Optimal Orbit Parameters for Power Subsystem of LEO Satellites

Document Type : Original Article

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Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to design a Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) Satellite Power Subsystem based on the variations in orbit parameters. Additionally, finding out the optimal orbit, altitude, and inclination angle; considering both solar array components and energy storage devices. There are two main challenges in this work. The first challenge is to provide the Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS) with an additional power to compensate for the solar cell’s degradation until End-of-Life (EOL) due to the presence of a rarefied atmosphere in LEO. The second challenge arises as a result of eclipses experienced by LEO more frequently and thus more charging/discharging cycles than satellites in Geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) leading to more stresses on the LEO batteries, which means higher degradation and lower performance. Accordingly, the aforementioned challenges were tackled by the simulation and analysis based on the
variations of the orbit parameters using Satellite Tool Kit software (STK8.1.1) to result in the optimal orbit, altitude, and inclination angle which provide maximum value for the total generated energy by the solar array during the mission. More importantly, we arrived at the minimum mass and area for solar array simultaneously with minimum values for the batteries’: mass, volume, capacity, and total number of cycles, leading to a reduction in the charge/discharge cycles, i.e. lower degradation and higher performance.

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