DETECTION OF TETHERED SATELLITE SYSTEMS

摘要

The detection and identification of tethered satellite system is a problem of current interest. Most previous studies focused on the detection and identification of one tethered satellite system using the observations of one satellite in the system. Here, we consider the problem of determining which pairs of many satellites for which we have observations are tethered. Two-satellite and three-satellite tethered systems are modeled using a multi-body formulation in which the constraints of constant tether length are included through the use of Lagrange multipliers. All satellites are considered to be point masses, except for the purpose of including aerodynamic drag, and the masses of the tethers are neglected compared to those of the satellites. The mathematical model is used to produce simulated motion of single and tethered satellites from which "observations" of the type usually made by tracking stations are obtained. Discrimination of tethered pairs from un-tethered pairs is performed by using a batch estimator to estimate the Lagrange multipliers, which, physically, are the tether forces per unit relative distance between the satellites. Two-satellite and three-satellite tethered systems are detected in a set of satellites using observations over a short time period.