Control Strategy Research on Long-time Deorbiting of an Electrodynamic Tether System

This paper investigates the long-time deorbiting problem of an electrodynamic tether system. The dynamics modeling is conducted by adopting an assumption of a dumbbell model. Besides, the effects of Lorentz force, atmospheric drag, and $J_{2}$ perturbation on the orbital dynamics are involved in to improve the accuracy of the system model. Three current control strategies, including the constant current input, directionally variable current input, and the optimal current control, are proposed for deorbiting of the electrodynamic tether system. To maintain the stability of the attitude motion of the system and maximize the utilization of Lorentz force, a current switching control strategy is adopted to facilitate the control strategies. Finally, comparative numerical simulations are presented to exhibit the deorbiting efficiency and to validate the effectiveness of the control strategies.