Studies of zenith pass tracing of the inter‐satellite linkage antenna based on mechanical tilting

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a feasible method to solve the zenith pass problem that can occur when the inter‐satellite linkage antenna of the user satellite is tracing TDRS. The antenna uses the elevation‐over‐azimuth architecture.Design/methodology/approachThe movement laws of the inter‐satellite linkage can be obtained based on the orbit predictions of the user satellite and TDRS. According to the movement laws, the zenith pass moments and blindness zones are found. The trajectory preprocessor is provided to design a command trajectory for driving the axis of the tilting mechanism.FindingsIn the worst situation, the blindness zone can appear once every half day. Three special orbit altitude values are obtained. When the user satellite picks one of them as its orbit altitude, the blindness zone may be avoided forever. The zenith pass tracing strategies based on the mechanical tilting method have been designed.Research limitations/implicationsThis method obtains the stable tracking during the zenith pass course by changing the hardware structure of the antenna. It is too expensive and can influence the pointing precision of the antenna.Practical implicationsThe research can help the engineers analyze and solve the zenith pass problem of the antenna.Originality/valueThis paper studies the zenith pass problem that can occur when the inter‐satellite linkage antenna of the user satellite is tracing TDRS and provides a solving method.