Modeling and simulation for free deployment of a space tether system

A dynamic model of space tether deployment was established using Hamilton's principle to study motion laws of drum releasing tether,tether vibration and end-mass moving during tether deployment.Numerical simulation for free tether deployment was calculated using central difference method,four-order Runge-Kutta method and predictor-corrector method and so on.The simulation results showed that the model can accurately describe the complex nonlinear dynamic behavior of a space tether system during deployment;free deployment cannot meet requirements of stable tether deployment,but the simulation data provide a foundation for tether deployment control further.