OrbitRelativeFrame definition and ambiguous local orbital frames in CCSDS

Orekit development
1

Hello everyone,

I’m opening this thread because the MR 581 for issue #1099 is ready to be merged. However, this is a bit tricky…

Problem

As explained in the aforementioned issue description, it regards the following problem :

It seems that in the latest version of the CCSDS CDM pink book (CCSDS 508.0-P-1.0.3), the RTN frame is defined, page F-2, as an "Object-centered quasi-inertial coordinate system". However, it is currently translated to the QSW(=RTN=RSW) loftype in Orekit instead of QSW_INERTIAL.

In short, the current conversions between OrbitRelativeFrame and LOFType are false.

Question

Considering that this fix will have non-negligible impacts on users’ systems, should we delay this fix for a major version or do the opposite and fix it ASAP ?

Cheers,
Vincent

2

Hey everyone,

I forgot to say that, unless someone says otherwise, this will be merged for the next minor version 12.2.0 by default.

Cheers,
Vincent

3

Well, I would really like we stop 12.X series at some point, it is a nightmare to maintain develop-13 while develop is still growing.

4

We should open a thread about this.

We could release a 12.2 version in september and a major version around december/january (although this is not the right topic to talk about that :grimacing:)

5

+1 that’s not the topic here.

My opinion is that any change with major impacts for users (API change, important impacts on propagation, frames, etc. results) shall be done during a major release with details description of the change and impacts.

Best regards,
Bryan

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