Analyses of Bare-Tether Systems as a Thruster for MXER Studies

Abstract

The concept of electrodynamic tether propulsion has a number of attractive features and has been widely discussed for different applications. A number of system designs have been proposed and compared during the last ten years. In spite of this, the choice of the proper design for a specific mission is far from evident. Such characteristics of tether performance as system acceleration, efficiency, etc. should be calculated and compared based on the known capability to collect electrical current. Different designs for the Momentum-eXchange/Electrodynamic Reboost (MXER) tether concept are presented, along with the necessary electrical potential and collected current levels. Corrections to the OML (Orbital Motion Limited) current due to the tether cross-section geometry and the magnetic field, produced by the tether current, are taken into account.