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A new solar sail model that can be controlled passively using gravity stabilization and black-coating was designed. In this paper, a long boom with a tip-mass was used to realize gravity-gradient stabilization when a solar radiation pressure (SRP) was applied. The solar sail does not require extra controllers or fuel sources to maintain proper attitude for orbit raising schemes. In an orbit mission, attitude dynamics and control analysis of a solar sail are critical issues for successful performance. This paper investigated analytically and numerically the stability of 1-dof pitch motion of the solar sail model. Ignoring the SRP and conducting analytic interpretation, among the four equilibrium points of the solar sail, the solar sail was marginally stable in the standing attitude aligned along the direction of gravity or in the standing attitude upside down. The computation, including an SRP, showed that the state near two of the four equilibrium points (standing attitude and standing attitude upside down) were oscillating within a certain boundary if the perturbation was small and stable. The validation was verified by checking the phase portrait and the power spectral density. The simulation of 3-dof orbit demonstration mission of the presented model with translation motions shows the result of increased orbital altitude change, implying the feasibility of mission performance.

Invariant manifolds of a periodic orbit are very important dynamical aspects to understand the quantitative as well as qualitative behaviour of non-linear phenomenon in a dynamical system. This paper presents the computation of invariant manifolds of Lyapunov periodic orbits near artificial equilibrium points (AEPs) L ¯ 1 and L ¯ 2 for a solar sail equipped with reflectivity control device (RCD) under the frame of circular restricted three body problem with dipole secondary. The families of Lyapunov periodic orbits near L ¯ 1 and L ¯ 2 points are obtained by continuation technique and then impacts of sail lightness number β and dipole distance d of the dipole secondary are observed in the context of initial conditions and time period. It is noticed that in the presence of dipole secondary, the family of Lyapunov periodic orbits are unstable. Next, the stable and unstable branches of invariant manifolds of Lyapunov periodic orbits are computed under the influence of sail lightness number and dipole secondary and it is found that effect of β and dipole distance d are negligible. These results will to the study about the construction of transfer trajectories and to execute the low-energy transfer.

Conducting a wrinkling analysis for a membrane structure of complex boundary conditions is quite difficult. This paper develops a numerical calculation method for completing a wrinkling analysis of a square membrane structure and a trapezoidal membrane structure with static corner forces. Furthermore, an experimental system for measuring the wrinkle is designed and established to verify the correctness of the method. The difference between simulation analysis results and experimental results is quite small for small corner forces, which means the method used for the wrinkling analysis under small loads is effective.

The recent discovery of Earth’s second Trojan asteroid (2020 XL5), which will remain in the vicinity of the Sun–[Earth+Moon] triangular Lagrangian point L4 for at least 4000 years, has attracted the attention of the scientific community as a remarkable example of those elusive objects that are the witnesses of the first phase of our Solar System. The possibility that an Earth’s Trojan asteroid (ETa) may represent a pristine record of the initial conditions of the Solar System formation makes these small objects an interesting target for a robotic exploration mission. This paper analyzes orbit-to-orbit Earth–ETa transfer trajectories of an interplanetary spacecraft propelled by a solar sail. In the last decade, some pioneering space missions have confirmed the feasibility and potentiality of the solar sail concept as a propellantless propulsion system able to convert the solar radiation pressure in a continuous thrust by means of a large, lightweight and highly reflective surface. Using the state-of-the-art level of solar sail technology, this paper studies the performance of a solar-sail-based transfer trajectory toward an ETa from an optimal viewpoint and with a parametric approach.

This paper aims to present a set of possible transfer trajectories for a rendezvous mission with asteroid 2024 YR4, using a spacecraft propelled by a photonic solar sail. Asteroid 2024 YR4 was discovered in late December 2024 and was briefly classified as Torino Scale 3 for three weeks in early 2025, before being downgraded to zero at the end of February. In this study, rapid Earth-to-asteroid transfers are analyzed by solving a typical optimal control problem, in which the thrust vector generated by the solar sail is modeled using the optical force approach. Numerical simulations are carried out assuming a low-to-medium performance solar sail, considering both a simplified orbit-to-orbit transfer and a more accurate scenario that incorporates the actual ephemerides of the celestial bodies. The numerical results indicate that a medium-performance solar sail can reach asteroid 2024 YR4, achieving the global minimum flight time and arriving before its perihelion passage in late December 2032.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the most dynamical properties of the motion of a test particle in the circular restricted 3-body problem with various perturbations such as modified potential, quantum correction, interactions and solar sail etc. The formulation of the problem and the equations of motion are illustrated. Then, we numerically find locations of stationary points, Poincaré surfaces of section, trajectory allocations, basins of attraction and stability of the stationary points. This study will be really helpful to those who are working in the space agencies with modern techniques.

The primary objective of this paper is to identify periodic orbits for solar sails within the oblate Earth-Moon Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP). Incorporating solar acceleration into the Earth-Moon system modifies the governing orbital equations, transforming the traditional CR3BP from an autonomous to a non-autonomous system. As a result, the procedure for identifying periodic orbits diverges from the conventional autonomous CR3BP method. Thus, this paper introduces a novel methodology to identify new periodic Halo and Lyapunov orbits within the non-autonomous CR3BP. Our proposed approach comprises four hierarchical steps: first, a surface of section simulation (Poincaré map) is conducted to obtain an initial approximation of the orbital state vector within the autonomous CR3BP. Second, a periodic orbit correction algorithm is developed using the autonomous CR3BP equations to acquire precise initial conditions. In the third step, initial conditions for solar sail periodic orbits are derived by applying the initial conditions of autonomous CR3BP periodic orbits as inputs to the periodic orbit correction algorithm, which is now executed using non-autonomous CR3BP equations. In the final step, a family of orbits is generated by gradually increasing the sail's characteristic acceleration. Our work addresses limitations in previous studies that relied on initial guesses derived solely from the unperturbed autonomous CR3BP reported in earlier research, which often resulted in the missing of numerous solar sail periodic orbits in the non-autonomous system. This approach enables the discovery of new periodic orbits within the Earth-Moon system, accounting for perturbations from the oblate primaries, including zonal harmonic terms from j 2 to j 6 . The methodology is validated through simulations of solar sail Lyapunov and Halo orbits, offering a comprehensive understanding of the Earth-Moon CR3BP under non-autonomous conditions.

A diffractive sail is a solar sail whose exposed surface is covered by an advanced diffractive metamaterial film with engineered optical properties. This study examines the optimal performance of a diffractive solar sail with a Sun-facing attitude in a typical orbit-to-orbit heliocentric transfer. A Sun-facing attitude, which can be passively maintained through the suitable design of the sail shape, is obtained when the sail nominal plane is perpendicular to the Sun–spacecraft line. Unlike an ideal reflective sail, a Sun-facing diffractive sail generates a large transverse thrust component that can be effectively exploited to change the orbital angular momentum. Using a recent thrust model, this study determines the optimal control law of a Sun-facing ideal diffractive sail and simulates the minimum transfer times for a set of interplanetary mission scenarios. It also quantifies the performance difference between Sun-facing diffractive sail and reflective sail. A case study presents the results of a potential mission to the asteroid 16 Psyche.

In this paper, we have investigated the dependence of characteristic acceleration and design sensitivity function of solar sail on mass and area of solar sail by solving the dynamics of solar sails using electromagnetic treatment of Maxwell’s and quantum mechanics of Einstein’s theories. It is found that the solar sail with large area A, fewer payloads mass m p and sail loading σ would be best for distribution in space to meet the new avenues of space science. It has also been observed that higher relative characteristic acceleration procured by using sail of large area with low density sail film as much as possible, which is our requirement for mission of solar sail.

A new attitude control method for solar sails is proposed using a single-axis gimbal mechanism and three-axis reaction wheels. The gimbal angle is varied to change the geometrical relationship between the force due to solar radiation pressure (SRP) and the center of mass of the spacecraft, such that the disturbance torque is minimized during attitude maintenance for orbit control. Attitude maneuver and maintenance are performed by the reaction wheels based on the quaternion feedback control method. Even if angular momentum accumulates on the reaction wheels due to modelling error, it can also be unloaded by using the gimbal to produce suitable torque due to SRP. In this study, we analyzed the attitude motion under the reaction wheel control by linearizing the equations of motion around the equilibrium point. Further, we newly derived the propellent-free unloading method based on the analytical formulation. Finally, we constructed the integrated attitude-orbit control method, and its validity was verified in integrated attitude-orbit control simulations.