Subject: Estimating In-Plane Launch Time Targeting Rendezvous
From: Daniel Adamo <[email-masked]>
To: "ATIG (L-Z)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2025 21:30:10 -0700

ATIG Members-

The coming winter's programming project will focus on developing a vehicle-configurable launch simulation targeting rendezvous with an orbiting satellite.  In many use scenarios, launch time for the simulation will be completely unknown, or at most only a calendar date will be specified.

The attached paper describes an iterative algorithm serving as a pre-processor for the simulation.  With few inputs beyond a specified orbiting target ephemeris and an initial launch date/time guess, the algorithm rapidly converges on a launch time at which the launch site lies in the target's geometric orbit plane.  This converged in-plane launch time will then serve as a starting point from which the simulation can determine performance-optimal/marginal launch times leading to rendezvous with the orbiting target.  Comments and questions on the attachment are invited.

-Dan