Propellant refueling is of great significance for improving the lifespan and benefits of large spacecraft. The core module and the cargo spacecraft in China Space Station (CSS) adopt a propellant refueling technology based on gas recycling and pressure-fed schemes. The core module uses compressors to pump the pressurized gas in the gas chamber of its tanks back to high-pressure gas cylinders, and the cargo spacecraft utilizes the pressure difference between the tanks of both sides to transfer propellants to the tanks of the core module by the pressure-fed scheme. The propellant refueling requires close cooperation between the core module and the cargo spacecraft. The process of in-orbit propellant refueling between both sides is divided into five stages, namely, state setting, leakage detection of pipelines, fuel-tank refueling, oxidant-tank refueling, and state recovery. The ground flight control personnel control the whole refueling process step by step. The faults during the in-orbit propellant refueling are handled through autonomous or ground handling.
Technology of In-Orbit Propellant Refueling of China Space Station
Lect. Notes Electrical Eng.
International Conference On Signal And Information Processing, Networking And Computers ; 2023 ; Chengdu, China September 18, 2023 - September 22, 2023
2024-05-03
8 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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