ICNPAA, ICNPAA WORLD CONGRESS 2020

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Using of nanosatellite for asteroids exploration
Elizaveta Sergaeva, Olga Starinova

Last modified: 2023-05-15

Abstract


This paper deals to the problem of spacecraft’s controlled motion near objects with irregular gravitational fields. We propose to use a nano-spacecraft with propulsion system based on ion electro-spray propulsions (iESP), which usually used to control the spacecraft's motion relative to the mass center. The paper describes the gravitational field of an asteroid as the superposition of the fields of two rotating point masses. The proposed control laws made it possible to stabilize the orbit near the asteroid surface. We performed the simulation of motion close to two relatively well-studied asteroid Apophis. The results of the simulation demonstrated that the using of iESP as the auxiliary propulsion systems is sufficient to control the spacecraft’s motion in irregular gravitational fields.