Station-Keeping
The process of performing periodic thruster manoeuvres to maintain a geostationary satellite within its assigned orbital tolerance box.
Full Definition
Geostationary satellites are subject to perturbations from solar radiation pressure, lunisolar gravity, and Earth's oblateness, which cause the satellite to drift from its nominal orbital slot. Station-keeping manoeuvres — typically performed once or twice per week — correct both North–South drift (inclination) and East–West drift (eccentricity and longitude). Editors should hyphenate 'station-keeping' in all uses (noun, adjective, and verb form) per industry convention. The end of active station-keeping marks the beginning of the disposal phase. Station-keeping should not be confused with attitude control, which governs spacecraft orientation rather than orbital position.
Usage
Usage note: Always hyphenated: 'station-keeping.' Do not write as one word or two open words. Distinguish from attitude control (orientation) and orbit-raising (changing orbital altitude).
In Context
- "The satellite's onboard propellant budget was sized to support 15 years of station-keeping at the assigned slot." — Satellite design specification
- "Station-keeping manoeuvres were suspended for 72 hours to allow payload calibration during the quiet period." — Operations procedure document