Development of methods for ensuring energy balance for the operation of mission equipment of “AIST”-series small satellites under conditions of power limitations

The article examines the issues of determining the light-and-shadow situation and its impact on providing energy balance on the orbits of two small satellites of the “AIST” series. Ensuring energy balance in the operation of mission equipment becomes particularly relevant in the case of power limitations caused by both the degradation of spacecraft systems and the factors of outer space. The main purpose of the article is to solve the problem of increasing the efficiency of the power supply system of “AIST”-series small satellites operating under resource constraints. Firstly, modeling of the lighting situation on the orbits of small satellites was carried out. Secondly, the telemetric information of “AIST” small satellites for the whole period of operation was examined. In addition, the influence of the light-and-shadow conditions on the parameters of the power system of a small satellite was analyzed. As a result, an algorithm for estimating the energy balance, taking into account the influence of the light-and-shadow situation was proposed. Using the proposed algorithm made it possible to take into account the influence of seasonal variations in the light-and-shadow environment on the possibility of ensuring energy balance in the operation of mission equipment