Acta Astronautica 169 (2020) 138–149

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Acta Astronautica
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/actaastro

Research paper

Dynamics and potential applications of a lunar space tethered system T

∗ ∗∗
JiaFu Liu , Bin Liu, ZhiGang Wu , JianPing Jiang, LiFeng Tian
School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Sun Yat-Sen University, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Nonlinear dynamics and potential applications of a lunar space tether system, with one end connected to the
Space tether system Moon's surface and the other with a large floating counterweight, are investigated in the paper. Dynamical
Elliptical earth-moon restricted three-body equations of the system with a massless viscoelastic tether considering the planar libration and elastic elongation
system within the elliptical Earth-Moon restricted three-body (EEMRTB) system are established. The equilibria and
Energy harvesting
stability of the dynamical system are explored for the system at L1 side without considering small perturbations
Accessible region analysis
caused by eccentricity to facilitate the rough selection of the length and elastic coefficient of the tether. The
potential applications including harvesting the Rayleigh Damping Dissipation power and accessible regions
within the Earth-Moon system will be studied based on the dynamic analysis of the full nonlinear dynamics. The
allowed parameter regions (the tether system will neither collide the Moon/Earth nor rotate about the Moon) are
identified exactly using numerical analysis, moreover, the performance of the potential applications and other
related references for building a tether system are explored at L1 and L2 numerically. It is suggested that one
should design a space tether based energy harvester at L1 side, release an unpowered spacecraft with high
mechanical energy at L2 side respectively. Some conclusions on selecting the parameters and evaluating the
performance of the space tether based platform are obtained based on numerical calculations. The research will
be useful for the Moon infrastructure constructions.

1. Introduction dynamical behavior such as chaotic motion. Moreover, the deployment

Space tether systems have various potential applications and are
under intensive investigations recently. The promising space applica-
tions include utilizing space tether system connected to the Earth/Moon
for payload launch and transportation [1,2], payloads orbit transfer
utilizing Motorised momentum exchange tethers (MMETs) [3], space
elevators from the Earth to the altitude beyond the geostationary orbit
(GEO) altitude to launch and transport payloads [4,5], asteroids de-
flection [6], malfunction spacecraft deorbiting and maintenance using
the electrodynamic tether (EDT) [7] and space tether robots net [8] etc.
The current research will focus on the utilization of space tether system
with a massless elastic super-long tether for energy harvesting and re-
gion access within the Earth-Moon system based on the work in Ref.
[9]. The detailed reviews of space tether system missions, dynamics and
control progress can be found in Ref. [10].
Concerning stability and equilibria of a space tether system, KRUPA
et al. investigated the relative equilibria, stability and bifurcation dia-
gram of a space tethered system with a large rigidity (even infinity) in
Ref. [11]. Ref. [12] treated a space tethered system as a mechanical
system and focused on the relative equilibria, stability and nonlinear
and retrieval of a sub-satellite with control were also addressed. Con-
cerning a long space tethered system with its center of mass at geos-
tationary altitude, the radial equilibria and stability of a tapered Earth
orbiting tether were explored and the stabilization by adding a suffi-
cient heavy counterweight at geostationary altitude was also performed
[13]. It was also pointed out that the stabilization was impossible for a
tether with an over-small axial elasticity since no equilibria are avail-
able because the elastic force will fail to balance the centrifugal force.
Xu et al. utilized the theory of space manifold dynamics to investigate
the equilibrium configurations of tethered three-body system [14]. The
periodic Lyapunov orbits were identified using an iteration procedure
and the corresponding invariant manifolds were also presented. The
rotation of a space tether system connected to a surface of one of the
primaries in double system was studied in Ref. [15]. The possibilities to
control the tether system's rotation by changing the length of the rigid
tether were explored within the elliptic restricted three-body system.
The results were useful for the development of a planet elevator or
payload transportation system. The relative equilibria and stability of a
pendulum with a tip mass and rigid tether connected to asteroids were
studied in Ref. [16]. The effect of connecting positions and tether's

∗
Corresponding author.
∗∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: liujiafuericking@163.com, liujf53@mail.sysu.edu.cn (J. Liu), wuzhigang@mail.sysu.edu.cn (Z. Wu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2020.01.021
Received 28 April 2019; Received in revised form 8 December 2019; Accepted 14 January 2020
Available online 17 January 2020
0094-5765/ © 2020 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Liu, et al. Acta Astronautica 169 (2020) 138–149

length on the equilibria was addressed for a spheroidal asteroid.

Some nonlinear dynamical analysis of space tethered systems was
also investigated. Baoyin et al. investigated the mechanical energy
transfer between the orbit and libration motions of a spinning tether
system and an averaging method was used to analyze the coupled dy-
namics analytically [17]. The nonlinear interactions between the pitch
motion of a sub-satellite and the system's in-plane libration, and the
pitch motion of a main-satellite and the system's libration were focused
on analytically and verified numerically respectively in Refs. [18,19].
Some complicated nonlinear dynamical motions such as coexistent
quasiperiodic and quasiperiodic motions were also presented. Yu et al.
focused on the Earth orbiting space tethered system with the pertur-
bations by the J2 perturbation and eccentricity etc. [20]. The equilibria
and stability were studied and the nonlinear phenomenon such as bi-
furcations, quasi-periodic oscillations, and chaotic motions were de-
tected numerically. The vibro-impact dynamics was explored for an in-
plane space tether system and some periodic motions and the corre-
sponding stability were studied using the composite Poincare map [21].
Besides the numerical studies, chaotic pitch libration of a space tether Fig. 1. The space tether system in the EEMRTB system.
system was predicted analytically using the Melnikov method and the
validation was supported numerically by analyzing the Poincare maps potential applications of the space tether system for energy harvesting
etc. [22]. It was also found that the chaotic libration could be sup- and accessible region analysis within the Earth-Moon system. Some
pressed by adding damping. Furtherly, an extended time-delay auto- detailed analysis concerning these two applications will be addressed
synchronization (ETDAS) was used to stabilize chaotic librations to and some suggestions are presented based on numerical calculations.
periodic ones and the verification was validated experimentally [23].
Space tethered system based energy harvesting and transportation
2. Dynamic modeling of a lunar space tethered system
are of great importance to humankind for deep space explorations.
NASA studied an Electrodynamic Tethers (EDTs) based propulsion and
The space tethered system consists of a massless viscoelastic tether,
power generation system at Jupiter [24] and this dual utilization pro-
one end connecting the Moon's surface and the other connecting a large
posal seems attractive. The design and analysis of a long space tower
tip mass P. It is assumed that an operation of space tethered system is
with one end connecting the Earth's surface and the other extending
failed when the tether rotates around the Moon or collide the Earth/
beyond the geostationary height were performed in Ref. [1]. It was
Moon. E and M denote the Earth and Moon, and c is their common
proposed to exploit the Earth's rotational energy to launch payloads
centroid as detailed in Fig. 1. In the paper, the libration angle α and the
without consuming propulsions. Besides proposing to build an Earth
length of elastic tether l are taken as the generalized coordinates.
elevator, Pearson proposed to build a tapered space tethered elevator
The fixed and rotating reference frames are established as shown in
system connecting the Moon's surface at the near and far sides within
Fig. 1, denoted as πI (cXI YI ZI ) and πr (cx r yr z r ) . cXI points to the perigee,
the Earth-Moon restricted three-body system for space transportation
cZI points to the direction of the angular velocity of the Earth-Moon
and communication purposes [25]. Ref. [2] presented some details for
system about c. cx r points from c to M. cz r coincides with cZI . θ is the
developing a lunar space elevator system at L1 side for transporting
true anomaly of the Earth-Moon system rotating about c. Rm , R e and rP
lunar materials to high Earth orbits, at L2 side to afford a commu-
are the positions of M, E and P relative to c. l = [lcosα, lsinα, 0]Tr and reP
nication and scientific observation platform between the Moon and
denote the positions of P relative to M and E respectively.
Earth. A top-level system analysis to evaluate the potential payoffs of
r = [p (1 + ecosθ)−1, 0,0]Tr is the position of M relative to E with p in-
lunar space elevators was also performed. McInnes and McInnes et al.
dicating the semi-latus rectum, expressed as p = a (1 − e 2) and a and e
investigated to use orbital towers with a massless tether and large tip
are the orbit semi-major axis and eccentricity respectively, while the
mass to carry out payloads ascending from the Earth's surface to the
superscript and subscript “T” and “r” representing transpose of a matrix
height beyond the GEO altitude [26,27]. The dynamics considering the
or vector and the components in the rotating frame.
friction between the payloads and massless tether was focused on.
One can arrive at the expression for the velocity of P as follows.
In this paper, a space tethered system is built connecting the Moon's
surface and a large tip mass floating within the Earth-Moon three-body ⎡ μ1 r˙ − lαsinα
˙ ˙
− lθsinα ˙
+ lcosα ⎤
system. As proposed in Refs. [2,9], the system will be operated at the ⎢
vP = μ rθ˙ + lαcosα ˙ ˙ ⎥
⎢ 1 ˙ + lθcosα + lsinα ⎥
near and far sides, i.e., L1 and L2 sides, respectively. The space tidal
⎣ 0 ⎦r (1)
effects from the Earth and Moon were considered as external periodic
forces. The potential applications such as harvesting the mechanical where vP is the velocity of P, μ1 = me /(mm + me ) with me and mm de-
energy from the Earth-Moon system by adding a damper within the note the masses of E and M respectively. The overhead dot represents
proposed tether system and accessing more regions within the Earth- the derivative with respect to time.
Moon system, are proposed, both by exploiting the space tidal effects One can arrive at the kinetic, gravitational and elastic energies, and
[9]. the Rayleigh dissipative function of the space tether system as
The paper is organized as follows. Sec. 2 gives dynamic modeling of
1 μ m μm
a space tether system connected to the Moon's surface with a floating TP = mvP⋅vP U = Ug + Ue Ug = − m − e Ue =
tip mass. The elongation and libration dynamical equations of the space 2 l r+l
1 1 2
tether system within the EEMRTB system will be established. The cor- ⎧ 2 k (l − l 0)2 l > l 0 ⎧ cd l˙ l > l 0
Ψ= 2
responding non-dimensional dynamics will be obtained to facilitate the ⎨ 0 l ≤ l0 ⎨
⎩ ⎩ 0 l ≤ l0 (2)
analysis. Sec. 3 will take the space tether system moving at L1 side as an
example and the equilibria and stability will be explored by setting the where TP , Ug , Ue and Ψ are the kinetic, gravitational and elastic en-
eccentricity zero. This will provide a reference for selecting the para- ergies, and the Rayleigh dissipative function respectively. μm and μe are
meters such as the tether's length and rigidity. Sec. 4 will analyze the the gravitational constants of the M and E, k and l 0 are the elastic

139
J. Liu, et al. Acta Astronautica 169 (2020) 138–149

coefficient and constant original length of the tether. cd is the damping p μa μa ecosθ (1 + ecosθ)2
r= , r˙ = esinθ , r¨ =
coefficient. Ψ is the power harvested during the elongation of the vis- 1 + ecosθ p p2
coelastic tethe. It should be noted that Ue and Ψ will be zero when l ≤ l 0 .
It is evident the tether will be tensionless and tensional when l ≤ l 0 and μa 2μa esinθ (1 + ecosθ)3
θ˙ = (1 + ecosθ)2 , θ¨ = −
l > l 0 respectively. In the subsequent section, the numerical simulations p3 p3
will be performed considering the expressions for Ue and Ψ as clarified
in Eq. (2) and this section. l cd
ξ= , ωn = k /m , η = , ωu = μa / p3 , ϖ = ωn / ωu
One can substitute Eq. (2) into the following Lagrange equation to r (2mωn )
establish the dynamics for the tether system. Each term in the dimensionless dynamics Eqs. (6) and (7) can be
d ⎛ ∂L ⎞ ∂L obtained by performing the procedure stated above. In the preceding
⎜ ⎟ − − Qd = 0 expressions and Eqs. (6) and (7), ξ = l/ r is the dimensionless length of
dt ⎝ ∂q˙ n ⎠ ∂qn (3) l (1 + ecosθ)
the tether and ξ0 = 0 2 = (ζ + ζecosθ) is the dimensionless ori-
a (1 − e )
where L = TP − U is the Lagrangian of the space tethered system, l0 l0 nd
T T ginal length of the tether with ζ = = = . One can utilize
qn = [l, α ]T , q˙ n = [l˙, α˙ ] and Qd = [cd l˙, 0] are the generalized dis- a (1 − e 2) p p

placement, velocity vectors and the damping force vector respectively. l 0 = nd to represent the natural length of the tether with d representing
The dimensional full nonlinear dynamics for the elongation and oscil- the distance between the Moon and the natural L1/L2 point in the Earth-
lation, or l and α degree of freedoms (DOFs), are as follows. Moon system for the tether system operating at the near/far side re-
spectively. One can therefore assert that the dimensionless quantity n is
c k μ 2 utilized to measure the natural length of the tether, instead of the di-
l¨ + d l˙ + (l − l 0) + 2m − lθ˙ − lα˙ 2 − 2lθ˙
m m l mensional quality l 0 . Utilizing n to measure the length of a super-long
μe (l + rcosα ) 2 tether is much more convenient. It can be seen that the ξ0 is varying
α˙ + 3
− μ1 rθ˙ cosα + μ1 rθsinα
¨ ˙˙
+ 2μ1 rθsinα + μ1
(r 2 + l 2 + 2lrcosα ) 2 when r is used as the length unit. Some simple denotations are in-
(4) troduced to simplify the expressions such as
¨
rcosα =0
ωn = k / m , η = cd/(2mωn ), ωu = μa / p3 and ϖ = ωn / ωu . The prime
˙˙ 2
˙˙
2lα ˙˙
μ rαcosα μ rθαsinα μ rθ˙ sinα ¨
μ rθcosα represents the derivative with respect to θ , e is the eccentricity of the
α¨ + − 1 − 1 + 1 + 1 moon orbiting the Earth.
l l l l l
˙˙
2μ1 rθcosα ¨
μ1 rsinα ˙˙
2lθ μe rsinα
+ − + + θ¨ − 3
=0 3. The equilibria and stability
l l l l (r 2 + 2lrcosα + l 2) 2
(5) It is important to determine the rough allowed parameter regions
The dynamical equations are non-autonomous as the 1st and 2nd for a successful operation of the system. Therefore, the equilibria and
derivatives of the true anomaly θ with respect to time exist explicitly in stability analysis will be performed before carrying out the dynamic
Eqs. (4) and (5). The complicated coupling between the libration and analysis. One should note that the analysis in this subsection merely
elongation motions is evident. It is noteworthy that the coupled libra- present a rough estimation for locating the parameters including ϖ and
tion and elongation space tethered system is gyroscopic as the dynamics n . The exact parameter region should be determined by numerical
is established in the rotating frame and the Coriolis accelerations are calculations.
introduced naturally such as 2lθα˙ ˙ and 2lθ
˙ ˙ in the preceding dynamics. The equilibria and stability of a space tether system attached to the
One can take the reciprocal of the mean motion of the Earth and Moon's surface have been studied in Refs. [9,29]. In Ref. [9], the arti-
Moon about “c”, the instantaneous distance between the two primaries ficial equilibria at L2 side are plotted as a function of the dimensionless
r and the total mass of the two primaries M = me + mm as time, dis- natural length and elasticity of the tether numerically, but the corre-
tance and mass units respectively to make the dimensional dynamical sponding stability was not focused on. In Ref. [29], merely the axial
equations in Eqs. (4) and (5) non-dimensional. elastic elongation was studied and the equilibria/stability were in-
The dimensionless full nonlinear coupled dynamics can be obtained vestigated numerically for a space tether system at L1/L2 side. In this
as follows. paper, the artificial equilibria and the corresponding stability at L1 side
for a tether system with two degrees of freedom (axial elastic elonga-
d 2ξ
+
( ξesinθ
2ηϖ ξ ′ + 1 + ecosθ
+
) ϖ 2 (ξ − ξ0 )
−
ξ
− ξ (α′)2 − 2ξ
tion and in-plane libration) will be focused on.
The equilibria can be determined without considering the excitation
dθ 2 (1 + ecosθ)2 (1 + ecosθ) 4 (1 + ecosθ)
and derivative related terms as follows.
μ1 cosα μ μ1 (ξ + cosα )
α′ − + 2 + μ1 (ξ + cosα )
(1 + ecosθ) ξ (1 + ecosθ) 3 μ
(1 + ecosθ)(1 + ξ 2 + 2ξcosα ) 2 − ξ − μ1 cosα + + + ϖ 2ξ − ϖ 2ζ = 0
3
ξ2 (1 + ξ 2 + 2ξcosα ) 2 (8)
=0 (6)

μ1 α′esinθcosα μ1 sinα
ξα′ ′ + 2(α′ + 1) ξ ′ − μ1 α′sinα − + μ1 μ1 sinα − 3
=0
(1 + ecosθ) (1 + 2ξcosα + ξ 2) 2 (9)
μ ecosθsinα μ1 sinα In the paper, the equilibria at L1 side are taken as an example and
sinα − 1 − 3
=0
(1 + ecosθ) (1 + ecosθ )(1 + 2ξcosα + ξ 2) 2 (7) therefore α e = π with the subscript ‘e ’ representing the equilibria. By
substituting α e = π into the preceding two equations, one can arrive at
The preceding two equations are just the corresponding non-di-
the following equation to determine the equilibria at the natural L1 side.
mensional dynamics. The prime indicates the derivative with respect to
the true anomaly θ . μ μ1 nd
μ1 − ξ e + − + ϖ 2ξe − ϖ 2 =0
Here the explanation for the transition from the dimensional dy- ξe2 (1 − ξe )2 p (10a)
namics, i.e., Eqs. (4) and (5), to the corresponding dimensionless ones,
αe = π (10b)
i.e., Eqs. (6) and (7) will be presented as a supplement. One should
extract the factors μa / r 2 or equivalently [μa (1 + ecosθ)2]/ p2 for all the It is easy to write the equilibria vector X e as (ξe, 0, π , for a tether 0)T
terms in Eqs. (4) and (5) by referring to the following expressions/de- system with two degrees of freedom in this paper different from the one
finitions. in Ref. [29]. It can be seen that Eq. (10a) is identical to the one of Eq.

140
J. Liu, et al. Acta Astronautica 169 (2020) 138–149

(12) of Ref. [29]. Therefore, it is expected that the ξe in Eq. (10) (a) will ϖ > 2.69384 . Furthermore, equilibria are stable within (d/ a, 0.9) when
be the same as the one in Ref. [29]. The stability of equilibria can be ϖ > 44.45709728705823. One can never select overlarge/small ϖ by
determined by checking max [R (λj )] with j = 1 − 4 and R representing considering the abovementioned analysis.
the real part of complex number λj . λj is determined by Je − λ I = 0 Second, ϖ (ξe ) is plotted adopting n=
with I representing a 4 × 4 identity matrix and Je is the Jacobi of the 0.01, 0.5, 0.90293, 0.999, 1.5, 3.5 and 5.93 respectively.
dynamics at X e with e = 0. It is stated previously that ξe > ξ0 holds when generating equilibria
We further write Eq. (10a) as follows. using taut space tethers. It is evident that ξe > ξ0 holds when n < 1 in
Fig. 3(b1). In Fig. 3 (a.1), circle, diamond, and pentagram are used as
p ⎛ 2 μ μ1 ⎞ restriction boundaries for n = 1.5, 3.5 and 5.93 to ensure ξe > ξ0 .
n (ξe ) = ⎜ϖ ξe − ξe + μ1 + − ⎟
ϖ 2d ⎝ ξe2 (1 − ξe )2 ⎠ (11) It can be seen that all equilibria are available when n < 1 in
Fig. 3(b1), but the stable equilibria start to appear merely when
n > 0.9023 as shown in Fig. 3(b2, b3). The stable region becomes larger
p ⎛ μ μ1
ϖ (ξe ) = ⎜ξ − + − μ1⎟⎞ with the increment of n as observed in Fig. 3(b.2, b.3).
(pξe − nd ) ⎝ e ξe2 (1 − ξe )2 ⎠ (12) For the case n > 1, the allowed equilibria region decreases with n as
shown in Fig. 3(a1). Moreover, it seems that the allowed equilibria
for ξe ∈ ( d
a
, )
0.9 . region for is larger than the one for n < 1 by comparing Fig. 3(b1) with
By analyzing Eq. (11), it can be seen that n (ξe ) is ↓ when Fig. 3(a1). However, one can see that the range and location of the
ϖ ∈ (0,2.69384) , ↓ → ↑ → ↓, ↑→↓ and ↑ when stable equilibria region for n < 1 and n > 1 are quite different as ob-
ϖ ∈ (2.69384, 3.3624353) , ϖ ∈ (3.3624353, 44.45709728705823) and served in Fig. 3(a2, b2).
ϖ ∈ (44.45709728705823, ∞) respectively. It is also concluded that the structures of the autonomous dynamics
By analyzing Eq. (12), one can see ϖ (ξe ) is ↑ and ↑ → ↓ → ↑ when in this paper and [29] are similar since the equilibria and stability are
n ∈ (0,0.90293) and n ∈ (0.90293, 0.999) respectively when n < 1. ϖ (ξe ) similar.
is ↓ → ↑ and ↓ when n ∈ (1,5.611) and n ∈ (5.611, 5.9399) respectively.
The denotations ↓ and ↑ mean n (ξe ) or ϖ (ξe ) is monotone decreasing 4. Energy harvesting and accessible regions analysis
and monotone increasing with ξe . We will plot n (ξe ) and ϖ (ξe ) for some
representing ϖ and n in Figs. 2 and 3. For energy harvesting, it seems that using the steady-state magni-
First, n (ξe ) is plotted adopting ϖ=
tude of the power output as a measure to evaluate the performance of a
0.1, 1,2.69384, 3,3.3624353, 10.470441 and 44.45709728705823 respec- space tether based energy harvester is not so reasonable and it seems
tively. that utilizing the energy harvested per orbit of the Earth-Moon system
One can see that equilibria beyond certain distance from moon are revolving their common mass center (i.e., one lunar month) is more
forbidden when ϖ < 10.470441 by observing Fig. 2(a). Positive values in reasonable after the motion enters into a steady state. One can calculate
Fig. 2(b) means that equilibria are physically realizable using a tether. the average power harvested for a harvester entering into steady state
Space tether can merely afford tensions. Although the region of allowed to measure its performance. The corresponding expressions are detailed
equilibria increase with ϖ as seen from Fig. 2(a), it is more difficult to as
keep space tether taut when increasing ϖ as seen from Fig. 2(b).
2nπ + θ0 2nπ + θ0
Equilibria positions and lengths nearly coincide and extremely small 1 1
oscillations nearby are permitted if we want to keep space tether always
W=
n
∫ Ψ(θ) dθ , Ψa =
2nπ
∫ Ψ(θ) dθ , (n = 1,2,3⋯)
θ0 θ0 (13)
taut. We merely consider the condition with taut tether and consider
other cases as failed ones. It can be estimated that extremely large where W is the energy harvested in one month, and Ψa indicates the
elastic potential is required when ξe approaching 0.9 as the increment average power, both for a space tether with steady states. Therefore, the
and decrement of gravitational potential of the Earth and centrifugal space tether system has already entered into steady state at θ0 . One can
potential. see that the international units of W and Ψa are Joule and Watt re-
Equilibria within certain range will be stable when ϖ > 2.69384 by spectively. In the paper, we use kW ⋅h and Watt . In the subsequent
observing Fig. 2(d). It is concluded that stable range corresponds to numerical analysis part, we will present some examples and explana-
dn/ dξe > 0 in Fig. 2(c, c1). Stable region will increase with ϖ when tions for selecting W and Ψa to evaluate the performance of the

Fig. 2. Equilibria and stability analysis results based on Eq. (11).

141
J. Liu, et al. Acta Astronautica 169 (2020) 138–149

Fig. 3. Equilibria and stability analysis results based on Eq. (12).

harvester instead of Ψ . Moon/Earth when ϖ is selected a little larger/smaller than the values
For accessible regions analysis, the Jacobi's integral is a direct and at the upper/lower boundary. These conclusions are intuitive.
useful measure and one can get the expression for the dimensional It can be seen that the steady-state magnitude of power output will
Jacobian Jd as follows. be maximized when n locates at the upper boundary for each ϖ . The
2
parameter region of n and ϖ is detailed in Fig. 4(b and c) for the power
vPr 2 θ˙ μm m μm output larger than 100 kW. It is evident that the area of the parameter
Jd = − rP 2 − − e
2 2 l r+l (14) region is very small and the robustness of the harvester is weak as the
All variables can be found in the previous sections. The first term power output will decrease dramatically with little change of ϖ or n .
corresponds to the dimensional kinetic energy, and the remaining two The conclusion that one should build a long and stiff space tether holds
terms are the potential energies, both expressed in πr . but the risk of collision with the Earth increases and the cost of building
It is convenient to use a dimensionless Jacobi's integral J with e = 0 a long tether is also expensive. To build a high-performance, reliable
to measure the accessible regions, as follows. and robust harvester demands one select parameters elaborately, keep
the parameters invariable exactly.
2 2
As discussed above Eq. (13), we use W (n, ϖ ) and Ψa (n, ϖ ) to
J=
( dξ
dθ
cosα − ξα′sinα ) + (ξα′cosα + dξ
dθ
sinα ) −
1 evaluate the performance of the harvester. The arguments n and ϖ will
2 2 be selected near the parameter region as shown in Fig. 4(b and c) be-
μ μ1
[(μ1 + ξcosα )2 + (ξsinα )2] − − cause the harvester with the parameters within this region may make
ξ 1 + 2ξcosα + ξ 2 (15) the power output large. Therefore, one can present W (n, ϖ ) and
Ψa (n, ϖ ) as follows.
All variables can be found in previous sections. The first and re-
The conclusion that one should select both n and ϖ as large as
maining terms correspond to the kinetic and potential energies re-
possible under the condition of successful operations of the system to
spectively in the preceding equation.
generate as much electricity as possible is arrived at by analyzing the
The Jacobi's integral provides an energy measure for assessing
results in Fig. 5 (a, b).
feasible regions available for an unpowered space vehicle with a certain
It is also seen that the magnitude of Ψa in Fig. 5 (a) is one order
initial condition.
smaller than the one in Fig. 4 (a). Actually, adopting Ψ in Fig. 4 as a
measure to evaluate the performance of the harvester is not reasonable
4.1. The results at L1 side and Ψa is a suitable measure to evaluate the harvester's performance and
this will be discussed subsequently. The largest power output and en-
The dynamic responses of the space tether system will be de- ergy harvested per month are about 50 kW and 40 000 kW*h when
termined by three important parameters, i.e., ϖ , n and η . In the paper, ϖ = 5.5 and n = 2.555 as indicated in Fig. 5.
we will present χ (ϖ , n) with different η. χ is the physical variables that The steady-state magnitude of the tether's length  l presented in
we are interested in. Fig. 6 (a) is of importance as it will give one a restriction without dis-
First, ϖ ∈ [2.85, 5.5] with η = 1 is selected. The corresponding al- turbing the spacecrafts in high Earth orbits or even colliding the Earth.
lowed region of n will be determined. Moreover, the steady-state The steady-state magnitude of the Jacobi's integral J in Fig. 6 (b) pro-
magnitudes of Ψ(ϖ , n) , J (ϖ , n)l (ϖ , n) , tensions and strains within the vides a measure of region accessible for an unpowered satellite.
tether will be presented to check the performance, give some design It can be seen that the largest steady-state magnitudes of tether's
references. length is about 2.68 × 108 m when ϖ = 5.5 and n = 2.555. This length
The steady-state magnitude of power output within the allowed seems fine as the tip mass will neither disturb space vehicles in high
parameter region is detailed in Fig. 4 (a). Specially, the parameter Earth orbits nor collide the Earth. But both large ϖ and n will lead to
ranges of n and ϖ with power output larger than 100 kW are given risk. It is evident that J is not large (the largest is merely about −1.59)
together with the corresponding power output as presented in Fig. 4 (b, and the unpowered tip mass can access not very large regions when it is
c). released.
The allowed lower and upper boundaries of n can be found in Fig. 4 The steady-state magnitudes of the tensions and elastic strains
(a) when ϖ ∈ [2.85, 5.5] and η = 1. It is evident that the area of the within the tether are detailed in Fig. 7 (a, b).
allowed parameter region increases with ϖ . The tip mass will collide It seems that the magnitude of the tensions within the tether is large
the Moon/Earth when n is selected a little smaller/larger than the va- when ϖ and n are selected to construct the most efficient harvester. The
lues at the lower/upper boundary. Besides, the tip mass will collide the

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Fig. 4. The steady-state magnitude of power output of the tether based harvester at L1 side.

tension approaches about 1.29 × 10 4 N and one should build a tether
with enough material strength considering this value. Fortunately, by
observing the results in Fig. 7(a and b), it is evident the largest steady-
state magnitude of the strain happens when ϖ = 3.05, n = 1.168, but
one can build a most efficient harvester when ϖ = 5.5, n = 2.555.
Second, η = 2 and meanwhile ϖ ∈ [2.85, 5.5] is selected. One can
compare the results in this case with the preceding one with η = 1 to
check how the dynamic responses are affected by η . Merely the steady-
state magnitudes of W and Ψa are given in Fig. 8.
In Fig. 8, we merely present the results within the parameter region
with very large W and Ψa , i.e., near the upper boundary. It can be seen
that the allowed parameter region varies with η by comparing the result
in Fig. 8 with the one in Fig. 5. Specifically, larger n or smaller ϖ falls in
the allowed parameter region when larger η is adopted. For example,
ϖ = 5.5, n = 2.64 with η = 2 and ϖ = 5.5, n = 2.555 with η = 1 are at
the allowed region boundaries respectively.
The largest steady-state of W and Ψa within yellow regions are
smaller than the corresponding ones in Fig. 5 and this indicates that
increasing η from 1 to 2 is not helpful for harvesting more energy.
Overlarge damping will be beneficial for successful operation of the

Fig. 5. Ψa (n, ϖ ) and W (n, ϖ ) with η = 1 at L1 side.

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Fig. 6. (a). The steady-state magnitude of the tether's length (b). The Jacobi's integral J.
tether system with longer length or smaller rigidity.
4.2. Comparisons with the results at L2 side
In this subsection, the dynamic responses at L2 side will be in-
vestigated and comparisons including the energy harvesting and ac-
cessible region will be made with the results at L1 side discussed in the
preceding subsection. Intuitively, the tether system will librate dra-
matically at L2 side as the Earth will attract the tip mass. This will be
beneficial to accessing large regions within the Earth-Moon system. To
verify this, some numerical calculations will be performed for the space
tether system at L2 side.
First, dynamic responses for η = 4 will be presented. Specifically,
the steady-state magnitudes of J , Ψ , tensions and strains will be given in
Fig. 9(a–d). The results in Fig. 9 (b, c and d) are extensions of Figs. (4)
and (6) in Ref. [9]. In Ref. [9], some asymptotic analysis was performed
and the effectiveness and accuracy of the results obtained using the
multiscale analysis were verified numerically. In this work, the ranges
for n and ϖ are selected as n∈[1.044, 4] and ϖ∈[1.5, 5] compared the
ones of n∈[1.1, 2.5] and ϖ∈[1.1, 2.5] in Ref. [9]. The correctness of the
results in this paper can be supported by comparing the results in
Fig. 9(b–d) with the corresponding ones in Fig. 6 of [9] as follows.
The forbidden parameter region is surrounded by triangle lines as
seen in Fig. 9. The remaining region corresponds to the allowed region.
The distributions of the forbidden and allowed regions are different
from the ones at L1 side. The tether system will rotate about the Moon
when adopting the parameters within the forbidden regions and this
failure operation mode is different from the one at L1 side.
Roughly, it can be seen that Ψ is much smaller in Fig. 9 (b) than the
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Acta Astronautica 169 (2020) 138–149
ones in Fig. 4, which indicates that one should construct an energy
harvester at L1 side rather than at L2 side. To validate this furtherly, the
corresponding W and Ψa will be given for different η later in Fig. 10.
However, compared to the steady-state magnitude of J in Fig. 6, the
Jacobi's integral reaches about −1.45 as shown in Fig. 9 and this means
that all positions within the Earth-Moon system are accessible with an
unpowered tip mass. The steady-state magnitudes of the tensions and
strains are also presented to give material strength and fatigue design
references when constructing a space tether system.
The correctness of the results in this paper can be supported by
observing and analyzing the results in Fig. 9(b–d). It can be seen that
the results in Ref. [9] coincide with the ones in this paper.
To further investigate the power output and energy harvesting
performance in detail, the steady-state magnitudes of W and Ψa are
plotted for η = 1,4, and 7 as follows to check the magnitudes.
It can be seen that the steady-state magnitudes of W and Ψa are
much smaller than the ones at L1 side by comparing the results in
Fig. 10 with the ones in Figs. 5 and 8. Therefore, it is suggested that one
should build a space tether based energy harvester at L1 side rather than
L2 side.
The steady-state magnitudes of Jacobi's integral for η = 7,4 and 1
are presented in Fig. 11(a–c) respectively. The parameter regions with
the steady-state magnitudes of Jacobi's integral larger than −1.5675
are extracted and shown in Fig. 11 (d).
The forbidden and allowed parameter regions are different for each
η as seen in Fig. 11. It seems that the upper boundaries move to larger n
and smaller ϖ with the increment of η as shown in Fig. 11. It is evident
that the values of J are large near the upper boundaries. One can set
J = −1.5675 and extract to show the steady-state magnitudes of
J. Liu, et al.
Fig. 7. The magnitudes of the elastic tensions and strains.
J (ϖ , n) ≥ −1.5675 and its corresponding parameter regions in Fig. 11
(d) [28]. An unpowered space vehicle with J ≥ −1.5675 can access
everywhere within the Earth-Moon system. Similar to the energy har-
vesting mission at L1 side, one should select the parameters extremely
near the allowed parameter boundary to get large J and the robustness
of the tether system should be strong to withstand operation failure (the
tether will rotate about the Moon).
It is known that one utilizes W and Ψa to evaluate the performance
of an energy harvester. One merely needs to focus on the steady-state
motions with proper parameters. W and Ψa are accumulation or in-
tegration with respect to time/true anomaly as presented in Eq. (13).
There is no need to focus on specific time history of the motion. But for
releasing a payload with large J , one should determine the release time
or release window besides focusing on the steady-state motions with
proper parameters. Chaotic or other irregular motions are not preferred
for releasing payloads with large J because it is difficult to decide the
launch time for a non-periodic or even chaotic motion. For energy
harvesting, one merely focuses on generating large W and Ψa under the
condition of reliable operation of the tether system. Any kind of steady-
state motions are preferred as long as W and Ψa are large, even chaotic
motions are acceptable.
Following the discussion in the preceding paragraph, we select
ϖ = 2.3, n = 1.748 and η = 7 to perform a specific time domain simu-
lation and to show the launch window available for an unpowered sa-
tellite with ability for accessing everywhere within the Earth-Moon
system. The time histories of the libration, elongation and the Jacobi's
integral are detailed in Fig. 12.
It is obvious that the tether system's steady-state motion is periodic
and the steady-state periodic motion with several periods is presented
in Fig. 12. The largest J reaches about −1.442 as denoted by stars.
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Acta Astronautica 169 (2020) 138–149
Moreover, the bold red lines indicate the launch window of an un-
powered satellite accessible for everywhere within the Earth-Moon
system. The width of the launch window is about 0.8532 within each
2π, or about 3.7098 days per lunar month. The period of the libration is
2π, about 27.32166 days. One can see that the period of the libration is
rather long compared to the ones of the fundamental period about 150
hrs–160 h of an Earth tether elevator [30]. The difference is mainly
from the distinct dynamically environment of a Moon and Earth ele-
vator.
One important phenomenon is one may puzzle that one will wait for
a long time for the launch window as indicated in the last figure. It is
suggested that one can select the initial conditions at the minimal value
of J as shown in the middle below figure. It may be easy to put the
satellite at this low mechanical energy level. The waiting time will be
dramatically reduced and the steady-state motion will appear very
soon.
It is emphasized again that the better the performance of the space
missions (energy harvesting and accessible regions analysis) achieved,
the riskier the tether system will be failed to operate. Therefore, it is
suggested that one should design a tether system with enough robust-
ness.
Here we will also present some results concerning some periodic
and triple-periodic motions etc. to see how the motion properties are
influenced by the parameters of the tether system.
First, n = 1.2,  η = 0.024 and ω = 2.1 are selected for a tether system
at L2 side. The phase planes and its Poincare sections for elongation and
libration motions are presented as follows.
It can be seen that a triple-periodic motion exists for the elongation
and libration motion. We can get one-periodic and quasi-periodic mo-
tions by selecting η = 0.03 and η = 0.019 respectively, meanwhile
J. Liu, et al. Acta Astronautica 169 (2020) 138–149

Fig. 8. The steady-state magnitudes of W and Ψa with.η = 2 .

keeping the remaining parameters unchanged. The corresponding re- d).

sults are given in Fig. 14. By analyzing the results in Figs. 13 and 14. It is concluded that a
It is obvious that a one-periodic motion exists when η is 0.03 by one-periodic motion will become a triple-periodic one when η is re-
observing the results in Fig. 14 (a and b). The motion will become duced from 0.03 to 0.024, a triple-periodic one will become a quasi-
quasi-periodic when η is 0.019 by observing the results in Fig. 14 (c and periodic one when η is reduced from 0.024 to 0.019. This means the

Fig. 9. The steady-state magnitudes of J , Ψ , tensions and strains; the results in Ref. [9] for ψ, tension and strain in (b, c and d) denoted as red solid circles. (For
interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

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Fig. 10. The steady-sate magnitudes of W and Ψa for η = 1,4, and 7 at L2 side.

stability of a motion will be influenced by the damping of system. A obtained.

larger damping will be beneficial for stabilizing a motion (making a
motion more regular).
5. Conclusions
The paper treated nonlinear dynamics and potential applications of
a space tether system connected to the Moon's surface with a large tip
mass and massless viscoelastic tether within the EEMRTB system.
Dynamical equations considering the planar libration and elongation of
the tether system excited by the eccentricity of the Earth-Moon system
were established and numerical calculations were performed thereafter.
Two potential applications including energy harvesting and accessible
regions analysis were addressed and the following conclusions were
1. The equilibria and stability analysis of the system at L1 side provided
a necessary but not sufficient condition for selecting ϖ and n , be-
cause the success or failure for operating the system is also highly
influenced by the parameters such as η and e related terms.
2. It is suggested that one should build a space tether based energy
harvester at L1 side although the motion region and allowed para-
meter regions are restricted to make the system between the Earth-
Moon without colliding any primary nor rotating about the Moon. A
more appropriate and reasonable measure for evaluating the per-
formance of the harvester, i.e., the energy harvested per lunar
month or the average power output, is proposed, instead of the
power of Rayleigh damping dissipation.

Fig. 11. The forbidden parameter regions surrounded by triangle lines and the allowed regions for η = 7,4 and 1 in (a), (b) and (c) respectively; the parameter regions
for 2J ≥ 3.315 summarized in (d).

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Fig. 12. The time histories of the periodic steady-state α, dα / dt , l, dl/ dt and. J .

Fig. 13. The phase planes (black lines) and corresponding Poincare sections (blue dotts) of a tether system with n = 1.2,  η = 0.024 and ω = 2.1 at L2 side. (For
interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

3. The energy harvesting results within the allowed parameter regions
were presented and it was indicated that one should design the most
efficient harvester with both ϖ and n as large as possible. The sys-
tem's parameters should be kept accurately during the operations
because the robustness of the system is weak, indicating the per-
formance even the success or failure will be changed dramatically
even the parameters change just a bit.
4. It is concluded that the steady-state magnitude of the Jacobi's in-
tegral J of the tip mass can be large enough to access anywhere
within the Earth-Moon system at L2 side. The allowed parameter
regions with J larger than the critical value −1.5675 are adjacent to
the boundaries separating the allowed and forbidden parameter
regions (the system will rotate about the Moon when parameters are
in the forbidden regions) and this indicates that more optimal per-
formance, more risk. Moreover, a robust tether should be con-
structed.
5. Energy harvesting mission deals with the integration of steady-state
power output within certain time duration while the region access
analysis concerns about not only steady-state magnitude of J , but
also the specific release time and release time window, and the
waiting time duration for the launch window. It is suggested that
one should build a tether system with proper parameters and initial
conditions to make the steady-state motion regular rather than
chaotic, meanwhile reducing the waiting time for payload release.
6. There exist one-, triple- and quasi-periodic motions for a tether
system and the motion properties influenced by the damping are
studied and it is found that a larger damping is beneficial for sta-
bilizing the motion (making the motion more regular).
Declaration of competing interest
All the authors declare here that we have no conflicts of interest to
this work.

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Fig. 14. The phase planes (black lines) and corresponding Poincare sections (blue dotts) of a tether system with n = 1.2 and ω = 2.1 at L2 side for η = 0.03 in (a, b)
and η = 0.019 in (c, d). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
Acknowledgement
[15]
This work was support by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (Project number: 11302134, 91748203, 11872381). The au-
thors highly appreciate the above financial supporting. The authors [16]
would like to thank the reviewers and the editor for their comments and
constructive suggestions that helped to improve the paper significantly. [17]
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