Research on a Thrust Vector Adjusting Mechanism

The electric propulsion system plays an important role during the operation of a satellite, i.e., maintaining the position of the north-south poles, adjusting the attitude, and transferring the orbit, where vector adjustment device is a key part of the system. We developed a new large-angle device to transfer thruster orbital, which has three driving motors and the failure of a single motor cannot affect the operation. The posture angle and linear pair displacement of this mechanism are simulated using forward and inverse kinematics solutions. In the following, the actual adjustment angle was measured with a three-coordinates measuring instrument and a gradiometer to compare with the simulated values. This design has been successfully applied in China’s asteroid exploration mission.