Coulomb tether double-pyramid formation, a potential configuration for geostationary satellite collocation

This paper proposes the Coulomb tether double-pyramid satellite formation, which includes a cluster of charged satellites repelling each other by Debye-shielded Coulomb forces and two counterweights connecting to each satellite via elastic massless tethers. The center of mass of the formation is prescribed to move along the geostationary orbit. The equations of motion of the formation are obtained by using Lagrange's equation. Analytical individual satellite charges are derived for the spinning and non-spinning three-satellite configurations, respectively. When the number of satellites is more than three, approximate analytical charges are obtained. Numerical simulations indicate that the proposed formation may be successfully applied to the geostationary satellite collocation in the future.