Thrust Pointing Adjustment of Electric Propulsion System

Abstract

The satellite uses an electric propulsion system (EPS) to complete the north-south station-keeping (NSSK) work. Due to the change of satellite centroid position during the whole life period, electric propulsion thrust pointing adjustment is required to minimize the deviation between the thrust vector and the satellite centroid, to avoid the additional interference torque and the decrease of the position protection efficiency of the EPS. In this paper, the electric propulsion thrust pointing adjustment method is designed, the mathematical model of the pointing adjustment angle is established, the conformity of the thrust pointing adjustment during the whole life of the spacecraft is analyzed, and the ground integration test verification and the on-orbit electric propulsion thrust pointing adjustment verification are completed. The analysis and verification data show that the adjustment range and accuracy of the EPS can meet the requirements of the NSSK mission.