Retrospective proposals for the orbital correction of GSAT0201 & GSAT0202

On 22nd August 2014, the first two Galileo Full Operational Capacity satellites, GSAT0201 and GSAT0202, were launched from Kourou on a Soyuz ST-B rocket. Minutes after launch, it became clear the achieved orbit was very different from the nominal injection, because of a failure in the Fregat-M upper stage separation. This anomaly in the launch introduced several risks for the two satellites themselves, as well as limitations in the use of several of their subsystems and in their interoperability with the rest of the Galileo GNSS constellation. A recovery campaign took place in the winter of 2014/2015 to reduce the risks and increase the usability of the two probes’ orbit. In this thesis we will discuss about the choices that were done by the recovery team, especially about the alternative orbits that were discarded. A comparison between the proposed solutions and the actual recovery trajectory will be carried out.