Absolute Charging Estimation of Spacecraft in Severe GEO Plasma Environments

This article presents the evaluation of capacitance matrix and transient variation of body potential of a satellite modeled as a metallic (Aluminum) structure consisting of a cuboid with two coplanar rectangular plates. The capacitance required for the estimation of body potential is evaluated using the Method of Moments. The impact of the coupled body capacitance in the transient profile of body potential is carried out with reference to that of the isolated bodies. Owing to well-known fact that diverse secondary and backscattered electron yield for different materials is the prime reason for the most destructive differential charging, this work presents its impact for the normal and isotropic incidence of primary particles, which results into a significant amendment in the estimation of absolute charging reported earlier. Absolute charging analysis of a satellite is presented in the normal and worst cases of single Maxwellian plasma environment. The validity of the charging analysis is established with that available in the open literature.