kerbal-space-program
In Kerbal Space Program, I put up 3 geostationary "GPS" satellites. I spaced them evenly around Kerbin, around 120 degrees apart. They're all at the same (KSO) altitude and within 0.1 m/s speed, but after a few years of gameplay they're bunching up.
How can I get multiple satellites in KSO without them moving around too much?
There's a bug/feature that causes excessive lag when you're close to the oceans. This is because the oceans are actually loaded as a separate planet entity. So the only way around this is when this bug is fixed, or you try running the game with a more powerfull computer.
You're best bet is to err on the side of safety and use too many. The potential financial loss for chutes ($700 each for radial) is much less than the potential financial loss of your entire ship.
I'd love to be able to give you some simple formula like "Use 1 chute for ever x tons". But there is no simple formula. The complex formula can be calculated using the tool you've linked to.
That said, these are some excellent tips:
or i-beams
instead of lander legs
. Modular girders and i-beams have 6x higher impact tolerance (80m/s) than the strongest lander legs (12m/s). You can land a 1000 ton ship on Kerbin with a single chute if it can survive a 80m/s landing.Good luck.
Best Answer
Even a 0,1 m/s difference in speed makes a difference over the years. The only way to ensure that they stay in their position is to fiddle with their orbits in the save game file.
Note that this only works as long the satellites remain in their on rails-simulation, so you can't directly control them by using the control center. Otherwise they will always drift.
You might find these links helpful, there are lots of tutorials how to do this:
Scott Manley's video tutorial
Orbits in KSP wiki