New high order explicit Runge-Kutta methods for orbital calculations
by
Philip W. Sharp
Department of Mathematics, University of Auckland

Orbit calculations such as those for artifical satellites and ephemerides of the solar system often require accurate integrations of many steps. Linear multistep and explicit Runge-Kutta methods have both proven suitable for these integrations. We present new, high order explicit Runge-Kutta methods and illustrate their performance on a suite of orbital problems.

Date received: August 27, 1999