Application of spinning electrodynamic tether system in changing system orbital parameters

Spinning electrodynamic tether system is known to be promising in many applications, including space debris removal, transportation missions, changing orbital parameters of spacecrafts and so on. Feasibility of spinning electrodynamic tether system for changing system orbital parameters is analysed in this paper. The main advantage of spinning electrodynamic tether system is the stability of its movement under the action of perturbations. However, when the conductive tether spins in a magnetic field, the Lorentz force constantly changes its direction, which leads to the need to develop special control methods that ensure desired change in system orbital parameters. In this paper, control laws are proposed for changing the semi-major axis and the eccentricity of the orbit, which take the change of tether spatial position into account. To change the semi-major axis, the current is regulated by the cosine law. To change the eccentricity of the orbit, the onboard power system provides a given amount of current when the system is near the apogee and perigee of the orbit. The combination of executing both manoeuvres at the same time is also studied. The numerical results show that the proposed laws enable spinning electrodynamic tether system to change the parameters of the orbit to the desired values.