Scalable Solar Sail Subsystem Design Considerations

Murphy, David M.; Murphey, Thomas W.; Gierow, Paul A.

doi:10.2514/6.2002-1703

Cited by 31 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…A solar sail mainly comprises of four components: central bay, offset boom, masts and sail [130]. The central bay houses the control boom and the sail, while the masts (stowed) are arranged symmetrically around the central bay.…”

Section: Design Considerations and Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Overview of Cube-Satellite Propulsion Technologies and Trends

2017

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CubeSats provide a cost effective means to perform scientific and technological studies in space. Due to their affordability, CubeSat technologies have been diversely studied and developed by educational institutions, companies and space organizations all over the world. The CubeSat technology that is surveyed in this paper is the propulsion system. A propulsion system is the primary mobility device of a spacecraft and helps with orbit modifications and attitude control. This paper provides an overview of micro-propulsion technologies that have been developed or are currently being developed for CubeSats. Some of the micro-propulsion technologies listed have also flown as secondary propulsion systems on larger spacecraft. Operating principles and key design considerations for each class of propulsion system are outlined. Finally, the performance factors of micro-propulsion systems have been summarized in terms of: first, a comparison of thrust and specific impulse for all propulsion systems; second, a comparison of power and specific impulse, as also thrust-to-power ratio and specific impulse for electric propulsion systems.

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Section: Design Considerations and Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, the offset boom is deployed, followed by the deployment of the masts and the sail. The offset boom is rotated by means of a motor (after the sail is deployed) to provide attitude control [130].…”

Section: Design Considerations and Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Cube-Satellite Propulsion Technologies and Trends

2017

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“…(Dachwald, 2004). Ultra-thin (around 2 μm of thickness) sails are expected in the mid-to far-term timeframe (Murphy et al , 2002) and can lead, for large sails, to loadings on the order of 5 g/m 2 .…”

Section: Mass Breakdown Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systems design of a hybrid sail pole-sitter

Ceriotti

McInnes

2011

Advances in Space Research

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This paper presents the preliminary systems design of a pole-sitter. This is a spacecraft that hovers over an Earth pole, creating a platform for full hemispheric observation of the polar regions, as well as direct-link telecommunications. To provide the necessary thrust, a hybrid propulsion system combines a solar sail with a more mature solar electric propulsion (SEP) thruster. Previous work by the authors showed that the combination of the two allows lower propellant mass fractions, at the cost of increased system complexity. This paper compares the pure SEP spacecraft with the hybrid spacecraft in terms of the launch mass necessary to deliver a certain payload for a given mission duration. A mass budget is proposed, and the conditions investigated under which the hybrid sail saves on the initial spacecraft initial mass. It is found that the hybrid spacecraft with near-to mid-term sail technology has a lower initial mass than the SEP case if the mission duration is 7 years or more, with greater benefits for longer duration missions. The hybrid spacecraft with far-term sail technology outperforms the pure SEP case even for short missions.

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“…Much progress has been made during the last few years toward completing the vision of solar sail development [1]. Two primary design concepts have emerged for a square solar sail supported by four booms radiating from a central hub [2,3]. These concepts differ in the details of sail attachment to the booms, in the design of the booms themselves and in their approach to attitude control.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexible Models for Solar Sail Control

Smith

Haiping

Baker

et al. 2005

46th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference

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Solar sails employ a unique form of propulsion, gaining momentum from incident and reflected photons. However, the momentum transferred by an individual photon is extremely small. Consequently, a solar sail must have an extremely large surface area and also be extremely light. The flexibility of the sail then must be considered when designing or evaluating control laws. In this paper, solar sail flexibility and its influence on control effectiveness is considered using idealized two-dimensional models to represent physical phenomena rather than a specific design. Differential equations of motion are derived for a distributed parameter model of a flexible solar sail idealized as a rotating central hub with two opposing flexible booms. This idealization is appropriate for solar sail designs in which the vibrational modes of the sail and supporting booms move together allowing the sail mass to be distributed along the booms in the idealized model. A reduced analytical model of the flexible response is considered. Linear feedback torque control is applied at the central hub. Two translational disturbances and a torque disturbance also act at the central hub representing the equivalent effect of deflecting sail shape about a reference line. Transient simulations explore different control designs and their effectiveness for controlling orientation, for reducing flexible motion and for disturbance rejection. A second model also is developed as a two-dimensional "pathfinder" model to calculate the effect of solar sail shape on the resultant thrust, in-plane force and torque at the hub. The analysis is then extended to larger models using the finite element method. The finite element modeling approach is verified by comparing results from a two-dimensional finite element model with those from the analytical model. The utility of the finite element modeling approach for this application is then illustrated through examples based on a full finite element model.

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Scalable Solar Sail Subsystem Design Considerations

Cited by 31 publications

References 4 publications

An Overview of Cube-Satellite Propulsion Technologies and Trends

An Overview of Cube-Satellite Propulsion Technologies and Trends

Systems design of a hybrid sail pole-sitter

Flexible Models for Solar Sail Control

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