The Lorf Orbit Equation With Full Quaternions

Abstract

The Local Orbital Reference Frame (LORF) is a Cartesian frame tangential to the trajectory of an orbiting satellite. The orbital motion of the satellite entrains the movement of the LORF around an Inertial Reference Frame (IRF). In this paper, the classical orbit equations (written in terms of inertial position and velocity vectors) are transformed into the LORF orbit equations, by means of full quaternions. Simple application examples are presented.