• E-SAIL

The Electric Sail is a new propulsion concept based on a simple physical principle. Positive biased tethers are accelerated by protons from the solar plasma that hit them and are pushed back. If a spacecraft is provided with long tethers and an energy source to power an electron gun to discharge the electrons of the plasma out
of the spacecraft, the velocities reached by the spacecraft can be sufficient to perform orbit transfers. This concept was thought for small payloads (0-100 kg). The aim of this thesis is twofold. In a first part it is shown how it is possible to optimize the masses of the subsystems to perform a mission with a chosen payload and
acceleration. Analytical models are implemented so to be able to minimize the masses. In a second part it is presented an application of the method to specific missions. A part of this work has been presented as memoir at the VII PEGASUS-AIAA Student Conference, that took place on April 27th, 28th and 29th, 2011, in Turin.