Deorbiting Characteristic Research On Electro-Dynamic Tether

The potential safety hazard of space debris and useless satellites to the normal operating satellites could not be overlooked. It is necessary to take practical measures to make space debris and useless satellites reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. Electro-dynamic tethers provide a very promising propulsion system for de-orbiting of LEO satellites. In this application, the Lorentz force generated by the interaction between the current in the wire and the geomagnetic field produces an electro-dynamic drag leading to a fast orbital decay. In this paper, we make an intensive study of the process of de-orbiting using electro-dynamic tether system. The concrete work includes:Firstly, I have studied the basic principle of how to generate the electro-dynamic drag, modeled via accuracy geomagnetism, made a concrete analysis of the de-orbiting duration, the magnitude and direction of electro-dynamic drag under the action of the dipole and accurate geomagnetic models, set up a counterbalance between electro-dynamic torque and gravity gradient torque, emulate the de-orbiting process of spacecraft, and compared the change of six orbital factors and the de-orbiting duration under the action of the dipole and accurate geomagnetic models. The principle of how to supply energy for system has also been studied.Secondly, the orbiting satellites are affected by several perturbations. We put the main emphasis on the influence of the perturbations of the atmosphere drag and the Earth's eccentricity on the six orbital factors and the simulation's accuracy.Finally, by modifying the configuration parameters of tether's length and radius, we have analyzed the influence of the tether configuration. The results of simulations show that if shorten the tether's length, the duration of de-orbiting will show a marked increase, and if increase the tether's radius, the duration of de-orbiting will show a marked decrease.