Reduction of libration angle in electrodynamic tether deployment by lorentz force

The effect of the Lorentz force in reducing the libration angle in the deployment process of a bare electrodynamic tether system is studied. The results show that the maximum amplitude of the libration angle is reduced if the Lorentz force is included compared to the case without the Lorentz forcewhen subject to the same control law. It shows the Lorentz force is more significant when the electrodynamic tether system is deployed in the orbital region of high electron density than in low electron density. The maximum amplitude of libration angle could be reduced by as much as35% in the high electron density region. Thus, the libration angle in the deployment of an electrodynamic tether system can be effectively reduced by the Lorentz force without using the thruster in the libration direction.