Identification and orbit determination of a tethered satellite system

Orbital motion of a tethered satellite system, composed of two satellites and an inextensible tether, is considered by using a perturbed two-body model. This approach is adopted so that the determination of the orbit of one of the satellites can be attempted without using observations of the motion of the other satellite in the system. The identification of the tethered condition of the system using observations of only one of the satellites in the tethered satellite system is considered. The characteristics of the 'tether perturbed' motion of the observed satellite are investigated. Estimation of the state of the system using near perfect data is also illustrated. Observations of one satellite provide the entire state of the system and a parameter involving the ratio of the masses of satellites and the tether length. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.