In a recent study of potential applications for electric propulsion, it was determined that ion propulsion can provide North-South stationkeeping (NSSK) for communication satellites in geosynchronous orbit with appreciably less mass than chemical propulsion. While this finding is not new, the margin of benefit over advanced chemical propulsion technology depends strongly on the ion propulsion system specifications. Full advantage must be taken of the under-utilized stored energy available from the communication satellite's batteries. This paper describes a methodology for evaluating the benefits obtained in using ion propulsion for NSSK, both in terms of the mass reduction and its economic value.


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    Title :

    Ion propulsion for communications satellites


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    International Electric Propulsion Conference ; 1984 ; Tokyo, Japan


    Publication date :

    1984-01-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English





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