Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T18:19:29.631Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Dynamics of Low-Thrust Spacecraft Manoeuvres

Part of: RAeS Lanchester Lecture Papers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

E. G. C. Burt
E. G. C. Burt*
Affiliation:
Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Orbital manoeuvres by means of impulsive thrusts, such as those available with chemical rockets, are well known, but a different treatment is needed for the small, continuous thrusts that are typical of electrical propulsion systems. It is shown that with the aid of these small forces it is possible to change independently all the orbital elements of a spacecraft, and thus to proceed slowly from a given orbit to any other. For each manoeuvre there exists an equivalent velocity which depends only on the initial and final orbital states, and which can be related directly to the spacecraft propulsion parameters.

For any form of propulsion where the propellent acquires some or all of its energy from a separate energy source, as in electrical propulsion, it is found that optimum time-varying relations exist between the flow of mass and of energy, which may also be expressed in terms of the exhaust velocity and the thrust. In particular, the optimum exhaust velocity is shown to be an increasing function of time, related to the way in which the energy is released.

The practical realisation of electrical propulsion depends on the development of efficient propulsion units and of lightweight power supplies; these and other spacecraft components are discussed, and a number of examples of orbital manoeuvres are given, including close-Earth, far-Earth and lunar orbits. The paper concludes with a discussion of these orbital transfers in relation to their possible uses, including communication satellites and a test of relativity theory

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 72 , Issue 695 , November 1968 , pp. 925 - 940
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1968 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Burt, E. G. C. On Space Manoeuvres With Continuous Thrust. Planet Space Sci, Vol 15, pp 103–122, 1967.Google Scholar
2. Burt, E. G. C. Optimum Functions for Mass and Energy Flow in Space Manoeuvres. RAE Tech Report 67267, 1967.Google Scholar
3. Burt, E. G. C. On the Attitude Control of Earth Satellites. Proceedings of the Eighth Anglo-American Aeronautical Conference, September 1961.Google Scholar
4. Cook, G. E. A Simple Derivation of Lagrange's Planetary Equations. RAE Tech Note GW 593, 1961.Google Scholar
5. Davison, G. J. Orbit Expansion by Micro-Thrust. RAE Tech Report 67249, 1967.Google Scholar
6. Earl, A. G., and Day, B. P. A Review of Earth Satellite Combined Attitude and Orbit Control Systems. RAE Tech Report 66082, 1966.Google Scholar
7. Hiller, H. Spiral Transfer Orbits from Earth to Moon. RAE Technical Report 67043, 1967.Google Scholar
8. Hiller, H. The Use of the Moon to Accelerate Spacecraft. RAE Tech Report (to be issued).Google Scholar
9. King-Hele, D. G. The Enlargement of Elliptic Satellite Orbits by Continuous Micro-thrust. Proceedings of the 14th Int Astronaut Cong, Paris, 1963, Vol IV, pp 155–171, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1965.Google Scholar
10 Treble, F. C. Large Solar Cell Arrays. RAE Tech Report 68019, 1968.Google Scholar