An extrapolation formula for stepping the calculation of the orbit of an artificial satellite several revolutions time

Abstract

A method of solving the equations of motion of an artificial satellite has been developed in which not every successive revolution is computed; we extrapolate ahead several revolutions from each computed revolution. If it is allowable to extrapolate five revolutions, for example, the work of computing is reduced almost by a factor of five. This method was applied to a typical satellite orbit computation and was found to provide predictable accuracy.