Numerical modeling reveals stable storage orbits 200–500 km above operational GLONASS altitudes over 200 years, highlighting the impact of luni-solar and solar radiation resonances.
The problem of selecting storage orbits for end-of-life GLONASS global navigation system satellites is considered. The storage orbit requirement is that the satellite located in this orbit should not enter the zone of operating navigation satellites over a 200-year interval. We performed numerical modeling of the orbital evolution of objects in the vicinity of the GLONASS system over a 200-year interval. The initial values of the orbital semimajor axis varied from 25 400 to 25 950 km, as well as the longitude of the ascending node. Objects with area-to-mass ratios of 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 m2 kg–1 were considered. We recommend storage orbits with initial semimajor axes 200–500 km above the nominal GLONASS orbit for objects with an area-to-mass ratio corresponding to satellites. It is shown that when choosing the initial orientation of the orbit, it is necessary to consider the features of the long-period evolution of eccentricity under the influence of the luni–solar resonance determined by the orbital inclination, and the secondary secular apsidal–nodal resonance induced by the solar radiation pressure.
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Urazaev et al. (2026) studied this question.
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