Propellantless Close Range Rendezvous and Docking Using a Single Electromagnetic Device for Small Spacecraft

摘要

This paper proposes a new docking system for small satellites including a control method. Recently, a lot of docking missions with small satellites has been proposed. However, the conventional docking methods which use docking mechanisms require strict relative position control and complicated docking mechanism. Therefore, this paper proposes a new docking system using an electromagnetic coil and a permanent magnet. This system requires more simple electromagnetic devices and lower position control accuracy. The proposed docking system with the control method is evaluated with numerical simulation.