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Micro Satellite Orbital Boost by Electrodynamic Tethers

In this manuscript, a method for maneuvering a spacecraft using electrically charged tethers is explored. The spacecraft’s velocity vector can be modified by interacting with Earth’s magnetic field. Through this method, a spacecraft can maintain an orbit indefinitely by reboosting without the constr...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Yao, Peter, Sands, Timothy
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8400572/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34442538
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi12080916
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author Yao, Peter
Sands, Timothy
author_facet Yao, Peter
Sands, Timothy
author_sort Yao, Peter
collection PubMed
description In this manuscript, a method for maneuvering a spacecraft using electrically charged tethers is explored. The spacecraft’s velocity vector can be modified by interacting with Earth’s magnetic field. Through this method, a spacecraft can maintain an orbit indefinitely by reboosting without the constraint of limited propellant. The spacecraft-tether system dynamics in low Earth orbit are simulated to evaluate the effects of Lorentz force and torques on translational motion. With 500-meter tethers charged with a 1-amp current, a 100-kg spacecraft can gain 250 m of altitude in one orbit. By evaluating the combined effects of Lorenz force and the coupled effects of Lorentz torque propagation through Euler’s moment equation and Newton’s translational motion equations, the simulated spacecraft-tether system can orbit indefinitely at altitudes as low as 275 km. Through a rare evaluation of the nonlinear coupling of the six differential equations of motion, the one finding is that an electrodynamic tether can be used to maintain a spacecraft’s orbit height indefinitely for very low Earth orbits. However, the reboost maneuver is inefficient for high inclination orbits and has high electrical power requirement. To overcome greater aerodynamic drag at lower altitudes, longer tethers with higher power draw are required.
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spelling pubmed-84005722021-08-29 Micro Satellite Orbital Boost by Electrodynamic Tethers Yao, Peter Sands, Timothy Micromachines (Basel) Article In this manuscript, a method for maneuvering a spacecraft using electrically charged tethers is explored. The spacecraft’s velocity vector can be modified by interacting with Earth’s magnetic field. Through this method, a spacecraft can maintain an orbit indefinitely by reboosting without the constraint of limited propellant. The spacecraft-tether system dynamics in low Earth orbit are simulated to evaluate the effects of Lorentz force and torques on translational motion. With 500-meter tethers charged with a 1-amp current, a 100-kg spacecraft can gain 250 m of altitude in one orbit. By evaluating the combined effects of Lorenz force and the coupled effects of Lorentz torque propagation through Euler’s moment equation and Newton’s translational motion equations, the simulated spacecraft-tether system can orbit indefinitely at altitudes as low as 275 km. Through a rare evaluation of the nonlinear coupling of the six differential equations of motion, the one finding is that an electrodynamic tether can be used to maintain a spacecraft’s orbit height indefinitely for very low Earth orbits. However, the reboost maneuver is inefficient for high inclination orbits and has high electrical power requirement. To overcome greater aerodynamic drag at lower altitudes, longer tethers with higher power draw are required. MDPI 2021-07-31 /pmc/articles/PMC8400572/ /pubmed/34442538 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi12080916 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Yao, Peter
Sands, Timothy
Micro Satellite Orbital Boost by Electrodynamic Tethers
title Micro Satellite Orbital Boost by Electrodynamic Tethers
title_full Micro Satellite Orbital Boost by Electrodynamic Tethers
title_fullStr Micro Satellite Orbital Boost by Electrodynamic Tethers
title_full_unstemmed Micro Satellite Orbital Boost by Electrodynamic Tethers
title_short Micro Satellite Orbital Boost by Electrodynamic Tethers
title_sort micro satellite orbital boost by electrodynamic tethers
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8400572/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34442538
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi12080916
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