Payload transportation capabilities of space tug are evaluated in general forms for both the specific impulse limited type and the specific power limited type. The payload mass is non-dimensionalized with the propellant mass initially loaded on departure, since the quantity of the propellant which is required to transport the payload will be a predominant factor influencing on the recurring cost of the transportation. The non-dimensionalized payload mass is given in Figs. 1 and 3, for ΔV and J corresponding to the types of propulsion, under the assumption that ΔV or J are the same for both ways of the round trip. Here ΔV=∫adt and J=∫aa
2dt where a is the tug acceleration due to thrust. For specific power limited type, the power plant mass is optimized to maximize the non-dimensionalized payload. Results are shown for three cases of payload transportation, i.e. simple placement, simple recovery and round trip with the payload of equal mass, corresponding to δ=0, 1 and 1/2.
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