Dynamics of gravity-oriented orbiting systems with application to passive stabilization

Abstract

A theoretical framework is presented for analyzing the motion of a multibody satellite system in a gi avity-oriented orbiting reference frame It consists essentially of expressions for the forces and moments of the body-force field on arbitrary bodies and of their utilization in Lagrange's equation to find the equations of motion It is then applied to the analysis of a specific system designed for passive attitude stabilization The equations are linearized and separated into two groups (longitudinal and lateral), and numerical solutions are obtained Damping to half-amplitude in times of the order of 0 3 orbit is possible in either system separately For combined three-axis stabilization, somewhat longer times would result from inevitable compromises The effect of solar radiation on the system is briefly discussed