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Equivalent Flux Function Smoothing in the Problem of Solar Cells Radiation Degradation Minimization During a Low-Thrust Geostationary Orbit Insertion

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Abstract

The paper describes a modified smooth approximation method for smoothing the dependence of the equivalent fluence of charged particles of the Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts on time and position in near-Earth space. It is shown that this method can be effectively used to solve the problems of minimizing radiation-induced degradation of spacecraft solar cell arrays. The latter problems involve the variation of the trajectory that the spacecraft follows during an electric propulsion transfer from an initial orbit to a geostationary one.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is grateful to V.G. Petukhov for valuable comments he made during the discussion of this article.

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (agreement no. 16-19-10429).

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Correspondence to A. E. Starchenko.

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Translated by B. Shubik

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Starchenko, A.E. Equivalent Flux Function Smoothing in the Problem of Solar Cells Radiation Degradation Minimization During a Low-Thrust Geostationary Orbit Insertion. Sol Syst Res 54, 621–629 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0038094620070199

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0038094620070199

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