Suppression of Chaotic Motion of Tethered Satellite Systems Using Tether Length Control

TL;DR

This paper investigates controlling the chaotic motion of tethered satellite systems by adjusting tether length to stabilize their attitude and motion in orbit.

Contribution

It introduces a tether length control method to suppress chaos in tethered satellite systems without using thrusters.

Findings

Chaotic motion can be effectively suppressed by tether length adjustments.

The proposed control method stabilizes satellite attitude and motion.

The study simplifies the system by neglecting atmospheric drag and other perturbations.

Abstract

This study focuses on attitude and control motion of two bodies (a base-satellite and a sub-satellite) connected by an inextensible and massless tether in a circular orbit under the influence of the Earths gravitational force. The base-satellite is assumed to be far more heavier than the sub-satellite. In such cases, the base-satellite is regarded as the reference spacecraft. Because of the complexity of the problem, no thrusters on the sub-satellite are considered, and the effect of atmospheric drag, Earths oblateness, and electrodynamic force on the spacecraft are neglected.