Aimed at engineering students and professionals working in the field of mechanics of space flight, this book examines space tether systems – one of the most forward-thinking directions of modern astronautics. The main advantage of this technology is the simplicity, profitability and ecological compatibility: space tethers allow the execution of various manoeuvers in orbit without costs of jet fuel due to the use of gravitational and electromagnetic fields of the Earth. This book will acquaint the reader with the modern state of the space tether’s dynamics, with specific attention on the research projects of the nearest decades. This book presents the most effective mathematical models and the methods used for the analysis and prediction of space tether systems’ motion; attention is also given to the influence of the tether on spacecraft’s motion, to emergencies and chaotic modes. Written by highly qualified experts with practical experience in both the fields of mechanics of space flight, and in the teaching Contains detailed descriptions of mathematical models and methods, and their features, that allow the application of the material of the book to the decision of concrete practical tasks New approaches to the decision of problems of space flight mechanics are offered, and new problems are posed

During many of the earliest American and Russian space missions, experiments were performed using cables to connect people and objects to spacecraft in orbit. These attempts generated considerable information about the formation of tethered systems and basic problems with tether orientation and gravity-gradient stabilization. During the 1970s, inte

"Tethered Satellite Systems (TSS) has been an ongoing project around the world for many decades. This study examined the dynamics an dcontrols of tethered satellites. The equations of motion were developed and simulated with no control and small eccentric orbits. A control law was derived by associating the Hamiltonian of the system to a Lyapunov Funciton. This control law was then simulated to demonstrate ability and robustness. The tethered system can be retrieved and deployed in a small number of orbits, and return from a perturbation quickly. Examination of a non thruster controlled system resulted in asymptotic convergence in retrieval and station keeping, but the inplane angle, orbital plane, converged during deployment. Time to complete the phases was similar to out of plane thruster controlled. The maximum eccentricities were found for retrieval and deployment when the system started at the perihelion of the orbit with a 100Km tether. Drag was added to the model because it effects the dynamics when the subsatellite is very close to earth. Most of the effects are seen in the inplane angle. At fully deployed the inplane angle was small. A Lyapunov controller for tether satellites works very well under ideal conditions. Once aerodynamics are included into the model, offsets and oscillations occur because of the new forces that unbalance the system compared to the model without drag"--Abstract.