Abstract
As an effective countermeasure for suppressing space debris growth, the Aerospace Research and Development Directorate, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been investigating an active space debris removal system that employs highly-efficient electrodynamic tether (EDT) technology as its orbital transfer system. A test flight experiment using a small satellite is planned for establishing and demonstrating the EDT technology. Precise tether dynamics during deployment phase is investigated in this study by numerical simulations in which the coiling of the tether is taken into consideration. The results of the simulation showed that the tether length becomes shorter than the full tether length when the coiling of the tether is severe. The in-plane libration angle of the tether grows larger when the spring constant of the coiling of the tether is specific value. The attitude motion of a mother satellite is less stable when the spring constant of the coiling of the tether is small because of the large tether tension.
