Analysis of the Motion of a Tether-Perturbed Satellite

The motion of each satellite in a tethered satellite system is non-Keplerian in the Earth's gravitational field. In this paper, the tether perturbation force is formulated and compared with the perturbation force due to the Earth's oblateness. Also, the center of mass motion of the tethered satellite system is analyzed. The tether perturbing force on the one of satellites in a tethered satellite system is much bigger than the Earth's oblateness perturbation. The two-body motion approximation of the center of mass is acceptable to describe the motion of the system, when the libration is small.