Approximation of artificial satellites' preliminary orbits: The efficiency challenge

In this paper the problem of the determination of the preliminary orbit of a celestial body is studied. We compare the results obtained by the classical Gauss’s method with those obtained by some higher-order iterative methods for solving nonlinear equations. The original problem of the determination of the preliminary orbits was posed by means of a nonlinear equation. We modify this equation in order to obtain a nonlinear system which describes thementioned problem andwe derive a new efficient iterativemethod for solving it. We also propose a new definition of optimal order of convergence for iterative methods for solving nonlinear systems. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.