Design Parameters and Validation for a Non-Contacting Flux-Pinned Docking Interface

Rendezvous and docking remains one of the most important but also the most difficult and dangerous maneuvers commonly required of spacecraft. We propose the use of magnetic flux pinning as a close range augmentation to current docking practices. As an interaction between a magnetic field and a type II superconductor, flux pinning forms a noncontacting equilibrium that can be used to attach multiple spacecraft. We describe the components necessary to form a flux pinned interface and how it could be implemented as a docking augmentation in several stages of the maneuvers. Also discussed are some of the important parameters necessitating optimization for implementation of a FPI as docking augmentation. A model of flux-pinned docking is presented that predicts the behavior of such a system on small nanosatellite modules. Simulation results using parameters from flux–pinned docking system on a microgravity flight hardware based on this model illustrate the performance of the FPI under a variety of conditions.