The release scheme evaluation of the adjoint satellite

The adjoint satellite is one kind of the free-flying service spacecraft that encircles not only the earth, but also other spacecraft. The implement of the release and retrieval are key technologies in the application and control of the adjoint satellite. In this paper, the schemes, operations, optimization of the release procedure are treated. Firstly, the general principal and the requirements of the adjoint satellite release, the procedures and characteristics of three kinds of release schemes (pulse release, spring release and tether release) are discussed. Then, the spring release mode is analyzed in detail, which includes the influence of spring release on the orbit and attitude of the mother satellite, the optimization of velocity pulse increment in spring release by using the genetic algorithm. The simulation works of the spring release mode are carried out and the simulation results are given. Finally, some conclusions and some insights on future works are given.