Study On De-Orbiting Duration Property Of Electro-Dynamic Tether

The potential safety hazard of space debris and useless satellites to the normal operating satellites could not be overlooked. 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, we have studied the basic principle of how to generate the electro-dynamic drag, 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, compared the effect of the de-orbiting duration of spacecraft with the diversification of geomagnetic field in the length of the electro-dynamic tethers.Secondly, the national and international research in this aspect essentially focus on the circular orbit, in this text the research focus on the elliptical orbit. This paper give a estimated formula of calculation the de-orbiting duration of spacecraft. . We can gained qualitative analysis with this estimated formula for the de-orbiting duration of spacecraft. And then the formula is necessary revised with the simulation. We can inconvenient calculation the de-orbiting duration of spacecraft with this formula, this can offer advantage for technical application.Finally, we put the emphasis on the influence of the perturbations of the atmosphere drag and the Earth's eccentricity on the de-orbiting duration of spacecraft and the simulation's accuracy. And then modifying the tether parameters and orbit parameters, we have analyzed the influence of de-orbiting duration of spacecraft .At the same we validate the estimated formula, the results show the estimated formula can apply with the upwards influence.