SciTech 2021, Science and Technology Forum and Exposition 2021, Virginia, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, 11 - 21 Ocak 2021, cilt.1, sa.2, ss.1-17
Regarding the use of Solar Sail Satellites at low altitudes for the proposed concept, a study
is carried out to determine the critical mode switching altitude of the mission orbit and a
review is presented for the non-ideal solar force model. Based on the results of the study,
further analysis is performed regarding the maneuver planning strategy. The proposed
concept needs solar sailing maneuvers for reshaping, resizing and/or reorienting the orbit for
both station-keeping and transferring to another orbit. These maneuvers can be categorized
as in-plane and out-of-plane maneuvers. In order to devise a strategy for maneuver planning,
geometrical limitations of the solar sailing mechanism mainly based on the Sun’s relative
position are synthesized with mission orbit parameters. The results showed that five
significant parameters are needed to predict the applicability of the maneuvers.