Stability of an elastically connected two-body space station by the perturbation method

Abstract

This investigation deals with the stability, in a circular orbit, of a flexible space station consisting of two inertially identical rigid end bodies connected together by an elastic structure. The earth-pointing motion and the rotation with arbitrary initial angular velocity perpendicular to the orbital plane are studied by using the multiple-scales technique. The first-order approximate analytical solution and the conditions of stability are obtained.