Charge-product control approach to electrostatic leader-follower formations in LEO plasma wakes

The feasibility of using electrostatic forces to stabilize a close-proximity leader-follower formation is investigated. The leader craft is equipped with a set of affixed spheres whose charge is modulated to hold the charged follower craft along a proscribed trajectory to its nominal leader-relative position. This charge structure and the follower craft are constrained to remain in the plasma wake generated behind all LEO craft because the more-dense ambient plasma outside the wake prevents object charging and electric field propagation. Once the formation is achieved, a controlled electric field is generated by the leader to counter relative accelerations from perturbations like differential drag and solar radiation pressure, holding the follow near its nominal position. Two controllers are derived for the system described, incorporating Coulomb accelerations and linearized gravity and drag accelerations. Simulations are run under unmodeled perturbations and sensor noise for different scenarios, demonstrating the challenges and benefits associated with electrostatic actuation.     

Multi-Sphere Method for modeling spacecraft electrostatic forces and torques

The use of electrostatic (Coulomb) actuation for formation flying is attractive because non-renewable fuel reserves are not depleted and plume impingement issues are avoided. Prior analytical electrostatic force models used for Coulomb formations assume spherical spacecraft shapes, which include mutual capacitance and induced effects. However, this framework does not capture any orientation-dependent forces or torques on generic spacecraft geometries encountered during very close operations and docking scenarios. The Multi-Sphere Method (MSM) uses a collection of finite spheres to represent a complex shape and analytically approximate the Coulomb interaction with other charged bodies. Finite element analysis software is used as a truth model to determine the optimal sphere locations and radii. The model is robust to varying system parameters such as prescribed voltages and external shape size. Using the MSM, faster-than-realtime electrostatic simulation of six degree of freedom relative spacecraft motion is feasible, which is crucial for the development of robust relative position and orientation control algorithms in local space situational awareness applications. To demonstrate this ability, the rotation of a cylindrical craft in deep space is simulated, while charge control from a neighboring spacecraft is used to de-spin the object. Using a 1 m diameter craft separated by 10 m from a 3 by 1 m cylindrical craft in deep space, a 2 °/s initial rotation rate can be removed from the cylinder within 3 days, using electric potentials up to 30 kV.     

Active space debris charging for contactless electrostatic disposal maneuvers

The remote charging of a passive object using an electron beam enables touchless re-orbiting of large space debris from geosynchronous orbit (GEO) using electrostatic forces. The advantage of this method is that it can operate with a separation distance of multiple craft radii, thus reducing the risk of collision. The charging of the tug–debris system to high potentials is achieved by active charge transfer using a directed electron beam. Optimal potential distributions using isolated- and coupled-sphere models are discussed. A simple charging model takes into account the primary electron beam current, ultra-violet radiation induced photoelectron emission, collection of plasma particles, secondary electron emission and the recapture of emitted particles. The results show that through active charging in a GEO space environment high potentials can be both achieved and maintained with about a 75% transfer efficiency. Further, the maximum electrostatic tractor force is shown to be insensitive to beam current levels. This latter later result is important when considering debris with unknown properties.     

基于空间隔离的低轨卫星系统频谱共享方法

随着业务需求的全球性增长,传统低频波段有限的频谱资源已不能满足低轨（LEO）卫星的业务承载要求,采用Ka频段的LEO星座系统设计成为了主流。然而,采用Ka频段的LEO星座系统不可避免地会对同频段已经存在的静止轨道（GEO）卫星系统产生干扰。首先,通过基于空间隔离的干扰规避方法,采用对LEO与GEO的频谱共用系统设置隔离角来进行上下行场景的干扰消除,使该LEO系统能满足国际电信联盟（ITU）对同频段内通信干扰的约束条件;然后,通过引入GEO带的概念,分析并研究了干扰规避区域的确定方法和其对LEO星座密度的影响。最后,通过仿真得出了干扰隔离角、GEO带与LEO星座密度的关系,得到了在采用隔离角的方式进行干扰避让时满足LEO星座系统业务不中断所需要的最小卫星数量,对LEO星座设计具有一定的指导意义。      

Electrostatic space radiation shielding

For the success of NASA’s new vision for space exploration to Moon, Mars and beyond, exposures from the hazards of severe space radiation in deep space long duration missions is ‘a must solve’ problem. The payload penalty demands a very stringent requirement on the design of the spacecrafts for human deep space missions. The exploration beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) to enable routine access of space will require protection from the hazards of the accumulated exposures of space radiation, Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) and Solar Particle Events (SPE), and minimizing the production of secondary radiation is a great advantage. There is a need to look to new horizons for newer technologies. The present investigation revisits electrostatic active radiation shielding and explores the feasibility of using the electrostatic shielding in concert with the state-of-the-art materials shielding and protection technologies. The full space radiation environment has been used, for the first time, to explore the feasibility of electrostatic shielding. The goal is to repel enough positive charge ions so that they miss the spacecraft without attracting thermal electrons. Conclusions are drawn for the future directions of space radiation protection.     

An improved focusing method for geosynchronous SAR

More and more attention is paid to Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) in recent years due to its fine temporal resolution and large coverage, so that GEO SAR will play an important role in monitoring natural disasters, but its imaging is more difficult compared to lower Earth orbit (LEO) SAR because of the increase of orbit height. This paper mainly studies the coverage property and focusing method in GEO SAR. As is known to us, the coverage of a GEO SAR satellite can reach 1/3 of the whole Earth, and the revisiting time can reduce to 2 h, which will remarkably improve the capability in ocean applications, earth dynamics and natural hazards management and so on. Compared with the imaging in LEO SAR, a problem in GEO SAR is that the linear trajectory model can bring a big error due to the long synthetic aperture time, so that the classical imaging algorithms in LEO SAR cannot be directly applied in GEO SAR. Using the Norm method and Taylor expansion method, this paper gains an accurate slant range model, which can resolve the big error of the linear trajectory at perigee and collapse of the linear trajectory at apogee. Furthermore, this paper deduces a novel imaging algorithm for GEO SAR by means of series reversion, which realizes the focusing on large scene under the synthetic aperture time of 100 s. Finally, the simulation results at apogee and perigee prove the correction of the slant range model and imaging algorithm.     

Dynamics and control of spacecraft hovering using the geomagnetic Lorentz force

To achieve hovering, a spacecraft thrusts continuously to induce an equilibrium state at a desired position. Due to the constraints on the quantity of propellant onboard, long-time hovering around low-Earth orbits (LEO) is hardly achievable using traditional chemical propulsion. The Lorentz force, acting on an electrostatically charged spacecraft as it moves through a planetary magnetic field, provides a new propellantless method for orbital maneuvers. This paper investigates the feasibility of using the induced Lorentz force as an auxiliary means of propulsion for spacecraft hovering. Assuming that the Earth’s magnetic field is a dipole that rotates with the Earth, a dynamical model that characterizes the relative motion of Lorentz spacecraft is derived to analyze the required open-loop control acceleration for hovering. Based on this dynamical model, we first present the hovering configurations that could achieve propellantless hovering and the corresponding required specific charge of a Lorentz spacecraft. For other configurations, optimal open-loop control laws that minimize the control energy consumption are designed. Likewise, the optimal trajectories of required specific charge and control acceleration are both presented. The effect of orbital inclination on the expenditure of control energy is also analyzed. Further, we also develop a closed-loop control approach for propellantless hovering. Numerical results prove the validity of proposed control methods for hovering and show that hovering around low-Earth orbits would be achievable if the required specific charge of a Lorentz spacecraft becomes feasible in the future. Typically, hovering radially several kilometers above a target in LEO requires specific charges on the order of 0.1 C/kg.     

Effects of electrostatic forces on the vertical structure of planetary rings

We have calculated the vertical structure of planetary dust rings as it results from a balance between an electrostatic force on the dust grains and the vertical component of the gravitational force from the central planet. The electrostatic force results from the charging of the dust grains by the ambient plasma and a large scale electric field due to a shielding electric field and the resulting vertical dust distribution are strongly dependent on dust size, dust and plasma density, plasma temperature and plasma ion type. The dust density distribution has a different dependence on these parameters in tenuous and in dense dust rings. We solve the relevant equations numerically and also by linearization in the limiting cases of tenuous or dense rings. Our results indicate that the effects treated in this paper may be important in both Jupiter's and Saturn's rings.     

Feasibility analysis of LEO and GEO large space debris de/re-orbiting taking into account launch mass of spacecraft-collector and its configuration layout

Analysis of the efficiency of two basic strategies for de/re-orbiting large space debris objects to disposal orbits (DO) is given. Large objects in LEO are classified into groups with similar orbital inclinations and comprise primarily last stages of launch vehicles, in GEO vicinity the paper studies upper stages. Under the first de/re-orbiting variant, it is assumed a spacecraft-collector is equipped with several thruster de/re-orbiting kits (TDKs); one of them can be fixed on an object and is capable of de/re-orbiting an object to a DO independently of the collector. In the second variant, a collector operates as a space tug: transfers objects to a DO and then returns to the next objects in line. The authors study possible configuration layouts of collectors in LEO and near GEO. The available analogous projects are analyzed. The efficiency of both de/re-orbiting variants can be properly compared using the estimations of collector's dry mass and having at one's disposal the parameters of the maneuvers required for transfers between all objects in the group. As reasonable criteria of effectiveness, one can consider (separately or jointly) the launch mass of an equipped collector, its ΔV budget, and the required number of such active spacecraft. Two de/re-orbiting variants are compared in terms of these criteria via mass-energy diagrams constructed for each group of objects in both altitude regions. Analysis of these diagrams shows that low Earth orbits can be more efficiently cleaned under the first de-orbiting variant by using a two-stage space system consisting of an active spacecraft carrying TDKs. For GEO, it is expedient to choose the second re-orbiting variant using a single-stage spacecraft. Our analysis shows that LEO cleaning is an order of magnitude more expensive than that for GEO, hence the problem of LEO population should be given increased attention.     

移动通信卫星经济性分析

由小型近地轨道卫星组成星座,实现移动通信服务,是卫星通信发展的重要方向。近地轨道卫星和地球静止轨道卫星用作移动通信卫星网,各有其优缺点。文章从经济性角度对两类卫星网进行了比较,重点是对不同高度的轨道(包括低、中、地球静止)的移动通信系统的空间部分成本——卫星星座的研制成本与发射成本进行分析比较,给出了具体的运算公式和计算结果。其结论是:轨道高度越低,卫星网的成本越高;地球静止轨道卫星网的成本最低。但是,决定是否发展小型近地轨道通信卫星网,不能仅考虑经济因素,还要考虑对技术进步的推动作用。     

Feasibility study of LEO,GEO and Molniya orbit based satellite solar power station for some identified sites in India

The analysis of satellite solar power station (SSPS) is carried out for some specified locations (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru) in India and consequently the performance of the system is evaluated for geostationary earth orbit (GEO) based SSPS, low earth orbit (LEO) based SSPS and Molniya (quasi geostationary) orbit based SSPS for sites located at different latitudes. The analysis of power; received energy over a year and weight of the rectenna array for the same beam intensity showed varied results for Molniya orbit based SSPS, LEO based SSPS and GEO based SSPS. The power delivered by the LEO SSPS was highest which indicated that this SSPS may be efficient for the short term power requirement. However, it is observed from the results of the energy received over a year that the GEO based system is suitable for base load power plant as it is capable of delivering constant energy through out a year. Further, the weight of the rectenna and hence the space required for ground station for same power output is smallest for Molniya orbit based system for a range of rectenna array radius considered. It is thus envisaged that the Molniya orbit based system would be a better choice for commercial use of SSPS. These findings may help for judicious selection of satellite orbit and ground station location for placing the satellite for SSPS for various applications.     

卫星组网构型设计及接入算法技术研究

为了弥补单层卫星网络的缺点,综合各单层卫星网络的优点,形成优势互补,为用户提供更好的服务质量,混合卫星网络应运而生.针对不同的卫星接入算法对卫星的服务质量的影响各不相同,重点研究设计更好的混合卫星网络和卫星接入算法.在分析GEO、MEO、LEO和HEO卫星网络各自的特点的基础上,综合其性能的好坏和设计实现的难易程度,设计并提出5 GEO+66 LEO的双层卫星网络及多QoS约束的卫星接入算法.最后通过仿真分析,验证该算法的正确性.     

Modeling satellite drag coefficients with response surfaces

Satellite drag coefficients are a major source of uncertainty in predicting the drag force on satellites in low Earth orbit. Among other things, accurately predicting the orbit requires detailed knowledge of the satellite drag coefficient. Computational methods are an important tool in computing the drag coefficient but are too intensive for real-time and predictive applications. Therefore, analytic or empirical models that can accurately predict drag coefficients are desired. This work uses response surfaces to model drag coefficients. The response surface methodology is validated by developing a response surface model for the drag coefficient of a sphere where the closed-form solution is known. The response surface model performs well in predicting the drag coefficient of a sphere with a root mean square percentage error less than 0.3% over the entire parameter space. For more complex geometries, such as the GRACE satellite, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the International Space Station, the model errors are only slightly larger at about 0.9%, 0.6%, and 1.0%, respectively.     

地球静止轨道混合推进三星库仑编队队形保持控制研究

研究了地球静止轨道处混合推进三星库仑编队队形保持控制问题.首先考虑未知有界相对摄动影响,建立了地球静止轨道处混合推进三星库仑编队动力学方程.然后基于相对运动解析解,设计了投影圆轨道旋转编队构型.最后采用滑模控制方法,设计了控制器并证明其稳定性,用饱和函数对控制器进行了改进,消除了抖振的影响.通过控制编队内部静电力和补充...     

基于认知无线电的GEO与LEO卫星频谱共存

随着新的宽带多媒体业务的发展,宽带无线频谱的需求日益增长.同时,低轨道(LEO)卫星由于其传输损耗低、传播时延小而被大规模部署.为了更好地利用频谱资源,卫星通信系统普遍采用高轨道(GEO)卫星与LEO卫星频谱共存的方案来提高频谱利用率.在频谱共存的过程中,提出了一种基于动态阈值的能量检测与波束跳跃相结合的算法,以减小L...     

Fluence-related risk coefficients using the Harderian gland data as an example.

The risk of radiation-induced cancer to space travelers outside the earth's magnetosphere will be of concern on missions to the Moon and beyond to Mars. High energy galactic cosmic rays with high charge (HZE particles) will penetrate the spacecraft and the bodies of the astronauts, sometimes fragmenting into nuclear secondary species of lower charge but always ionizing densely, thus causing cellular damage which may lead to malignant transformation. To quantitate this risk, the concept of dose equivalent (in which a quality factor Q as a function of LET is assumed) may not be adequate, since different particles of the same LET may have different efficiencies for tumor induction. Also, RBE values on which quality factors are based depend on response to low-LET radiation at low doses, a very difficult region for which to obtain reliable experimental data. Thus, we introduce a new concept, a fluence-related risk coefficient (F), which is the risk of a cancer per unit particle fluence and which we call the risk cross section. The total risk is the sum of the risk from each particle type: sigma i integral Fi(Li) phi i(Li) dLi, where Li is the LET and phi i(Li) is the fluence-LET spectrum of the ith particle type. As an example, tumor prevalence data in mice are used to estimate the probability of mouse Harderian gland tumor induction per year on an extra-magnetospheric mission inside an idealized shielding configuration of a spherical aluminum shell 1 g/cm2 thick. The combined shielding code BRYNTRN/GCR is used to generate the LET spectra at the center of the sphere. Results indicate a yearly prevalence at solar minimum conditions of 0.06, with 60% of this arising from charge components with Z between 10 and 28, and two-thirds of the contribution arising from LET components between 10 and 200 keV/micrometers.     

气动辅助异面变轨在多碎片清除中的应用分析

碎片清除飞行器异面变轨需要消耗大量燃料.从气动辅助异面变轨优化设计及被清除碎片轨道高度差值、倾角差值等参数对变轨性能的影响出发,比较分析了优化气动辅助异面变轨与双脉冲霍曼轨道转移的燃料节约量,研究了不同轨道高度差对于实施气动辅助变轨燃料节约量的影响.当地球静止轨道（GEO）与低地轨道（LEO）间气动辅助变轨优化速度增量约为1.55km·s-1、质量面积比172kg·m-2、比冲310s、轨道倾角变化16°时,燃料节约率约为45%.对比研究了不同轨道高度差LEO轨道间实施气动辅助变轨的燃料节约情况.结果表明:随着轨道高度的增加,气动辅助优化效率逐渐降低;在相同高度轨道间实施异面变轨,随着轨道倾角的增加,气动辅助变轨燃料节约率先增大后减小,倾角改变量约为20°时,燃料节约率最大;当轨道倾角为5°时,采用气动辅助变轨和双脉冲变轨的燃料消耗量相同.      

Galactic cosmic rays and cell-hit frequencies outside the magnetosphere.

An evaluation of the exposure of space travelers to galactic cosmic radiation outside the earth's magnetosphere is made by calculating fluences of high-energy primary and secondary particles with various charges traversing a sphere of area 100 microns2. Calculations relating to two shielding configurations are presented: the center of a spherical aluminum shell of thickness 1 g/cm2, and the center of a 4 g/cm2 thick aluminum spherical shell within which there is a 30 g/cm2 diameter spherical water phantom with the point of interest 5 g/cm2 from the surface. The area of 100 microns2 was chosen to simulate the nucleus of a cell in the body. The frequencies as a function of charge component in both shielding configurations reflects the odd-even disparity of the incident particle abundances. For a three-year mission, 33% of the cells in the more heavily shielded configuration would be hit by at least one particle with Z greater than 10. Six percent would be hit by at least two such particles. This emphasizes the importance of studying single high-Z particle effects both on cells which might be "at risk" for cancer induction and on critical neural cells or networks which might be vulnerable to inactivation by heavy charged particle tracks. Synergistic effects with the more numerous high-energy protons and helium ions cannot be ruled out. In terms of more conventional radiation risk assessment, the dose equivalent decreased by a factor of 2.85 from free space to that in the more heavily shielded configuration. Roughly half of this was due to the decrease in energy deposition (absorbed dose) and half to the decrease in biological effectiveness (quality factor).     

带电粒子云的演变过程

根据带电粒子云从破碎点开始向空间扩散过程中粒子云密度和形状的变化规律,以几何形状和起主要作用的因素为特征,定义了球形、椭球形、绳形、螺旋线形、全方位弥漫直至球壳形6个演变阶段.论述了在各个阶段的主要特征和对演变过程起主要作用的因素.分析了在各个阶段电磁场对带电粒子的摄动影响,比较了带电粒子云与不带电粒子云在演化过程上的差异.在球形阶段起主要作用的是分离速度,带电碎片之间的排斥力加快了碎片扩散的速度.从椭球形阶段到球壳形阶段,带电粒子和不带电粒子的演化规律基本一致.带电粒子的演化过程加快或减慢取决于粒子带正电或带负电.将电场摄动力等效于改变地球引力的大小,罗列了阶段转换标志点时刻的计算公式.利用计算机仿真的方法,给出了各个阶段不带电碎片云和带电碎片云分布示意图,验证了演变过程阶段划分和电磁场摄动分析的合理性.      

Robust optimal sliding mode control for the deployment of Coulomb spacecraft formation flying

Inter-spacecraft electrostatic force (Coulomb force) is desirable for close formation flying control because of its propellant-less and free contaminate characteristics attributed to the propellant exhaust emission. This paper presents robust optimal sliding mode control to deal with the problem of thruster saturation in tracking the formation trajectory for Coulomb spacecraft formation flying. The robust controller design is based on optimal control theory as a linear quadratic system, and it is augmented with an integral sliding mode control technique. The stability of the closed-loop system is guaranteed using the second Lyapunov method. The developed controller outperforms the existing ones, because it has a higher degree of fine-tuning to cope with the uncertainty. Numerical simulations are employed to confirm the efficiency of the developed controller.