Formation flying for magnetic sails around artificial equilibrium points

This paper investigates the problem of magnetic sail-based spacecraft formation control around the artificial equilibrium points (AEPs), which can eliminate the requirement of the propellant. The thrusts are achieved by utilizing the interaction between the solar wind and the artificial magnetosphere generated by superconducting current coil onboard. The circular restricted three-body problem (CRTBP) of magnetic sail is discussed including the allowed regions and linear stability of AEPs, the locations of collinear AEPs and the possibility of existence of periodic orbits around the collinear AEPs. Next, the dynamical models of magnetic sail formation around the collinear AEPs are established. A novel fast fixed-time nonsingular terminal sliding mode controller (FFNTSM) based on fixed-time disturbance observer (FTDO) is developed to account for external disturbances. Several numerical simulations are conducted to substantiate that spacecraft formation can be precisely controlled by the proposed propellantless propulsion method in the presence of external disturbances.     

太阳帆航天器编队维持和重构的方法研究

针对高面质比航天器可以利用太阳光压进行轨道控制的特点,本文提出一种太阳帆航天器编队构型维持和重构的方法.该方法通过控制主从航天器太阳帆姿态角和反射系数,调整主从航天器之间的光压差,产生抵消编队成员间相对运动受到摄动差或进行轨道机动时所需的连续小推力,从而实现编队构型的维持和重构.仿真结果表明,在主航天器太阳帆的姿态角和反射系数相对固定的条件下,对于太阳同步轨道上的高面质比太阳帆航天器编队,使用滑模控制方法,能够调整编队中从航天器太阳帆的姿态角和反射系数产生推力抵消摄动力影响,达到长期维持太阳帆航天器编队构型的目的;通过开环控制方法,能够调整编队中从航天器太阳帆的姿态角和反射系数产生连续小推力,在较长时间周期内实现编队重构.     

Systems design of a hybrid sail pole-sitter

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.     

Solar sail science mission applications and advancement

Solar sailing has long been envisaged as an enabling or disruptive technology. The promise of open-ended missions allows consideration of radically new trajectories and the delivery of spacecraft to previously unreachable or unsustainable observation outposts. A mission catalogue is presented of an extensive range of potential solar sail applications, allowing identification of the key features of missions which are enabled, or significantly enhance, through solar sail propulsion. Through these considerations a solar sail application-pull technology development roadmap is established, using each mission as a technology stepping-stone to the next.     

Solar sailing in realistic mode,based on a locally-optimal control laws

Ballistic design of solar sailing missions in the solar system is composed of defining the design parameters, the control programs, and the trajectories that provide performance goals of a flight. The use of a solar sail spacecraft imposes specific restrictions on mission parameters that include the degradation limit on the flight duration, the maximum temperature of solar sail's surface, the minimum distance from the Sun, the maximum angular velocity of the spacecraft's rotation and others.Many authors considered the impact of these restrictions on the design of the mission separately, but they used a sophisticated method of finding the exact optimal motion control or applied the most straightforward laws of motion control. This paper uses local-optimal control laws at the complete mathematical models of motion and functioning of solar sail spacecraft to describe a technique of designing interplanetary missions. The described method avoids the need to obtain an accurate optimal solution to the control problem and does not cause significant computational difficulties.     

The interstellar heliopause probe technology reference study

The interstellar heliopause probe (IHP) is one of ESA’s technology reference studies (TRS). The TRS aim to focus the development of strategically important technologies of relevance to future science missions by studying technologically demanding and scientifically interesting missions that are currently not part of the science mission programme.

Equipped with a highly integrated payload suite (HIPS), the IHP will perform in situ exploration of the heliopause and the heliospheric interface. The HIPS, which is a standard element in all TRSs, miniaturize payloads through resource reduction by using miniaturized components and sensors, and by sharing common structures and payload functionality.

To achieve the scientific requirements of the mission, the spacecraft is to leave the heliosphere as close to the heliosphere nose as possible and reach a distance of 200 AU from the Sun within 25 years. This is possible by using a trajectory with two solar flybys and a solar sail with characteristic acceleration of 1.1 mm/s², which corresponds to a 245 × 245 m² solar sail and a sail thickness of 1–2 μm. The trajectory facilitates a modest sail design that could potentially be developed in a reasonable timeframe.

In this paper, an update to the results of studies being performed on this mission will be given and the current mission baseline and spacecraft design will be described. Furthermore, alternative solar sail systems and enabling technologies will be discussed.     

Paths not taken – The Gossamer roadmap’s other options

Highly efficient low-thrust propulsion is increasingly applied beyond commercial use, also in mainstream and flagship science missions, in combination with gravity assist propulsion. Another recent development is the growth of small spacecraft solutions, not in size but in numbers and individual capabilities.Just over ten years ago, the DLR-ESTEC Gossamer Roadmap to Solar Sailing was set up to guide technology developments towards a propellant-less and highly efficient class of spacecraft for solar system exploration and applications missions: small spacecraft solar sails designed for carefree handling and equipped with carried application modules.Soon, in three dedicated Gossamer Roadmap Science Working Groups it initiated studies of missions uniquely feasible with solar sails such as Displaced L₁ (DL1) space weather advance warning and monitoring, Solar Polar Orbiter (SPO) delivery to very high inclination heliocentric orbit, and multiple Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) rendezvous (MNR). Together, they demonstrate the capability of near-term solar sails to achieve at least in the inner solar system almost any kind of heliocentric orbit within 10 years, from the Earth-co-orbital to the extremely inclined, eccentric and even retrograde. Noted as part of the MNR study, sail-propelled head-on retrograde kinetic impactors (RKI) go to this extreme to achieve the highest possible specific kinetic energy for the deflection of hazardous asteroids.At DLR, the experience gained in the development of deployable membrane structures leading up to the successful ground deployment test of a (20 m)², i.e., 20 m by 20 m square solar sail at DLR Cologne in 1999 was revitalized and directed towards a 3-step small spacecraft development line from as-soon-as-possible sail deployment demonstration (Gossamer-1) via in-flight evaluation of sail attitude control actuators (Gossamer-2) to an envisaged proving-the-principle flight in the Earth-Moon system (Gossamer-3). First, it turned the concept of solar sail deployment on its head by introducing four separable Boom Sail Deployment Units (BSDU) to be discarded after deployment, enabling lightweight 3-axis stabilized sailcraft. By 2015, this effort culminated in the ground-qualified technology of the DLR Gossamer-1 deployment demonstrator Engineering Qualification Model (EQM). For mission types using separable payloads, such as SPO, MNR and RKI, design concepts can be derived from the BSDU characteristic of DLR Gossamer solar sail technology which share elements with the separation systems of asteroid nanolanders like MASCOT. These nano-spacecraft are an ideal match for solar sails in micro-spacecraft format whose launch configurations are compatible with ESPA and ASAP secondary payload platforms.Like any roadmap, this one contained much more than the planned route from departure to destination and the much shorter distance actually travelled. It is full of lanes, narrow and wide, detours and shortcuts, options and decision branches. Some became the path taken on which we previously reported. More were explored along the originally planned path or as new sidings in search of better options when circumstance changed and the project had to take another turn. But none were dead ends, they just faced the inevitable changes when roadmaps face realities and they were no longer part of the road ahead. To us, they were valuable lessons learned or options up our sleeves. But for future sailors they may be on their road ahead.     

连续小推力非开普勒悬浮轨道研究综述

连续小推力非开普勒悬浮轨道在深空探测与地球极地观测任务中有着重要的应用前景.归纳了电推进、太阳帆推进等连续小推力技术的发展历程与现状;阐述了日心、行星悬浮轨道的动力学特性、稳定性、轨道保持策略;分析了三体问题下人工拉格朗日点的优势及其在深空探测方面的应用;讨论了悬浮轨道编队飞行的研究方法与控制策略.最后针对小推力悬浮轨...     

Accurate approximation of in-ecliptic trajectories for E-sail with constant pitch angle

Propellantless continuous-thrust propulsion systems, such as electric solar wind sails, may be successfully used for new space missions, especially those requiring high-energy orbit transfers. When the mass-to-thrust ratio is sufficiently large, the spacecraft trajectory is characterized by long flight times with a number of revolutions around the Sun. The corresponding mission analysis, especially when addressed within an optimal context, requires a significant amount of simulation effort. Analytical trajectories are therefore useful aids in a preliminary phase of mission design, even though exact solution are very difficult to obtain. The aim of this paper is to present an accurate, analytical, approximation of the spacecraft trajectory generated by an electric solar wind sail with a constant pitch angle, using the latest mathematical model of the thrust vector. Assuming a heliocentric circular parking orbit and a two-dimensional scenario, the simulation results show that the proposed equations are able to accurately describe the actual spacecraft trajectory for a long time interval when the propulsive acceleration magnitude is sufficiently small.     

Performance analysis and mission applications of a new solar sail concept based on crossed booms with tip-deployed membranes

For precursor solar sail activities a strategy for a controlled deployment of large membranes was developed based on a combination of zig-zag folding and coiling of triangular sail segments spanned between crossed booms. This strategy required four autonomous deployment units that were jettisoned after the deployment is completed. In order to reduce the complexity of the system an adaptation of that deployment strategy is investigated.A baseline design for the deployment mechanisms is established that allows the deployment actuation from a central bus system in order to reduce the complexity of the system. The mass of such a sail craft will be slightly increased but its performance is still be reasonable for first solar sail missions.The presented design will be demonstrated on breadboard level showing the feasibility of the deployment strategy. The characteristic acceleration will be evaluated and compared to the requirements of certain proposed solar sail missions.     

Radiation hazards on space missions outside the magnetosphere.

Future space missions outside the magnetosphere will subject astronauts to a hostile and unfamiliar radiation environment. An annual dose equivalent to the blood-forming organs (BFOs) of approximately 0.5 Sv is expected, mostly from heavy ions in the galactic cosmic radiation. On long-duration missions, an anomalously-large solar energetic particle event may occur. Such an event can expose astronauts to up to approximately 25 Gy (skin dose) and up to approximately 2 Sv (BFO dose) with no shielding. The anticipated radiation exposure may necessitate spacecraft design concessions and some restriction of mission activities. In this paper we discuss our model calculations of radiation doses in several exo-magnetospheric environments. Specific radiation shielding strategies are discussed. A new calculation of aluminum equivalents of potential spacecraft shielding materials demonstrates the importance of low-atomic-mass species for protection from galactic cosmic radiation.     

面向深空探测的电磁帆推进技术研究进展

电磁帆是一类利用太阳风驱动的无工质或少工质新型推进技术,在需要推力器长时间工作的深空探测任务中具有非常广阔的应用前景。首先介绍了电磁帆的基本概念和主要分类,其次分别介绍了电帆、纯磁帆和磁等离子体帆三类推进方式的系统组成和工作原理,重点介绍了各自的研究现状,并梳理出了相关关键技术,同时介绍了等离子体磁罩技术。最后对电磁帆推进技术研究进展进行了总结,为国内开展此方面研究提供了研究方向和发展思路。     

CubeSail: A low cost CubeSat based solar sail demonstration mission

CubeSail is a nano-solar sail mission based on the 3U CubeSat standard, which is currently being designed and built at the Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey. CubeSail will have a total mass of around 3 kg and will deploy a 5 × 5 m sail in low Earth orbit. The primary aim of the mission is to demonstrate the concept of solar sailing and end-of-life de-orbiting using the sail membrane as a drag-sail. The spacecraft will have a compact 3-axis stabilised attitude control system, which uses three magnetic torquers aligned with the spacecraft principle axis as well as a novel two-dimensional translation stage separating the spacecraft bus from the sail. CubeSail’s deployment mechanism consists of four novel booms and four-quadrant sail membranes. The proposed booms are made from tape-spring blades and will deploy the sail membrane from a 2U CubeSat standard structure. This paper presents a systems level overview of the CubeSat mission, focusing on the mission orbit and de-orbiting, in addition to the deployment, attitude control and the satellite bus.     

Study of highly perturbed spacecraft formation dynamics via approximation

This paper explores methods for approximating and analyzing the dynamics of highly perturbed spacecraft formations with an emphasis on computationally efficient approaches. This facilitates on-board computation or rapid preliminary mission design analysis. Perturbed formation dynamics are often approximated as linear time-varying (LTV) systems, for which Floquet theory can be used to analyze the degree of system instability. Furthermore, the angular momentum of the relative orbital state can be computed with the approximate dynamics to provide additional insight. A general methodology is developed first and then applied to the problem of unstable formation dynamics in asteroid orbits. Here the dominant perturbative effects due to low-order gravitational harmonics and solar radiation pressure are modeled. Numerical simulations validate the approach and illustrate the approximation accuracy achieved.     

Families of halo orbits in the elliptic restricted three-body problem for a solar sail with reflectivity control devices

Solar sail halo orbits designed in the Sun-Earth circular restricted three-body problem (CR3BP) provide inefficient reference orbits for station-keeping since the disturbance due to the eccentricity of the Earth’s orbit has to be compensated for. This paper presents a strategy to compute families of halo orbits around the collinear artificial equilibrium points in the Sun-Earth elliptic restricted three-body problem (ER3BP) for a solar sail with reflectivity control devices (RCDs). In this non-autonomous model, periodic halo orbits only exist when their periods are equal to integer multiples of one year. Here multi-revolution halo orbits with periods equal to integer multiples of one year are constructed in the CR3BP and then used as seeds to numerically continue the halo orbits in the ER3BP. The linear stability of the orbits is analyzed which shows that the in-plane motion is unstable while the out-of-plane motion is neutrally stable and a bifurcation is identified. Finally, station-keeping is performed which shows that a reference orbit designed in the ER3BP is significantly more efficient than that designed in the CR3BP, while the addition of RCDs improve station-keeping performance and robustness to uncertainty in the sail lightness number.     

太阳帆航天器的关键技术

将太阳帆航天器所涉及的关键技术划分为4个方面：总体设计、轨道和姿态动力学与控制、太阳帆材料及其性能、太阳帆折叠与展开。针对每项关键技术,基于对国外长期研究结果进行分析并阐述主要技术特征,梳理国内相关研究进展,包括笔者与合作者的研究成果,分析存在的主要问题。根据上述分析,指出我国发展太阳帆航天器应该重视的若干问题。     

Effects of optical parameter measurement uncertainties and solar irradiance fluctuations on solar sailing

The heliocentric orbital dynamics of a spacecraft propelled by a solar sail is affected by some uncertainty sources, including possible inaccuracies in the measurement of the sail film optical properties. Moreover, the solar radiation pressure, which is responsible for the solar sail propulsive acceleration generation, is not time-constant and is subject to fluctuations that are basically unpredictable and superimposed to the well-known 11-year solar activity cycle. In this context, this work aims at investigating the effects of such uncertainties on the actual heliocentric trajectory of a solar sail by means of stochastic simulations performed with a generalized polynomial chaos procedure. The numerical results give an estimation of their impact on the actual heliocentric trajectory and identify whether some of the uncertainty sources are more relevant than others. This is a fundamental information for directing more accurate theoretical and experimental efforts toward the most important parameters, in order to obtain an accurate knowledge of the solar sail thrust vector characteristics and, eventually, of the spacecraft heliocentric position.     

Comparison of Antarctic riometer radio wave absorption and THEMIS mission energetic electron fluxes

Simultaneous observations of in situ plasma properties in the tail of the Earth’s magnetosphere and of ground based instruments, lying on the same geomagnetic field lines, have recently proved to yield significant new results. In most cases magnetosphere ionosphere interactions during the night-time northern hemisphere conditions are studied. Here, observations of energetic electrons in the tail of the Earth’s magnetosphere made by the THEMIS mission satellites are compared with auroral radio wave absorption determined by riometers in the Antarctic for sunlit conditions. Days for which satellites and riometers are connected by the same geomagnetic field line are selected using a geomagnetic field model. The six days analysed show clear associations between fluxes and absorptions in some cases. However, these do not necessarily correspond to conjugacy intervals. Hours of positive associations are 1.65 times those for negative associations, all hours and days considered (1.42–3.6 on five days and 0.58 on the other day). These computations are assumed appropriate since the footprints of the satellites used approximately follow corrected geomagnetic parallels for all six days studied. The use of a finer parameterization of geomagnetic models to determine conjugacy may be needed.     

Solar sail near the Sun: Point-like and extended models of radiation source

Some modifications of solar sail radiation pressure forces on a plate and on a sphere for use in the numerical simulation of ‘local-optimal’ (or ‘instantaneously optimal’) trajectories of a spacecraft with a solar sail are suggested. The force model development is chronologically reviewed, including its connection with solar sail surface reflective and thermal properties. The sail surface is considered as partly absorbing, partly reflective (specular and diffuse), partly transparent. Thermal balance is specified because the spacecraft moves from circular Earth orbit to near-Sun regions and thermal limitations on the sail film are taken into account. A spherical sail-balloon can be used in near-Sun regions for scientific research beginning with the solar-synchronous orbit and moving outward from the Sun. The Sun is considered not only as a point-like source of radiation but also as an extended source of radiation which is assumed to be consequently as a point-like source of radiation, a uniformly bright flat solar disc and uniformly bright solar sphere.     

End-to-end trajectory design for a solar-sail-only pole-sitter at Venus,Earth, and Mars

The concept of a pole-sitter has been under investigation for many years, showing the capability of a low-thrust propulsion system to maintain a spacecraft at a static position along a planet’s polar axis. From such a position, the spacecraft has a view of the planet’s polar regions equivalent to that of the low- and mid-latitudes from geostationary orbit. Previous work has hinted at the existence of pole-sitters that would only require a solar sail to provide the necessary propulsive thrust if a slight deviation from a position exactly along the polar axis is allowed, without compromising on the continuous view of the planet’s polar region (a so-called quasi-pole-sitter). This paper conducts a further in-depth analysis of these high-potential solar-sail-only quasi-pole-sitters and presents a full end-to-end trajectory design: from launch and transfer to orbit design and orbit control. The results are the next steppingstone towards strengthening the feasibility and utility of these orbits for continuous planetary polar observation.