Analytical Derivation of Maximum Allowable Drift for Satellite Constellations Based on Geometric Equivalence

Long-term constellation coverage missions are critical for global climate monitoring, providing continuous high-precision data. However, excessive orbital drift caused by secular perturbations inevitably degrades coverage performance, highlighting the need for accurate maximum allowable drift (MAD) determination. As existing methods suffer inevitable trade-off between accuracy and calculation efficiency, an analytical MAD derivation method is proposed in this study grounded on two newly raised models, the MAD Domain (MADD) and the Effective Field of View (EFoV). The central focus of this work is the construction of the analytical function between the two models. Specifically, satellites at any given moment are considered to be located within a domain rather than at a fixed point. As a result, regions of coverage gaps emerge within the original Field of View (FoV), causing the formation of a mutual coverage area. This area is then derived and defined as EFoV by redefining FoV as a variable parameter, and the critical EFoV angle is defined at the point where the coverage performance begins to degrade. Moreover, by establishing the function between MADD and EFoV, the proposed method provides a fast and accurate analytical formulation of drift tolerances. As a result, satellite drift in any direction can be obtained from MADD through a simple transformation. Simulation studies confirm that the method ensures continuous coverage, and computation time can be reduced up to 90% compared with conventional approaches.