Contrastive Study on solar radiation pressure force Model for solar sail

This paper investigates the solar radiation pressure force model and its estimation approach for solar sail spacecraft. Estimation of solar sail force model in space is the key factor for successful solar sail navigation, solar sail orbit determination and orbit propagation. The solar sail force model accounts for the sail film optical properties, sail shape and changing sail temperature. In this paper, a square solar sail model is introduced. Three solar sail force models exerted on the square solar sail considering the deformation of the sail are presented. Firstly, the force model exerted on an ideal, perfectly reflecting solar sail is calculated. The second force model exerted on a non-perfectly solar sail is obtained by considering reflection, absorption and re-radiation. The last force model is a simplification force model which accounts for the billow of the sail under load.