Magnetic sail-based displaced non-Keplerian orbits

Abstract

This paper deals with the problem of determining the requirements for the maintenance of circular, displaced, non-Keplerian orbits around the Sun by means of a magnetic sail-based spacecraft. The magnetic sail is an exotic propellantless propulsion system that gains thrust from the magnetostatic interaction between the solar wind and an artificial magnetic field, which is generated on board by an electrical current flowing through a loop of conducting material. The propulsive requirements are given in terms of characteristic acceleration and thrust (cone) angle. The analysis is performed using a recent mathematical model in which the magnetic sail thrust vector is expressed as a function of the Sun-spacecraft distance and the sail attitude. Moreover, a linear stability analysis is carried out to identify the (marginally) stable displaced orbits when an error in the orbital insertion is assumed.