The International Space Station (ISS) will require periodic reboost due to atmospheric aerodynamic drag. This is nominally achieved through the use of thruster firings by the attached Progress M spacecraft. Many Progress flights to the ISS are required annually. Electrodynamic tethers provide an attractive alternative in that they can provide periodic reboost or continuous drag cancellation using no consumables, propellant, nor conventional propulsion elements. The system could also serve as an emergency backup reboost system used only in the event resupply and reboost are delayed for some reason. The system also has direct application to spacecraft and upper stage propulsion. Electrodynamic tethers have been demonstrated in space previously with the plasma motor generator (PMG) experiment and the Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TSS-1R). The advanced electrodynamic tether proposed for ISS reboost has significant advantages over previous systems in that higher thrust is achievable with significantly shorter tethers and without the need for an active current collection device, hence making the system simpler and much less expensive.


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    Title :

    International Space Station electrodynamic tether reboost


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Space technology and applications international forum -1999 ; 1999 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)


    Published in:

    AIP Conference Proceedings ; 458 , 1 ; 490-495


    Publication date :

    1999-01-22


    Size :

    6 pages





    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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