Abstract:

CE-1, the Chinese first lunar exploration satellite, was successfully launched on 24th Oct. 2007 and captured into a mission orbit of 200 km from lunar surface on 7th Nov. 2007. The translunar trajectory is the key section within the whole flight process. According the original design 2 or 3 times of midcourse corrections would be performed during this orbital segment. However, only one correction maneuver has been carried out at the 41th hour after the translunar trajectory insertion and the velocity increment needed was only 4.8m/s. Some detailed analysis based on the real tracking data and the orbit determination results is presented here in this paper.

Key words: lunar exploration, lunar satellite, phasing orbit, translunar trajectory, midcourse correction maneuver