Modeling and dynamics of a bare tape-shaped tethered satellite system

This paper focuses on the rigid-flexible coupling modeling and dynamics of a bare tape-shaped Tethered Satellite System (TSS). The rigid element is adopted to discretize the tape-shaped tether into a system of rigid bodies with equivalent linear springs and dampers serving as the junctions between the adjacent rigid elements. The equations of motion of the rigid elements are obtained using Newton's second law and the theory of angular momentum. Further, the influence of environmental perturbations on the dynamics of the tape-shaped TSS is investigated, including the atmospheric drag, electrodynamic force, and heating impact. The simulation results show that complicated dynamic phenomena for attitude motions and tether configuration changes will be observed in the tape-shaped bare tethered satellite system.