A Novel Radar Remote Sensing Orbiting System Using Tethered Satellites

The objective of this paper is to analyze the performance of two different concepts of stabilized tether satel- lite systems used as a platform for a distributed radar sounder. Specifically, after introducing the Cartesian coordinate systems used, the methodology for describing the geometry of the system and its characteristics in terms of radar sounder, the advantages and disadvantages of each configuration are studied, comparing their performance with each other and with the current state of the art. The first architecture consists in a cross-track oriented tether satellite system, controlled, and stabilized exploiting the rarefied atmosphere of low orbit. The second one involves a linear tether satellite system controlled through gyroscopic stabiliza- tion, due to which a constant oscillation in the cross-track direction is guaranteed. For each of these two configurations, the characteristics and performance are analyzed. Finally, the results are compared with a free-flying configuration, underling the features that characterize these architectures and their possible applications.