Abstract
Nanosatellites, like CubeSat, have begun completing advanced missions that require high power that can be obtained using deployable solar panels. However, a larger solar array area facing the Sun increases the solar radiation torque on the satellite. In this study, we investigated solar radiation torque characteristics resulting from the increased area of solar panels on board the CubeSats. Three common deployable solar panel configurations that are commercially available were introduced and their reference missions were established for the purpose of comparison. The software algorithms used to simulate a variety of orbit scenarios are described in detail and some concerns are highlighted based on the results obtained. The solar power generation of the respective configurations is provided. The findings are useful for nanosatellite developers in predicting the characteristics of solar radiation torques and solar power generation that will be encountered when using various deployable solar panels, thus helping with the selection of a suitable configuration for their design.
Highlights
For satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), major sources of external disturbances that perturb their total angular momentum include the gravitational field, magnetic field, atmosphere, and solar radiation.At altitudes of 400 to 1000 km, the disturbances that affect those satellites the most are the gravitational and magnetic torques
While the total resultant torques presented are by no means the maximum torques that will be experienced by the satellites, especially since the initial condition after deployment is not considered, forecasts on the maximum resultant torques to maintain the nadir-pointing mission proposed would be very useful for design engineers to plan the overall power usage
The data obtained above show that the solar radiation torques produced due to the usage of deployable solar panels are still much smaller compared to other disturbances
Summary
For satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), major sources of external disturbances that perturb their total angular momentum include the gravitational field, magnetic field, atmosphere, and solar radiation. The effects of solar radiation should be a concern for nanosatellites, like CubeSats, as their missions have become more advanced and subsequently require more power, which has necessitated the use of deployable solar panels. Deployable solar panels on CubeSat can be used to optimize solar power generation and to accomplish specific missions. Many papers about the former application have been published, wherein novel solar panel configurations were designed and solar energy harnessing was studied [2,3,4,5]. Most of these CubeSats have their own primary missions, and they rely on commercial suppliers for their deployable solar panels as far as reliability is concerned. The work here is useful to help CubeSat developers select suitable deployable solar panel configurations for their CubeSats and to foresee possible disturbance patterns that could affect the satellite motion
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