Inorbital mechanics, alibration point orbit (LPO) is aquasiperiodicorbit around aLagrange point.Libration is a form of orbital motion exhibited, for example, in the Earth–Moon system.Trojan bodies also exhibit libration dynamics.
Two varieties of libration point orbits amenable toLyapunov stability[clarification needed] arehalo orbits andLissajous orbits[1]
TheJames Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is in a libration point orbit around the L2 Lagrange point of the Sun, and Earth-Moonbarycenters.[2][3] Because libration point orbits are quasiperiodic, the telescope must make frequent smallburns to maintain proximity to the L2 point, as part oforbital station keeping, limiting the lifespan of the telescope due to depletion of fuel reserves.
Early simulations of the JWST obtained a high confidence in achieving a ten-year operational lifespan before station keeping becomes untenable.[3] However thanks to a highly accurate launch, it is now thought the telescope could keep its station for up to twenty or even twenty-five years. Some years of intermittent service after that might also be tenable, because of the slow drift rate out of, or in to, the Lagrange point.
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