Aerodynamic lift effect on satellite                                                   orbits

Karr, Gerald R.; Cleland, John G.F.; Devries, L. L.

doi:10.2514/6.1975-12

“…The value of the lift force depends on the orientation of the satellite, geometry and angle of attack. According to Karr [Karr & Cleland 1975], for an energy accommodation factor of 0.9, the value of the lift to drag ratio for a flat plate is less than 0.1 and hence the effects of lift is neglected.…”

Section: Free Molecular Aerodynamic Force Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Control of satellites using environmental forces : aerodynamic drag / solar radiation pressure

Varma¹

2021

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The dynamics of a satellite involves orbit and attitude motion. Both orbit and attitude motion are required to be controlled for achieving any mission objectives. This thesis examines both of these motion with a focus on formation flying and attitude stabilization using aerodynamic drag or solar radiation pressure. The concept of satellite formation flying involves the distribution of the functionality of a single satellite among several smaller, cooperative satellites. Autonomous multiple satellite formation flying space missions offer many promising possibilities for space exploration. A large quantity of fuel is typically required onboard any conventional satellite to carry out its attitude and orbital positioning, and satellite formation flying has a higher fuel requirement. As on-board fuel is a scarce commodity, it is important to have control methods requiring little or no fuel. Keeping this in mind, this thesis presents the results of using aerodynamic drag or solar radiation pressure for satellite formation flying. This methodology has potential to have significant commercial advantage as it pertains to almost negligible fuel requirements. A leader/follower formation architecture is considered for the formation flying system. The control algorithms are derived based on adaptive sliding mode control technique. Aerodynamic drag is used to accomplish multiple satellite formation flying in low Earth orbit whereas solar radiation pressure is used in geostationary orbit. Due to the nature of the aerodynamic drag, in-plane control can only be accomplished by the suitable maneuvering of the drag plates mounted on the satellites. Solar radiation pressure is able to accomplish in-plane and out-of-plane control by maneuvering of the solar flaps. Efficacy of the control methodology in performing various scenarios of formation flying including formation reconfiguration is validated by numerical simulation in both the cases. The numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control techniques for satellite formation flying using aerodynamic drag or solar radiation pressure. Formation flying accuracies of less than 5 m are achieved in both the cases. Next, this thesis investigates the use of aerodynamic drag or solar radiation pressure for satellite attitude control. In the case of the aerodynamic drag stabilized satellite, the drag plates are considered to be attached to the satellite while the solar flaps are fixed to the satellite in the case of the solar radiation pressure stabilized satellite. In both the cases, the control algorithm is developed based on adaptive sliding mode control technique. The effectiveness of this methodology is numerically evaluated under various scenarios including the pressure of failure/fault in the solar flaps or drag plates attached to the satellite. The satellite attitude is stabilized within reasonable limits in all the cases thereby demonstrating robust performance in the presence of external disturbances.

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“…The value of the lift force depends on the orientation of the satellite, geometry and angle of attack. According to Karr [Karr & Cleland 1975], for an energy accommodation factor of 0.9, the value of the lift to drag ratio for a flat plate is less than 0.1 and hence the effects of lift is neglected.…”

Section: Free Molecular Aerodynamic Force Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Control of satellites using environmental forces : aerodynamic drag / solar radiation pressure

Varma¹

2021

Preprint

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The dynamics of a satellite involves orbit and attitude motion. Both orbit and attitude motion are required to be controlled for achieving any mission objectives. This thesis examines both of these motion with a focus on formation flying and attitude stabilization using aerodynamic drag or solar radiation pressure. The concept of satellite formation flying involves the distribution of the functionality of a single satellite among several smaller, cooperative satellites. Autonomous multiple satellite formation flying space missions offer many promising possibilities for space exploration. A large quantity of fuel is typically required onboard any conventional satellite to carry out its attitude and orbital positioning, and satellite formation flying has a higher fuel requirement. As on-board fuel is a scarce commodity, it is important to have control methods requiring little or no fuel. Keeping this in mind, this thesis presents the results of using aerodynamic drag or solar radiation pressure for satellite formation flying. This methodology has potential to have significant commercial advantage as it pertains to almost negligible fuel requirements. A leader/follower formation architecture is considered for the formation flying system. The control algorithms are derived based on adaptive sliding mode control technique. Aerodynamic drag is used to accomplish multiple satellite formation flying in low Earth orbit whereas solar radiation pressure is used in geostationary orbit. Due to the nature of the aerodynamic drag, in-plane control can only be accomplished by the suitable maneuvering of the drag plates mounted on the satellites. Solar radiation pressure is able to accomplish in-plane and out-of-plane control by maneuvering of the solar flaps. Efficacy of the control methodology in performing various scenarios of formation flying including formation reconfiguration is validated by numerical simulation in both the cases. The numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control techniques for satellite formation flying using aerodynamic drag or solar radiation pressure. Formation flying accuracies of less than 5 m are achieved in both the cases. Next, this thesis investigates the use of aerodynamic drag or solar radiation pressure for satellite attitude control. In the case of the aerodynamic drag stabilized satellite, the drag plates are considered to be attached to the satellite while the solar flaps are fixed to the satellite in the case of the solar radiation pressure stabilized satellite. In both the cases, the control algorithm is developed based on adaptive sliding mode control technique. The effectiveness of this methodology is numerically evaluated under various scenarios including the pressure of failure/fault in the solar flaps or drag plates attached to the satellite. The satellite attitude is stabilized within reasonable limits in all the cases thereby demonstrating robust performance in the presence of external disturbances.

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Effects of atmospheric winds and aerodynamic lift on the inclination of the orbit of the S3-1 satellite

Ching¹,

Hickman²,

Straus³

1977

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Aerodynamic drag and lift effects on the inclination of the orbit of the S3‐1 satellite (1974‐85D) have been used to infer atmospheric zonal wind speeds at an altitude of 175 km and to estimate the satellite surface thermal accommodation coefficient. The unusually high quality of the orbital and attitude data permitted the 7‐month data span to be analyzed in six nonoverlapping subintervals, thereby resulting in finer local time and spatial resolution than is normally obtained in such studies. The aerodynamic lift force was found to be quite sensitive to the assumed value of the thermal accommodation coefficient, a quantity that is neither well known nor well understood. The inclination data were best fit (in a least squares sense) when the accommodation coefficient was greater than 0.95. Best agreement with theoretical models in terms of wind speed and direction was obtained when the accommodation coefficient was taken to be nearly 1.0. In this case the inferred wind was ∼400 m/s eastward at 1900–2100 LT and ∼200 m/s westward at 0700–0900 LT. The study indicates that if accurate zonal wind velocities are to be derived from satellite orbital inclination changes, care must be taken to ensure that the shape and orientation of the satellite are such that the lift forces generated are sufficiently small that the resulting uncertainty due to inadequate knowledge of the accommodation coefficient does not cause significant error.

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Aerodynamic lift effect on satellite orbits

Cited by 4 publications

References 4 publications

Control of satellites using environmental forces : aerodynamic drag / solar radiation pressure

Control of satellites using environmental forces : aerodynamic drag / solar radiation pressure

Control of satellites using environmental forces : aerodynamic drag / solar radiation pressure

Effects of atmospheric winds and aerodynamic lift on the inclination of the orbit of the S3-1 satellite

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