Design of HTS Coil for Magnetic Driving Spacecraft

Abstract

An experiment testbed aiming to demonstrate the principle of the magnetic driving (MD) spacecrafts was successfully constructed in 2008. Orthogonal Bi2223 coils provide magnetic fields to attract, repel and rotate two 50 kg vehicles in an air pressured platform. Technique details of the testbed in association with the coil design and fabrication are briefly introduced. More details focused on two conceptual designs, which support the use of MD in the future space missions. First, the acceleration between two vehicles, which is a main parameter to evaluate the efficiency of MD is calculated. An optimal coil radius is obtained for such structure that Bi2223 coils are cooled by a passive radiative cooler whose weight is approximately proportional to the coil radius. Second, an active-passive shielding system (APSS) is proposed to protect the onboard instruments which are sensitive to the magnetic field. The basic unit of the APSS is closed HTS coils, which can resist flux variation. The shielding ability of the APSS is discussed by using both theoretical and Finite Element Analysis.