Abstract The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of a maximum admissible value of the sail cone angle on the transfer performance of a solar sail-based spacecraft in an interplanetary mission scenario. The proposed approach models the possible constraint on the maximum Sun angle of the solar panels, when thin film solar cells are attached to the flat solar sail exposed area. In particular, transfers towards Mars and Venus are investigated in a simplified circle-to-circle, two-dimensional mission scenario. This study is carried out by analyzing the transfer problem in a systematic way, by considering both the sail characteristic acceleration and the Sun angle of the solar panels as the independent parameters that define the mission performance in terms of flight time.
Highlights This paper estimates the effects of control angle constraints on a solar sail optimal trajectory. Transfers towards Mars and Venus are investigated in a circle-to-circle, two-dimensional mission scenario. Different values of characteristic acceleration and maximum Sun angle are considered. The conditions when the cone angle constraint is inactive are parametrically evaluated.
Effects of attitude constraints on solar sail optimal interplanetary trajectories
Acta Astronautica ; 177 ; 39-47
2020-07-07
9 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Optimum solar-sail interplanetary trajectories
AIAA | 1976
|Optimal Solar Sail Interplanetary Trajectories with Constant Cone Angle
Springer Verlag | 2014
|Solar sail elastic displacement effects on interplanetary trajectories
Online Contents | 2013
|Solar sail elastic displacement effects on interplanetary trajectories
Elsevier | 2012
|