Abstract Recent studies have shown the feasibility of an Earth pole-sitter mission using low-thrust propulsion. This mission concept involves a spacecraft following the Earth's polar axis to have a continuous, hemispherical view of one of the Earth's poles. Such a view will enhance future Earth observation and telecommunications for high latitude and polar regions. To assess the accessibility of the pole-sitter orbit, this paper investigates optimum Earth pole-sitter transfers employing low-thrust propulsion. A launch from low Earth orbit (LEO) by a Soyuz Fregat upper stage is assumed after which solar electric propulsion is used to transfer the spacecraft to the pole-sitter orbit. The objective is to minimize the mass in LEO for a given spacecraft mass to be inserted into the pole-sitter orbit. The results are compared with a ballistic transfer that exploits manifold-like trajectories that wind onto the pole-sitter orbit. It is shown that, with respect to the ballistic case, low-thrust propulsion can achieve significant mass savings in excess of 200kg for a pole-sitter spacecraft of 1000kg upon insertion. To finally obtain a full low-thrust transfer from LEO up to the pole-sitter orbit, the Fregat launch is replaced by a low-thrust, minimum time spiral, which provides further mass savings, but at the cost of an increased time of flight.

    Highlights ► Optimal transfers from low Earth orbit to a pole-sitter position are investigated. ► Low-thrust transfers outperform ballistic transfers regarding mass required in LEO. ► For a 1000kg pole-sitter spacecraft 5647kg is required in LEO for a Soyuz launch. ► Performance is improved by replacing upper stage transfer by low-thrust spiral. ► Low-thrust spiral requires only 1285kg in LEO at cost of increased time of flight.


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    Titel :

    Design of optimal earth pole-sitter transfers using low-thrust propulsion


    Beteiligte:

    Erschienen in:

    Acta Astronautica ; 79 ; 253-268


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    2012-04-16


    Format / Umfang :

    16 pages




    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)


    Format :

    Elektronische Ressource


    Sprache :

    Englisch





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