Surface Charging Numeration of LEO Spacecraft

It is easy for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft to accumulate charged particles during its flight, resulting in the surface potential rises, producing the discharge phenomenon and generating serious harm to the craft. This paper is based on the kinetic theory of gases, the theory of plasma in Maxwell velocity distribution function and spacecraft surface current balance equation, calculating the general expression of surface potential with plasma density, plasma temperature and spacecraft speed under the condition of no light. The results show that the surface potential of the spacecraft almost has a linear relationship with the flight speed and the plasma temperature while plasma density has little effect on the surface potential of spacecraft.