Extension of tethered satellites in the atmosphere

Pradeep, S and Kumar, K (2003) Extension of tethered satellites in the atmosphere. In: Acta Astronautica, 52 (1). 01-10.

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Abstract

An important application of tethered satellites isatmospheric studies by extension of a subsatellite into the atmosphere through tether while the parent spacecraft *ies at an altitude high enough so that the deleterious e+ects of the atmosphere on it are inconsequential. The key issue in the operation is the swift extension of the tether. Inordinate librations of the tether during extension are undesirable. Tension control, in conjunction with a thruster to control the out-of-pane motion, is a popular technique of control during extension. Many nonlinear feedback tension control laws based on Liapunov’s direct method have been proposed. In this paper, an alternate technique, a linear state variable feedback control law is used. The control gains are determined from theorems in analytical mechanics. Simulation of the nonlinear equations using this controller a5rms that the tether extends to the desired length in a reasonable amount of time.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Acta Astronautica
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Additional Information:	Copyright of thias article belongs to Elsevier Science.
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Aerospace Engineering(Formerly Aeronautical Engineering)
Date Deposited:	19 Jul 2009 07:33
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:54
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/16928

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