Design of ASTROD-GW Orbit

The ASTROD-GW (ASTROD [Astrodynamical Space Test of Relativity Using Optical Devices] Optimized for Gravitation Wave Detection), the mission of the laser astrodynamical gravitational wave detection, is the scheme of optimality of the gravitational wave detection on which the ASTROD is concentrated. Its spacecraft orbits form a triangular array close to an equilateral triangle in the vicinity of the solar-terrestrial Lagrangian points L₃, L₄ and L₅. The length of the interference arm is about 2.6 × 10⁸ km and the detectable wavelength of the gravitational wave is 52 times larger than that detected by the LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna). In this article, the design and optimization method of the ASTROD-GW orbit are summarized. After the orbit is optimized, the variation in the arm length difference (which can be called the interference difference in laser interferometry) within 10 years is in the order of magnitude of 10⁻⁴ AU. The Doppler velocities in the three arm length directions are smaller than 4 m/s, and all of them are less than that required by the LISA. Therefore the laser ranging techniques developed by the LISA can be applied to the ASTROD-GW.