Tethering a new technology

Abstract

In a tethered-satellite system, two satellites travelling in different orbits are forced to circle the earth in the same time period. The lower satellite is dragged by the tether to a higher orbital speed, while the upper one tends to move higher. This generates a tension which maintains the system in a stable configuration; the tether is aligned with a radius projecting outward from the earth's center. Such a system has been demonstrated by the TSS-1 tethered satellite carried by the Space Shuttle's STS-46 mission. The dynamic and the electrodynamic behavior of the system at long tether lengths were not, however, evaluated due to system malfunctions.