Evaluation of the Efficiency of Propulsion Systems Usage with Energy Accumulation at Spacecraft

The problem of cooperative optimization of trajectory and main design parameters of spacecraft, equipped with propulsion systems with energy accumulation, during low Earth orbit formation and correction in non-central gravitational field is considered. The working principle of these propulsion systems is a periodic cycle of energy accumulation from the energy source at the passive stages of orbital transfer, and its discharge to supply power to the engine during the active stages of orbital transfer. The special characteristics of propulsion systems with energy accumulation is limited operation time per one switching, which determines by the energy, stored in an accumulator. For design-ballistic analysis, the mass model of the spacecraft with an uncontrollable power-limited engine with energy accumulator is used. The general problem is separated into dynamic and parametric parts. Using averaging mathematical models of motion and Pontriagin's maximum principle, the calculation method of the ballistic characteristics of approximately-optimal orbital transfer is obtained. The method of design-ballistic optimization is obtained as an iterative procedure. It was found, that inclusion of an energy accumulator in a propulsion system provides an increasing of orbital transfer efficiency.