7

Orbital Mechanics of Propellantless Propulsion Systems

COLIN R. MCINNES 1

MATTHEW P. CARTMELL 2

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Strathclyde.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Glasgow.

7.1 Introduction

Conventional spacecraft are limited in their ability to deliver high-energy missions by a fundamental reliance on reaction mass. However, this constraint can in principle be overcome by a class of propellantless propulsion systems which either extract momentum from ...

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