TY - JOUR
T1 - Detumbling control of an underactuated tethered satellite system based on a tension regulation method
AU - Cheng, Yajie
AU - Shan, Minghe
AU - Shi, Lingling
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 IAA
PY - 2025/3
Y1 - 2025/3
N2 - When using the net capturing method to remove a space debris object, a maneuverable chaser satellite ejects a tethered net to capture a target, forming a tethered satellite system. Tumbling of the target and tether libration due to the residual angular momentum of the target and the flexibility of tethers, respectively, are the main issues in the tethered system. In this paper, a reel-in/out mechanism is introduced to the system so that the tether length between the chaser and the target can be controlled. A variable-length dynamic model based on the discrete mass–spring–damper method is developed to support the tether length control. A tension regulation control strategy, coordinated with propulsion control and tether length control, is proposed to address the two main issues. Compared to the previous detumbling strategies, although this method requires more hardware resources, it takes advantage of safe implementation with the taut state tether. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the proposed tension regulation control approach outperforms the propulsion control method as well as the attitude control method in terms of detumbling efficiency and tether libration suppression. Overall, this newly proposed detumbling strategy is highly recommended for the safe execution of active debris removal missions.
AB - When using the net capturing method to remove a space debris object, a maneuverable chaser satellite ejects a tethered net to capture a target, forming a tethered satellite system. Tumbling of the target and tether libration due to the residual angular momentum of the target and the flexibility of tethers, respectively, are the main issues in the tethered system. In this paper, a reel-in/out mechanism is introduced to the system so that the tether length between the chaser and the target can be controlled. A variable-length dynamic model based on the discrete mass–spring–damper method is developed to support the tether length control. A tension regulation control strategy, coordinated with propulsion control and tether length control, is proposed to address the two main issues. Compared to the previous detumbling strategies, although this method requires more hardware resources, it takes advantage of safe implementation with the taut state tether. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the proposed tension regulation control approach outperforms the propulsion control method as well as the attitude control method in terms of detumbling efficiency and tether libration suppression. Overall, this newly proposed detumbling strategy is highly recommended for the safe execution of active debris removal missions.
KW - Coordinated control
KW - Space debris removal
KW - Tension regulation method
KW - Tethered satellite system
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85212055936&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.12.004
DO - 10.1016/j.actaastro.2024.12.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85212055936
SN - 0094-5765
VL - 228
SP - 357
EP - 369
JO - Acta Astronautica
JF - Acta Astronautica
ER -