Existence and Control of Special Orbits around Asteroid 4 Vesta

This paper focuses on the existence and control of particular types of orbits around asteroid 4 Vesta, including Sun-synchronous orbits, orbits at the critical inclination, repeating ground-track orbits, and stationary orbits. J2, J3, and J4 terms are considered in the gravity model of Vesta. First, the inclination perturbation caused by solar gravitation is studied, and preset and multiple inclination bias methods are proposed to dampen the local time drift at the ascending node. Compared with Vesta, the control periods of the Sun-synchronous orbits of 21 Lutetia and 433 Eros are much longer. Second, Vesta’s orbits with a critical inclination depend on the semi-major axis and eccentricity. If the eccentricity is not greater than 0.2, inclination decreases slowly and monotonically concerning the semi-major axis. If the eccentricity is not smaller than 0.4, inclination increases rapidly and monotonically. Third, Sun-synchronous repeating ground-track circular orbits of Vesta, which do not exist for Lutetia and Eros, are investigated. Finally, the perturbations of stationary orbits caused by solar gravitation and solar radiation pressure are analyzed.