Orbital Axis Slewing

Author: Tianjiang Shuo

Website: https://cislunarspace.cn

Definition

A two-impulse maneuver that rotates the major axis of an elliptical orbit without changing its shape or size. Lawden proved that the optimal slewing transfer ellipse is tangent to both terminal orbits at their apses, with impulses applied perpendicular to the radius. Propellant expenditure increases with rotation angle, peaking at 180 degrees.

Application Value

在脉冲转向的设计与分析中，可用于优化转移方案，减少燃料消耗 为航天器的精确控制提供理论依据，确保任务执行的可靠性 在任务规划阶段用于评估不同推进方案的优劣。

References

• Lawden, D. F. (1962). Impulsive Transfer between Elliptical Orbits. In Optimization Techniques, Ch. 11.