Magnetic stabilization of the rotational motion of the nanosatellite in inclined orbit

Abstract

In this paper the problem of passive magnetic stabilization of the otational motion of the nanosatellite in inclined orbit is considered.The effect of the gravitational torque on this stabilization is taken into account. Passive magnetic stabilization allows the nanosatellite to stabilize by keeping one axis of the spacecraft aligned with the field lines of the Earth magnetic field in orbit. It is assumed that the geomagnetic field is modeled by direct dipole. Rotational motion of nanosatellite is described by dynamic and kinematic Euler equations, which are solved by the fourth-order explicit Runge-Kutta method. The results of computational experiments show that for orbits of inclinations over i = 150, passive magnetic stabilization is not effective to stabilize nanosatellites. An analysis of obtained numerical results show that an influence of the geomagnetic field increases for the polar orbit. It is shown that for near equatorial orbits of inclinations under 150, passive magnetic stabilization is most effective to stabilize nanosatellites. The results of computational experiments show that for orbits of inclinations over 150, passive magnetic stabilization is not effective to stabilize nanosatellites and the perturbations caused by the gravitational torque tends to increase. In this way, this technique is not enough effective for satellite's orbits with an inclination of more 150. In order to achieve desired stabilization, one needs to take into account damping moments.