It is proposed to suspend an airfoil from the Space Shuttle by a long tether into the upper atmosphere to provide a horizontal force on the Shuttle, thereby changing its orbital plane most efficiently. The airfoil would need high-temperature skin and tether, and remotely controlled flaps to adjust its angle of attack. The airfoil could also be used as a hypersonic facility to measure aerodynamic characteristics at extreme altitudes and velocities. This use would require a vertical lift force to counteract the drag force and prevent the Shuttle orbit from decaying too rapidly during the aerodynamic measurements.
The Satellite Sail
1985-03-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
RADAR "SAIL" Satellite Concept
Online Contents | 1996
|RADAR "SAIL" Satellite Concept
British Library Conference Proceedings
|Radar "Sail" satellite concept and design
Online Contents | 2000
|Deployment strategy for satellite-sail transverse formation
Elsevier | 2021
|