<h2>AAS  96-208</h2><h2>DESIGN OF SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS FOR REGIONAL COVERAGE</h2><h4>F. M. Soccorsi and G. B. Palmerini, Universita degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"</h4><h2> Abstract </h2>Design of satellite constellations is dependent on the application: global, zonal or regional coverage. Geometrical analysisi of the configuration is simplest for the global case, based on circular orbits, due to the simmetry of the problem.  Nevertheless, eccentric orbits could be preferred for the coverage of restricted areas (regions), where simmetry is not yet present.  This paper deals with a new method to design a constellation based on elliptic orbits for regional coverage.  Basic point of the proposed procedure is the application of the linear programming theory (simplex method), in order to find the best set of parameters to ensure coverage.  A previous definition of the time of coverage function, to be maximised, is required.  This function will be evaluated on the basis of the grids of the selected mesh.  In order to take into account the perturbation J2, the method described is improved, using opprtune weights.  Orbital periods are then corrected in order to have repeating ground tracks.<br><br>