E.A. Burmistrova1, E.V. Burmistrov2, A.O. Murkin3
1−3 JSC "Precision Systems and Instruments" (Moscow, Russia)
A spherical retroreflector satellite with a conductive frame material, having a low ballistic coefficient, loses its angular velocity by interacting with the Earth's magnetic field, which leads to an increase in the target error in laser ranging.
This article investigates the possibility of slowing down the loss of angular velocity of a satellite while preserving its ballistic coefficient by using different materials for the satellite framework.
We made a vacuum chamber inside the solenoid creating a magnetic field, and three skeletons of satellites "CLOne": of solid aluminum, of a composite material based on chopped lead, and of a composite material based on tungsten crumb. Preflight experiments were carried out, which confirmed that in terrestrial conditions it is possible to measure the natural (orbital) deceleration rate of the "CLOne" satellite in the passive mode. It was shown that the presence of unclosed tungsten wire windings on the frame edges does not significantly affect the rate of deceleration of rotation: their closure creates a moment of force in the presence of an external field.
According to preliminary estimates, the use of the proposed composite material would increase the deceleration time by at least an order of magnitude, which would proportionally increase the useful life of a satellite in orbit from 2-3 to 20-30 years.
Burmistrova E.A., Burmistrov E.V., Murkin A.O. Spherical retroreflector satellite "CLOne" with extended useful life. Information-measuring and Control Systems. 2023. V. 21. № 3. P. 44−49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18127/j20700814-202303-07 (in Russian)
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