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Graveyard Orbit




For satellites in a Geostationary Orbit , the graveyard orbit would be few hundred Kilometer s above the operational orbit. The transfer to graveyard orbit above Geostationary Orbit however requires the same amount of Fuel that a satellite needs for approximately three months of Stationkeeping . It also requires a reliable Attitude Control during the transfer maneuver. While most satellite operators try to perform such a maneuver at the end of the operational life only one-third succeed in doing so.

According to the Altitude \Delta{H} \, above the Geostationary Orbit should be:
:\Delta{H} = 235\mbox{ km} + \left ( C_R rac{A}{m} ight )
where C_R \, is the solar radiation pressure coefficient and rac{A}{m} is the aspect area to mass ratio of the satellite. This formula includes about 200 km for the GEO protected zone to also permit orbit maneuvers in GEO without interference with the graveyard orbit. Another 35 kilometers Tolerance must be allowed for the effects of Gravitation al perturbations. The remaining part of the Equation considers the effects of the Solar Radiation pressure, which depends on the physical parameters of the satellite.