astro.CowellPropagator

class hohmannpy.astro.CowellPropagator(step_size=60)

Simplest non-Keplerian propagate which numerically integrates the equations of motion of a satellite using a 4th-order Runge-Kutta method. This is known as Cowell’s method by astrodynamicists.

Two things set this apart from Keplerian methods. First, it can handle perturbing forces like NonSphericalEarth. However, in addition the accuracy of the propagation decreases over time as opposed to a Keplerian propagator which has a fixed accuracy. To mitigate this decrease the step size.

Parameters:

step_size (float) – Time interval between propagation steps. If one is not provided by the user it will be set in propagate() to 60 \(s\).