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Trajectory optimization for Ceres exploration using electric solar wind sail with a refined thrust model

  • China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The electric solar wind sail (E-sail for short) is an innovative concept for spacecraft propulsion, which can generate continuous thrust without propellant by reflecting solar wind ions. In previous literatures, the thrust of E-sail is described by a classical model, which neglected the effects of E-sail attitude on the propulsive thrust modulus and direction. The aim of this paper is to reappraise the performance of E-sail in the Ceres exploration mission with a new refined thrust model in polynomial form, which considered the effect of the spacecraft attitude on both the thrust modulus and direction. By using a hybrid optimization method, the trajectory optimization of E-sail from Earth to Ceres is implemented in an optimization framework. The numerical results show that the minimal flight time with refined thrust model is longer than that with classical model.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings IECON 2017 - 43rd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages6590-6595
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781538611272
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Dec 2017
Event43rd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, IECON 2017 - Beijing, China
Duration: 29 Oct 20171 Nov 2017

Publication series

NameProceedings IECON 2017 - 43rd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society
Volume2017-January

Conference

Conference43rd Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, IECON 2017
Country/TerritoryChina
CityBeijing
Period29/10/171/11/17

Keywords

  • Ceres
  • E-sail
  • refined thrust model
  • trajectory optimizaiton

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