MODIFIED EQUINOCTIAL ORBITAL ELEMENTS

The modified equinoctial orbital elements are a set of orbital elements that are useful for
trajectory analysis and optimization. They are valid for circular, elliptic, and hyperbolic
orbits. These direct modified equinoctial equations exhibit no singularity for zero
eccentricity and orbital inclinations equal to 0 and 90 degrees. However, two of the
components are singular for an orbital inclination of 180 degrees.

Relationship between modified equinoctial and classical orbital elements

p = a (1 − e 2 )

f = e cos (ω + Ω )

g = e sin (ω + Ω )
(1)
h = tan ( i 2 ) cos Ω

k = tan ( i 2 ) sin Ω

L = Ω +ω +θ

where
p= semiparameter
a= semimajor axis
e= orbital eccentricity
i= orbital inclination
ω = argument of perigee
Ω = right ascension of the ascending node
θ = true anomaly
L = true longitude

Relationship between classical and modified equinoctial orbital elements

semimajor axis
p
a= (2a)
1 − f 2 − g2

orbital eccentricity
e= f 2 + g2 (2b)

orbital inclination

i = 2 tan −1 ( ) (
h 2 + k 2 = tan −1 2 h 2 + k 2 ,1 − h 2 − k 2 ) (2c)

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 argument of periapsis

ω = tan −1 ( g f ) − tan −1 ( k h ) = tan −1 ( gh − f k , f h + gk ) (2d)

right ascension of the ascending node

Ω = tan −1 ( k , h ) (2e)

true anomaly

θ = L − ( Ω + ω ) = L − tan −1 ( g f ) (2f)

argument of latitude

u = ω + θ = tan −1 ( h sin L − k cos L, h cos L + k sin L ) (2g)

In these equations an expression of the form tan −1 ( a, b ) indicates a four quadrant inverse
tangent calculation.

Relationship between ECI state vector and modified equinoctial elements

position vector

r 
 s 2 ( cos L + α cos L + 2hk sin L ) 
2

 
r
r =  2 ( sin L − α 2 sin L + 2hk cos L )  (3a)
s 
 2r 
 ( h sin L −k cos L ) 
 s2 

velocity vector

 1 µ 
 − 2 ( sin L + α 2 sin L − 2hk cos L + g − 2 f h k + α 2 g ) 
 s p 
 1 µ 
v = − 2 ( − cos L + α 2 cos L + 2hk sin L − f + 2 gh k + α 2 f )  (3b)
 s p 
 
 2 µ 

( h cos L + k sin L + f h + gk ) 
s2 p

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 where
α 2 = h2 − k 2

s2 = 1 + h2 + k 2
p
r=
w
w = 1 + f cos L + g sin L

Modified equinoctial form of the orbital equations of motion

The system of first-order modified equinoctial equations of orbital motion are given by
the following expressions

dp 2 p p
p = = ∆t
dt w µ

df p ∆ g∆ 
f = =  ∆ r sin L + ( w + 1) cos L + f  t − ( h sin L − k cos L ) n 
dt µ w w 

dg p ∆ g∆ 
g = =  −∆ r cos L + ( w + 1) sin L + g  t + ( h sin L − k cos L ) n 
dt µ w w 

dh p s2∆n
h = = cos L
dt µ 2w

dk p s2∆n
k = = sin L
dt µ 2w

dL  w 1
2
p (4)
L = = µp   + ( h sin L − k cos L ) ∆ n
dt  p w µ

where ∆ r , ∆ t , ∆ n are non-two-body perturbations in the radial, tangential and normal

directions, respectively. The radial direction is along the geocentric radius vector of the
spacecraft measured positive in a direction away from the geocenter, the tangential
direction is perpendicular to this radius vector measured positive in the direction of
orbital motion, and the normal direction is positive along the angular momentum vector
of the spacecraft’s orbit.

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In vector form the equations of motion can be expressed as follows:

dy
y = = A (y) P + b (5)
dt

where

 2p p 
 0 0 
 w µ 
 p p 1 p g 
 sin L ( w + 1) cos L + f  − [h sin L − k cos L]
 µ µ w µ w 
 
− p p p f

cos L ( w + 1) sin L + g  [h sin L − k cos L] 
µ µ µ w 
A= 
 p s 2 cos L 
0 0
 µ 2w 
 
 p s 2 sin L 
 0 0 
 µ 2w 
 p 
 0 0 [ h sin L − k cos L] 
 µ 

and
T
  w 
2

b = 0 0 0 0 0 µp  
  p  

The total non-two-body acceleration vector is given by

P = ∆ r ˆi r + ∆ t ˆit + ∆ n ˆi n (6)

where ˆi r , ˆit and ˆin are unit vectors in the radial, tangential and normal directions
computed from the ECI position r and velocity vectors v according to

ˆi = r
r
r

ˆi = r × v (7)
n
r×v

ˆi = ˆi × ˆi = ( r × v ) × r
t n r
r×v r

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For unperturbed two-body motion, P = 0 and the first five equations of motion are
simply p = f = g = h = k = 0 . Therefore, for two-body motion these modified
equinoctial orbital elements are constant.

Non-spherical Earth Gravity

The non-spherical gravitational acceleration vector can be expressed as

g = g N ˆi N − g r î r (8)

where

ˆi = ( )
eˆ N − eˆ TN ˆi r ˆi r
− ( eˆ ˆi ) ˆi
N
T
eˆ N N r r

and
eˆ N = [0 0 1]
T

In these equations the north direction component is indicated by subscript N and the
radial direction component is subscript r.

The contributions due to the zonal gravity effects of J 2 , J 3 , J 4 are as follows:

k
µ cos φ 4
 Re  '
gN = −
r2
∑   Pk J k
k =2  r 
(9a)

k
µ 4
R 
2 ∑(
gr = − k + 1)  e  Pk J k (9b)
r k =2  r 

where
µ = gravitational constant
r = geocentric distance of the spacecraft
Re = equatorial radius of the Earth
φ = geocentric latitude
J k = zonal gravity coefficient
Pk = k th order Legendre polynomial

For a zonal only Earth gravity model, the east component is identically zero.

Therefore, the zonal gravity perturbation contribution is

a g = QT g (10)

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where Q =  ˆi r ˆit ˆi n  .

For J 2 effects only, the components are as follows:

3µ J 2 Re2  12 ( h sin L − k cos L ) 

2

∆ J2 =− 1− (11a)
r
2r 4 
 (1 + h 2
+ k ) 
2 2

12 µ J 2 Re2  ( h sin L − k cos L )( h cos L + k sin L ) 

∆ J2 = − (11b)
(1 + h 2 + k 2 )
2
t
r4  
 

6µ J 2 Re2  (1 − h − k ) ( h sin L − k cos L ) 

2 2

∆ J2 =− (11c)
(1 + h 2 + k 2 )
2
n
r4  
 

Aerodynamic Drag

The radial, tangential and normal perturbations due to aerodynamic drag are given by the
following three expressions:

1
∆ Dr = − ρ SCD vvr (12a)
2

1
∆ Dt = − ρ SCD vvt (12b)
2

∆ Dn =0 (12c)

where

ρ = atmospheric density
S = aerodynamic reference area
CD = drag coefficient
v = velocity magnitude
µ
vr = ( f sin L − g cos L )
p
µ
vt = (1 + f cos L + g sin L )
p

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Secondary Body Perturbations

The general vector equation for secondary body perturbations such as the Moon or
planets is given by
n
d j sj 
t = −∑ µ j  3 + 3  (13)
j =1 d j sj 

In this equation, s j is the vector from the primary body to the secondary body j, µ j is the
gravitational constant of the secondary body and d j = r − s j , where r is the position
vector of the spacecraft relative to the primary body.

To avoid numerical problems, use is made of Battin’s F ( q ) function given by

 3 + 3qk + qk2 
F ( qk ) = qk  3
(14)
(
 1 + 1 + qk  )
where
r T ( r − 2s k )
qk =
sTk sk

The t term can now be expressed as

n
µk
t = −∑ r + F ( qk ) sk  (15)
k =1 d k3 

Finally, the perturbation due to secondary bodies in the modified equinoctial coordinate
system is given by
aTB = QT t (16)

where Q =  ˆi r ˆit ˆi n  .

Propulsive Thrust

The acceleration due to propulsive thrust can be expressed as

T
aT = uˆ (17)
m

where T is the thrust, m is the spacecraft mass and uˆ = [ ur ut un ] is the unit pointing
thrust vector expressed in the spacecraft-centered radial-tangential-normal coordinate
system. The components of the unit thrust vector can also be defined in terms of the in-
plane pitch angle θ and the out-of-plane yaw angle ψ as follows:

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 ur = sin θ
ut = cos θ cosψ (18)
un = cos θ sinψ

Finally, the pitch and yaw angles can be determined from the components of the unit
thrust vector according to
θ = sin −1 ( ur )
(19)
ψ = tan −1
( un , ut )
The pitch angle is positive above the “local horizontal” and the yaw angle is positive in
the direction of the angular momentum vector.

The relationship between a unit thrust vector in the ECI coordinate system uˆ TECI and the
corresponding unit thrust vector in the modified equinoctial system uˆ TMEE is given by

uˆ TECI =  ˆi r ˆi
t
ˆi  uˆ
n  TMEE (20)

where

ˆi = r ˆi = r × v ˆi = ˆi × ˆi = ( r × v ) × r
r n t n r
r r×v r×v r

This relationship can also be expressed as

 rˆ
 x ( hˆ × rˆ ) x
hˆ x 

uˆ TECI = [Q ] uˆ TMEE = rˆy
 ( hˆ × rˆ ) y
hˆ y  uˆ TMEE

(21)
 
 rˆz ( hˆ × rˆ ) z
hˆ z 


Finally, the transformation of the unit thrust vector in the ECI system to the modified
equinoctial coordinate system is given by

uˆ TMEE = [Q ] uˆ TECI
T
(22)

For the case of tangential steering

( ) ( hˆ × rˆ ) ( hˆ × rˆ ) 
T
uˆ TECI =  hˆ × rˆ (23)
 x y z

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References

“On the Equinoctial Orbital Elements”, R. A. Brouke and P. J. Cefola, Celestial

Mechanics, Vol. 5, pp. 303-310, 1972.

“A Set of Modified Equinoctial Orbital Elements”, M. J. H. Walker, B. Ireland and J.

Owens, Celestial Mechanics, Vol. 36, pp. 409-419, 1985.

“Optimal Interplanetary Orbit Transfers by Direct Transcription”, John T. Betts, The

Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 42, No. 3, July-September 1994, pp. 247-268.

“Using Sparse Nonlinear Programming to Compute Low Thrust Orbit Transfers”, John T.
Betts, The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 41, No. 3, July-September 1993,
pp. 349-371.

“Equinoctial Orbit Elements: Application to Optimal Transfer Problems”, Jean A.

Kechichian, AIAA 90-2976, AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Conference, Portland, OR, 20-
22 August 1990.

“Advances in Low-thrust Trajectory Optimization and Flight Mechanics”, Y. Gao,

Doctoral Dissertation, University of Missouri-Columbia, December 2003.

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