Ideal satellite formation configuration with an elliptic reference orbit

To design the ideal satellite formation configurations with an elliptical reference orbit, the characteristics of the relative motion are summarized from the precise equtions in terms of the reference orbital elements.Several ideal formation orbits were produced with specific geometric features.Three ideal configurations were developed for three-satellite formations which can be used for remote sensing missions.The reference orbital elements approach is convenient for designing ideal formation orbits and configurations and can select the satellites' initial states according to the formation features.The ideal formation design can be used to determine the natural formation design,which is more complicated but more useful due to perturbation effects,and the formation initialization.