This paper has investigated if utilising Ion-Propulsion on a solar sunshade would lead to a reduction in total mass. The mechanism leading to this effect is that by using IP, the sunshade could be positioned closer to Earth. Positioning the sunshade closer to Earth would in turn allow for a smaller absolute size in the sunshade (whilst remaining a fixed angular size), and thus a decrease in total mass. This would lead to a decrease in launch costs and manufacturing costs. The results indicate that fitting satellites with Ion-Propulsion would lead to a reduction in the total mass for the sunshade. More specifically they showcase the extent of which using IP has an effect on total mass, for example certain minimum ISP values that are needed to be reached in order for significant reductions of mass to arise. In a similar manner, the duration of which the satellites can remain in orbit also heavily impacts the total mass of the sunshade. If Ion-Propulsion where to be utilised it is quintessential to understand how the technology impacts the total lifetime of the satellites. Additional investigation may also be made in investigating if Ion-Propulsion could be used in such a way where the satellites do not remain stationary in respect to the distance between Earth and the Sun, perhaps this could lead to additional reductions of mass.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kth-315323 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Lind, Christian |
| Publisher | KTH, Fysik |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | TRITA-SCI-GRU ; 2022:137 |
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