Artificial equilibrium points for a solar balloon in the α Centauri system

• A solar balloon may displace the equilibrium points of the α Centauri system.
• Two families of artificial equilibrium points may be generated.
• Most of the L1-type points may be stabilized with a proportional-derivative control law.
• The requirements of a balloon spacecraft for a mission around an equilibrium point are estimated.

This paper discusses the generation, stability, and control of artificial equilibrium points for a solar balloon spacecraft in the α Centauri A and B binary star system. The continuous propulsive acceleration provided by a solar balloon is shown to be able to modify the position of the (classical) Lagrangian equilibrium points of the three-body system on a locus whose geometrical form is known analytically. A linear stability analysis reveals that the new generated equilibrium points are usually unstable, but part of them can be stabilized with a simple feedback control logic.