That's right. Some time ago I have written an article on the possibility of changing the GPS constellation following 11/9. There I have made some rough estimations on the amount of propellant to be used in order to carry out inclination and right ascencion changes. Some examples are explained. For example for an inclination change of 30 degree with O2/H2 propellant would require that the satellite has to carry 36% of it own mass in form of propellant in order to achieve this change. This is only valid for a GPS orbit, but it gives an idea on the large amount of propellant to use for such maneuvres. The situation is even worse for changes in ascending nodes. You can find the entire article with the required equations to calculate the approximate need of propellant for the Shuttle under http://www.ion-ch.ch/publications/Report_Final.doc (3161KB) or http://www.ion-ch.ch/publications/Report_Final.pdf (4778KB). Unfortunately the needed equations are at the end of the document. For those who don't want to download the entire article can go to http://home.datacomm.ch/sca/sat/GPS-RED.doc (76KB) which contains only the last five pages of the document (note that the chapter and page numbering are altered in this reduced document). Maurizio No can do. While the altitude is a problem, the main issue is the plane change. Orbital inclination changes are VERY expensive in terms of propellant, and there's a huge difference between a 39-degree inclination orbit and a 51.6-degree inclination. --Rob ----------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe from SeeSat-L by sending a message with 'unsubscribe' in the SUBJECT to SeeSat-L-request@lists.satellite.eu.org http://www.satellite.eu.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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