Learning Forum

[royse.26]

I am modeling a deorbiting scenario on Mars with STK, where I was planning to use Astrogator to propogate a satellite through Mars's atmosphere until it makes contact with the surface. However, it appears that the only Mars-based propagator available to me is the Mars Point Mass model, which neglects the effect of drag that I would like to consider in my simulation.

From my understanding, there is a Mars HPOP propagator model available in STK that I could use to integrate a Mars atmospheric model. This option is not available in my Astrogator propagator options, so I was curious if the Mars HPOP feature is contained in a license that I do not have access to, or if I am making a mistake when setting up my scenario. Here is a list of the product licenses that I do and do not have access to:

[aidan.mcgrath]

Hello,

You are able to create a Mars HPOP propagator yourself. On the dropdown arrow next to the scenario button in the top right section of the STK window, select Mars as the Central Body:

In the Orbit tab under your satellite properties, select "HPOP" as your propagator. Your central body is Mars, and therefore all of Mars' properties are inherited for the satellite's HPOP. 

Let me know if you would like further assistance.

[royse.26]

Thank you, this was definitely helpful. Is there a way to integrate this propagation model into the Astrogator mission control sequence or will I have to perform the deorbiting propogation outside of Astrogator?

For reference, Astrogator gives the following list of propagator options for the "propagate" control segment. Is it possible to manually add a new propagator to this list?