AAS 97-621
OPTIMIZATION OF SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS FOR DISCONTINUOUS GLOBAL COVERAGE VIA GENETIC ALGORITHMS
Capt. E. George - USAF, SMC/AD
Abstract
For many satellite applications continuous coverage of the earth is not required. Substantial saving in the altitudes of the vehicles or number of vehicles required can be realized if intermittent coverage is allowable. However, the coverage characteristics and design of these constellations is not well understood. This paper presents a genetic algorithm as a robust method for obtaining optimal discontinuous coverage constellations. These constellations are generally unsymmetric and can sometimes offer twice the performance of Walker constellations. This paper presents an overview of the method and examines maximum revisit time results and coverage characteristics for 4, 5, and 6 satellite constellations.