MLFMM Accelerated Method of Moments Analysis for the Absolute Charging of a GEO-based Satellite

This paper presents the analysis for the absolute charging of an artificial satellite orbiting in geostationary orbit using Multilevel Fast Multipole Method (MLFMM) accelerated Method of Moments (MoM). The integral equation is formed considering a fixed potential of spacecraft body with respect to the orbital plasma environment. A 3D Green”s function has been used to relate the unknown charge distribution and the potential of the spacecraft. The set of simultaneous moment equations are solved by FMM accelerated Generalized Minimal Residual Method (GMRES). The charge density profile on the surface of the space-craft has been computed and subsequently the electrical capacitance of the spacecraft was evaluated from the charge density profile. The temporal behavior of the potential on the spacecraft has been computed considering a Maxwellian distribution applicable to plasma.