Final Mission Sequence for the Hohmann Transfer

To create the Target sequence:

1. In the Mission tree, right-click Prop To Periapsis, point to Insert After, and click Target. This will insert two separate commands: Target1 and EndTarget1.

2. Right-click Target1 and click Rename.

3. Type Hohmann Transfer and click OK.

4. Right-click Hohmann Transfer, point to Append, and click Vary.

5. Rename Vary1 to Vary TOI.

6. Complete the Target sequence by appending the commands in Table 6.2, “Additional Target Sequence Commands”.

   Table 6.2. Additional Target Sequence Commands

   Command	Name
   Maneuver	Perform TOI
   Propagate	Prop To Apoapsis
   Achieve	Achieve RMAG = 42165
   Vary	Vary GOI
   Maneuver	Perform GOI
   Achieve	Achieve ECC = 0.005

   
   

Note

Let’s discuss what the Target sequence does. We know that two maneuvers are required to perform the Hohmann transfer. We also know that for our current mission, the final orbit radius must be 42,165 km and the final orbital eccentricity must be 0.005. However, we don’t know the size (or ΔV magnitudes) of the maneuvers that precisely achieve the desired orbital conditions. You use the Target sequence to solve for those precise maneuver values. You must tell GMAT what controls are available (in this case, two maneuvers) and what conditions must be satisfied (in this case, a specific orbital radius and eccentricity). You accomplish this using the Vary and Achieve commands. Using the Vary command, you tell GMAT what to solve for—in this case, the ΔV values for TOI and GOI. You use the Achieve command to tell GMAT what conditions the solution must satisfy—in this case, the final orbital conditions.

Create the Final Propagate Command

We need a Propagate command after the Target sequence so that we can see our final orbit.

1. In the Mission tree, right-click End Hohmann Transfer, point to Insert After, and click Propagate. A new Propagate3 command will appear.

2. Rename Propagate3 to Prop One Day.

3. Double-click Prop One Day to edit its properties.

4. Under Condition, replace the value 12000.0 with 86400, the number of seconds in one day.

5. Click OK to save these changes.

Figure 6.2. Prop One Day Command Configuration

Configure the Target Sequence

Now that the structure is created, we need to configure the various parts of the Target sequence to do what we want.

Configure the Vary TOI Command

1. Double-click Vary TOI to edit its properties. Notice that the variable in the Variable box is TOI.Element1, which by default is the velocity component of TOI in the local Velocity-Normal-Binormal (VNB) coordinate system. That’s what we need, so we’ll keep it.

2. In the Initial Value box, type 1.0.

3. In the Max Step box, type 0.5.

4. Click OK to save these changes.

Figure 6.3. Vary TOI Command Configuration

Configure the Perform TOI Command

1. Double-click Perform TOI to edit its properties. Notice that the command is already set to apply the TOI burn to the DefaultSC spacecraft, so we don’t need to change anything here.

2. Click OK.

Figure 6.4. Perform TOI Command Configuration

Configure the Prop to Apoapsis Command

1. Double-click Prop to Apoapsis to edit its properties.

2. Under Parameter, replace DefaultSC.ElapsedSecs with DefaultSC.Earth.Apoapsis.

3. Click OK to save these changes.

Figure 6.5. Prop to Apoapsis Command Configuration

Configure the Achieve RMAG = 42165 Command

1. Double-click Achieve RMAG = 42165 to edit its properties.

2. Notice that Goal is set to DefaultSC.Earth.RMAG. This is what we need, so we make no changes here.

3. In the Value box, type 42164.169, a more precise number for the radius of a geosynchronous orbit (in kilometers).

4. Click OK to save these changes.

Figure 6.6. Achieve RMAG = 42165 Command Configuration

Configure the Vary GOI Command

1. Double-click Vary GOI to edit its properties.

2. Next to Variable, click the Edit button.

3. Under Object List, click GOI.

4. In the Object Properties list, double-click Element1 to move it to the Selected Value(s) list. See the image below for results.

   Figure 6.7. Vary GOI Parameter Selection

   
   
   

5. Click OK to close the ParameterSelectDialog window.

6. In the Initial Value box, type 1.0.

7. In the MaxStep text box, type 0.2.

8. Click OK to save these changes.

Figure 6.8. Vary GOI Command Configuration

Configure the Perform GOI Command

1. Double-click Perform GOI to edit its properties.

2. In the Burn list, click GOI.

3. Click OK to save these changes.

Figure 6.9. Perform GOI Command Configuration

Configure the Achieve ECC = 0.005 Command

1. Double-click Achieve ECC = 0.005 to edit its properties.

2. Next to Goal, click the Edit button.

3. In the Object Properties list, double-click ECC.

4. Click OK to close the ParameterSelectDialog window.

5. In the Value box, type 0.005.

6. In the Tolerance box, type 0.0001.

7. Click OK to save these changes.

Figure 6.10. Achieve ECC = 0.005 Command Configuration

Before running the mission, click Save () and save the mission to a file of your choice. Now click Run (). As the mission runs, you will see GMAT solve the targeting problem. Each iteration and perturbation is shown in DefaultOrbitView window in light blue, and the final solution is shown in red. After the mission completes, the 3D view should appear as in to the image shown below. You may want to run the mission several times to see the targeting in progress.

Figure 6.11. 3D View of Hohmann Transfer

If you were to continue developing this mission, you can store the final solution of the Target sequence as the initial conditions of the TOI and GOI resources themselves, so that if you make small changes, the subsequent runs will take less time. To do this, follow these steps: