  This paper is related to our previous works [1][2] on the error estimate of
the averaging technique, for systems with one fast angular variable. In the
cited references, a general method (of mixed analytical and numerical type) has
been introduced to obtain precise, fully quantitative estimates on the
averaging error. Here, this procedure is applied to the motion of a satellite
in a polar orbit around an oblate planet, retaining only the J_2 term in the
multipole expansion of the gravitational potential. To exemplify the method,
the averaging errors are estimated for the data corresponding to two Earth
satellites; for a very large number of orbits, computation of our estimators is
much less expensive than the direct numerical solution of the equations of
motion.
