EFFECTS OF SOLAR-RADIATION PRESSURE ON THE TETHERED ANTENNA/REFLECTOR SUBSATELLITE SYSTEM

The analytical formulations for the modeling of the solar radiation disturbances on a class of tethered antenna and reflector subsatellite systems are developed based on the assumption that the incident sunlight on the illuminated surface is absorbed completely, reflected completely, or absorbed and reflected in some combination. The effects of the disturbance torque contributed by the shell reflector, the boom, the tether, and the subsatellite are evaluated for stationkeeping operations, and the numerical results show that the tension control law is still able to maintain satisfactory pointing accuracy when the system operates in low or moderate Earth orbit. A hybrid compensation control strategy (involving tether tension plus some kind of actuator attached to the antenna and reflector) might be needed for high Earth orbit, especially the geosynchronous orbit.