Abstract: By considering the impact of perturbation, theoretical conditions are derived for long term adjoint flying based on the equation of relative motion based on kinematics. Using various celestial mechanics properties, a direct relation between the relative parameters and the orbit elements is developed, so relative orbit elements can be connected with the force of perturbation directly. Analysis shows that the impact of the earth oblate can be eliminated partly by the restrictions of orbit elements, but the decrease in the impact of atmosphere resistance is difficult due to the large difference for the ballistic coefficient. The impact of atmosphere resistance on orbit can be amended by the thrust equipment or by the method of callback and release.

Key words: perturbation, space station, adjoint satellite cluster, orbit design