Optimal Circle-to-Ellipse Orbit Transfer for Sun-Facing E-Sail

Quarta, Alessandro A.; Mengali, Giovanni; Bassetto, Marco; Niccolai, Lorenzo

doi:10.3390/aerospace9110671

Cited by 6 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Equivalently, a 0 is the maximum magnitude of the propulsive acceleration in the circular parking orbit. Recall that the maximum acceleration is obtained in a Sun-facing attitude condition [30] (that is, when n ≡ r) and τ = 1. From the definition of a 0 , it follows that…”

Section: Problem Description and Mathematical Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Orbit Flip Trajectories Generated by E-Sail

Quarta,

Bassetto,

Mengali

2023

Applied Sciences

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An Electric Solar Wind Sail (E-sail) is a propellantless propulsion concept that extracts momentum from the high-speed solar wind stream to generate thrust. This paper investigates the performance of such a propulsion system in obtaining the transition from a prograde to a retrograde motion. The spacecraft is assumed to initially trace a circular heliocentric orbit of given radius. This particular trajectory, referred to as Circular Orbit Flip Trajectory (COFT), is analyzed in a two-dimensional mission scenario, by exploiting the capability of a medium-high performance E-sail to change the spacecraft angular momentum vector during its motion in the interplanetary space. More precisely, the paper describes a procedure to evaluate the E-sail optimal performance in a set of COFTs, by calculating their minimum flight times as a function of the sail reference propulsive acceleration. It is shown that a two-dimensional COFT can be generated by means of a simple steering law in which the E-sail nominal plane has a nearly fixed attitude with respect to an orbital reference system, for most of the time interval of the interplanetary transfer.

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Section: Problem Description and Mathematical Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Orbit Flip Trajectories Generated by E-Sail

Quarta,

Bassetto,

Mengali

2023

Applied Sciences

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“…As far as orbit transfers are concerned, a solar sail with a Sun-facing attitude may be employed only in a few cases of two-dimensional mission scenarios, such as the transfer between two Keplerian orbits that share the same value of semilatus rectum [23,32], or the (heliocentric) deployment of a smart dust swarm [33][34][35]. However, a Sun-facing attitude is unsuited for transfers between two generic Keplerian orbits, even in the simplified case of coplanar orbits or if the propulsive acceleration magnitude is modulated during the flight.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This solar sail, which uses a diffractive (instead of reflective) film [49], is able to generate an in-plane thrust component even if the incoming photon direction is perpendicular to the sail nominal plane [50][51][52]; see Figure 1. Exploiting the characteristics of an ideal diffractive sail, the authors [53] have recently analyzed the performance of a solar sail-based spacecraft with a Sun-facing attitude in an interplanetary mission scenario, assuming that the sail nominal plane may rotate around the Sun-spacecraft line. The trajectory design model discussed in [53] extends the preliminary results obtained by Dubill and Swartzlander [54], and it is based on the assumption that the diffractive sail-induced thrust vector belongs to a conical surface with a fixed half angle and coaxial with the Sun-spacecraft line; see Figure 2.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Exploiting the characteristics of an ideal diffractive sail, the authors [53] have recently analyzed the performance of a solar sail-based spacecraft with a Sun-facing attitude in an interplanetary mission scenario, assuming that the sail nominal plane may rotate around the Sun-spacecraft line. The trajectory design model discussed in [53] extends the preliminary results obtained by Dubill and Swartzlander [54], and it is based on the assumption that the diffractive sail-induced thrust vector belongs to a conical surface with a fixed half angle and coaxial with the Sun-spacecraft line; see Figure 2. The thrust vector orientation with respect to an orbital reference frame (that is, the azimuthal position of the thrust vector direction along the virtual cone depicted in Figure 2) can be chosen by rotating the sail nominal plane of a suitable angle around the Sun-spacecraft line.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using such a simplified model, Ref. [53] analyzes three-dimensional orbit-to-orbit transfers within an optimal framework, where the performance index to be minimized is the total flight time necessary for the diffractive sail to complete an assigned heliocentric transfer between two assigned Keplerian orbits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive Film

Quarta

Mengali

2023

Applied Sciences

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The aim of this paper is to analyze the transfer performance of a spacecraft whose primary propulsion system is a diffractive solar sail with active, switchable panels. The spacecraft uses a propellantless thruster that converts the solar radiation pressure into propulsive acceleration by taking advantage of the diffractive property of an electro-optically controlled (binary) metamaterial. The proposed analysis considers a heliocentric mission scenario where the spacecraft is required to perform a two-dimensional transfer between two concentric and coplanar circular orbits. The sail attitude is assumed to be Sun-facing, that is, with its sail nominal plane perpendicular to the incoming sunlight. This is possible since, unlike a more conventional solar sail concept that uses metalized highly reflective thin films to reflect the photons, a diffractive sail is theoretically able to generate a component of the thrust vector along the sail nominal plane also in a Sun-facing configuration. The electro-optically controlled sail film is used to change the in-plane component of the thrust vector to accomplish the transfer by minimizing the total flight time without changing the sail attitude with respect to an orbital reference frame. This work extends the mathematical model recently proposed by the authors by including the potential offered by an active control of the diffractive sail film. The paper also thoroughly analyzes the diffractive sail-based spacecraft performance in a set of classical circle-to-circle heliocentric trajectories that model transfers from Earth to Mars, Venus and Jupiter.

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E-Sail Optimal Trajectories to Heliostationary Points

Quarta

Mengali

2023

Aerospace

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The aim of this paper is to investigate the performance of a robotic spacecraft, whose primary propulsion system is an electric solar wind sail (E-sail), in a mission to a heliostationary point (HP)—that is, a static equilibrium point in a heliocentric and inertial reference frame. A spacecraft placed at a given HP with zero inertial velocity maintains that heliocentric position provided the on-board thrust is able to counterbalance the Sun’s gravitational force. Due to the finite amount of storable propellant mass, a prolonged mission toward an HP may be considered as a typical application of a propellantless propulsion system. In this respect, previous research has been concentrated on the capability of high-performance (photonic) solar sails to reach and maintain such a static equilibrium condition. However, in the case of a solar-sail-based spacecraft, an HP mission requires a sail design with propulsive characteristics that are well beyond the capability of current or near-future technology. This paper shows that a medium-performance E-sail is able to offer a viable alternative to the use of photonic solar sails. To that end, we discuss a typical HP mission from an optimal viewpoint, by looking for the minimum time trajectory necessary for a spacecraft to reach a given HP. In particular, both two- and three-dimensional scenarios are considered, and the time-optimal mission performance is analyzed parametrically as a function of the HP heliocentric position. The paper also illustrates a potential mission application involving the observation of the Sun’s poles from such a static inertial position.

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Optimal Circle-to-Ellipse Orbit Transfer for Sun-Facing E-Sail

Cited by 6 publications

References 44 publications

Circular Orbit Flip Trajectories Generated by E-Sail

Circular Orbit Flip Trajectories Generated by E-Sail

Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive Film

E-Sail Optimal Trajectories to Heliostationary Points

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