Identification and orbit determination of a tethered satellite system

Orbital motion of a tethered satellite system, composed of two satellites a nd an inextensible tether, is considered by using a perturbed two-body mode l. This approach is adopted so that the determination of the orbit of one o f the satellites can be attempted without using observations of the motion of the other satellite in the system. The identification of the tethered co ndition of the system using observations of only one of the satellites in t he tethered satellite system is considered. The characteristics of the 'tet her perturbed' motion of the observed satellite are investigated. Estimatio n of the state of the system using near perfect data is also illustrated. O bservations of one satellite provide the entire state of the system and a p arameter involving the ratio of the masses of satellites and the tether len gth. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.