Uses of electrodynamic forces in tethered satellite systems. II. Orbit-transfer

Part II of this work presents electrodynamic forces used for orbit transfer. The system presented in Part I is to be transferred to a new orbit of a different radius while maintaining a nearly Earth-pointing orientation at all times. The maneuver is to be performed with electrodynamic forces without the use of thrusters. To accomplish this mission, the notion of synchronized impulses, that is, running electric current through the tether at precalculated instants and amplitudes, is presented