Modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight

Modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight

This paper presents a simulation study of ion thruster plume effects on formation flying spacecraft. Two formation flight applications using micro-ion propulsion are considered: an L2-Halo orbit interferometer formation and a LEO micro-satellite formation. Worst case scenarios in both missions have...

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Main Authors: Kafafy, Raed Ismail, Cao, Y.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Royal Aeronautical Society 2010
Subjects:
TL500 Aeronautics
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/11900/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/11900/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/11900/1/modelling_ion_propulsion.pdf
id iium-11900
recordtype eprints
spelling iium-119002012-03-14T02:58:04Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/11900/ Modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight Kafafy, Raed Ismail Cao, Y. TL500 Aeronautics This paper presents a simulation study of ion thruster plume effects on formation flying spacecraft. Two formation flight applications using micro-ion propulsion are considered: an L2-Halo orbit interferometer formation and a LEO micro-satellite formation. Worst case scenarios in both missions have been investigated. We focus our study on thruster configurations resulting in possible indirect plume impingement on satellites outside of the direct impingement zone. Indirect impingement which cannot be predicted except through plasma simulation or in-flight measurements might expose critical spacecraft elements such as optical sensors to a harsh contamination environment. A high-fidelity electrostatic plasma simulation code for parallel computing platforms was used in the study. In our study, we found that using miniature scale ion propulsion in both formation missions creates a very low charge-exchange plasma environment which results in tolerable contamination environment for other spacecraft in the formation. Royal Aeronautical Society 2010-07 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/11900/1/modelling_ion_propulsion.pdf Kafafy, Raed Ismail and Cao, Y. (2010) Modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight. Aeronautical Journal, 114 (1157). pp. 417-426. ISSN 0001-9240 http://aerosociety.com/News/Publications/Aero-Journal
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
language English
topic TL500 Aeronautics
spellingShingle TL500 Aeronautics
Kafafy, Raed Ismail
Cao, Y.
Modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight
description This paper presents a simulation study of ion thruster plume effects on formation flying spacecraft. Two formation flight applications using micro-ion propulsion are considered: an L2-Halo orbit interferometer formation and a LEO micro-satellite formation. Worst case scenarios in both missions have been investigated. We focus our study on thruster configurations resulting in possible indirect plume impingement on satellites outside of the direct impingement zone. Indirect impingement which cannot be predicted except through plasma simulation or in-flight measurements might expose critical spacecraft elements such as optical sensors to a harsh contamination environment. A high-fidelity electrostatic plasma simulation code for parallel computing platforms was used in the study. In our study, we found that using miniature scale ion propulsion in both formation missions creates a very low charge-exchange plasma environment which results in tolerable contamination environment for other spacecraft in the formation.
format Article
author Kafafy, Raed Ismail
Cao, Y.
author_facet Kafafy, Raed Ismail
Cao, Y.
author_sort Kafafy, Raed Ismail
title Modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight
title_short Modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight
title_full Modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight
title_fullStr Modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight
title_full_unstemmed Modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight
title_sort modelling ion propulsion plume interactions with spacecraft in formation flight
publisher Royal Aeronautical Society
publishDate 2010
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/11900/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/11900/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/11900/1/modelling_ion_propulsion.pdf
first_indexed 2023-09-18T20:21:10Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T20:21:10Z
_version_ 1777408116372013056

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