QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF OPTIMAL LOCATION OF PHOTOGENERATING PART OF NON-ORIENTABLE SOLAR ARRAY ON LOW EARTH CIRCULAR ORBITS
The quantitative determination of optimal location of a non-orientable solar array with respect to the SC axes by constructing illumination intensity diagrams for an oriented unit area having photoelectric converters is considered in the article. The dependence of position of a normal to the solar array plane with respect to the Sun direction in each point of spacecraft orbital motion for each orbit during the annual Earth’s motion along its orbit has been analyzed with the help of SC status vectors calculated using the built-in orbit generator of the Space Environment Information System (SPENVIS). The comprehensive approach allows the prediction of the appearance of spacecraft having different ballistic design and determination of optimal available surfaces for accommodation of the photogenerating part of a solar array on the body or side-mounted consoles of the spacecraft.