Chip-Scale Satellite Control with Multiple Electrodynamic Tethers

Micro Satellite Orbital Boost by Electrodynamic Tethers

“…The proposals in this manuscript reverse the paradigm by instead seeking to utilize these external momentum source to intentionally modify spacecraft orbits, particularly by orienting an electric tether as depicted in Figure 1 . Utilization of electric propulsion was recently proposed for ChipSats [ 12 ], and the dynamics were studied for CubeSats [ 13 , 14 ], including electric translational propulsion [ 15 , 16 , 17 ] in addition to tether-assisted propulsion [ 18 ] in the inaugural issue of Aerospace . This manuscript will study utilization of electric tethers to generate angular momentum, which propagates through the six coupled nonlinear equations of motion forming the basis for modern spacecraft attitude control and guidance proposed in 2007 [ 19 ], formulated in 2009 [ 20 ], and experimentally validated in 2012 [ 21 ].…”

“…Developments presented in this manuscript follow the nature of the 1998 NASA study [ 10 ], which focused on translational thrust generation using Lorentz force combined with the recent augmentation by Weis and Peck [ 12 ], which evaluated attitude control by Lorentz torques determined by Euler’s moment equations. Novelty is validated by the just published review [ 23 ] illustrating the assertion of the predominant focus of the literature on the generation of translational motion via thrust of the tether as a novel propulsion system or torque for attitude control.…”