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Optimal deployment of spin-stabilized tethered formations with continuous thrusters

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Abstract

This paper addresses issues relevant to thruster-aided deployment of spin-stabilized tethered formations in a circular orbit. The dynamics of the tethered formation are first established by treating the parent satellite as a finite-sized body with respect to its spinning motion. To achieve the minimum-power trajectories for formation deployment, the optimal deployment problem is analytically formulated using Pontryagin’s minimum principle. Physical constraints on tether tension, thrust amplitude, and libration angle are also considered. To handle nonlinearities, the problem is solved numerically using a direct method based on the Gauss pseudospectral approach, in which the optimal deployment profiles are obtained and all of the solutions are proven to be within a feasible range. Finally, based on a variety of simulations, the optimal solution’s sensitivity to certain parameters is also analyzed.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11872109). The authors thank the Associate Editor and anonymous reviewers for their many helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aerospace Engineering School, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Zhai Guang & Bi Xingzi

  2. Tsinghua National Laboratory for Information Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Liang Bin

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  1. Zhai Guang
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  2. Bi Xingzi
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  3. Liang Bin
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Correspondence to Zhai Guang.

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The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Guang, Z., Xingzi, B. & Bin, L. Optimal deployment of spin-stabilized tethered formations with continuous thrusters. Nonlinear Dyn 95, 2143–2162 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11071-018-4682-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11071-018-4682-3

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