Improving the technology for ensuring the magnetic cleanliness of small spacecraft

Abstract

The object of this study is the technology of ensuring magnetic cleanliness when applied to small spacecraft (SC) with overall dimensions of ~1 m in terms of minimizing the effect of magnetic interference on the on-board magnetometer. As part of solving the general problem of increasing the reliability of spacecraft, the task of improving the technology of magnetic cleanliness is considered. It is shown that the use of the multi-dipole model for the calculation of ~50 nT magnetic interference is limited in the design of small space vehicles that have an increased installation density. The expediency of using a model of its spherical harmonics instead of a multi-dipole model to represent the magnetic field of satellite components was theoretically justified. For the practical application of the model, the budgeting of the projections of the magnetic induction of hindrance to the onboard magnetometer according to the experimentally determined coefficients of the dipole, quadrupole and octupole spherical harmonics is proposed. An algorithm for calculating the coordinates of the location and projections of the magnetic moment of the dipole source inside the satellite based on the results of measuring the coefficients of spherical harmonics of its components is proposed. The possibility of representing the coefficients of the spherical harmonics of the magnetic field of the entire satellite in the form of the sum of the listed corresponding coefficients obtained during field measurements of the components is theoretically justified. It is proposed to use the difference between the calculated and measured values of the corresponding coefficients as a criterion for the quality of the work to ensure magnetic cleanliness. If the proposed procedure is used in the space industry, the quality of ensuring the magnetic cleanliness of small space vehicles can be increased, thereby improving the reliability of their operation in orbit