A New Model for the Planetary Radiation Pressure Acceleration for Solar Sails

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Abstract

Solar sailing is a propulsion method that takes advantage of solar radiation pressure to generate thrust. Although most of near-future solar-sail missions will fly in low Earth orbit, where planetary radiation pressure can be as large as 20% of solar radiation pressure, studies on the accelerations produced by the Earth’s albedo and blackbody radiation have only been conducted to a very limited first-order extent. This paper therefore provides a novel, detailed analytical model for these perturbing accelerations, valid for perfectly reflecting solar sails. The full derivation of the model is described, and a thorough analysis of the blackbody and albedo radiation pressure accelerations is conducted for different orbital conditions. Then, to determine the model’s accuracy, a comparison with the state of the art (the finite-disk radiation source model and a high-fidelity numerical model) is provided. Ultimately, different analyses to quantify the effect of planetary radiation pressure acceleration on the solar-sail maneuvering capabilities are presented, using NASA’s upcoming ACS3 mission as reference scenario. The results highlight the nonnegligible effect of uncontrolled planetary radiation pressure acceleration, which can reduce the sailcraft’s achievable altitude and inclination gains to 76 and 80%, respectively, of the gains obtained when planetary radiation pressure is not accounted for.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1674-1687
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics: devoted to the technology of dynamics and control
Volume47
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
EventAAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference 2022 - Charlotte, United States
Duration: 7 Aug 202211 Aug 2022

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care
Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

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