ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA >
Mechanic principle and concept scheme for flying in upper atmosphere for a long time
Received date: 2025-04-24
Revised date: 2025-05-12
Accepted date: 2025-06-05
Online published: 2025-06-20
Supported by
National Natural Science Foundation of China(12572383)
In order to achieve a long-time flight in the upper atmosphere， the mechanic principle for flying in the upper atmosphere for a long time is described and a preliminary configuration， which takes into account the aerodynamic and propulsion aspects simultaneously， is designed. After evaluating the aerodynamic drags and inlet performance by Direct Simulation Monte Carlo （DSMC） method， a concept scheme is devised and the feasibility of the thrust-drag balance subjected to a limited supply of solar power is analyzed. The aerodynamic configuration is composed of the body， the sweep-forward solar panel， and the concave inlet of an Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion （ABEP） system. Flow characteristics from numerical calculations indicate that the sweep-forward design of solar panel can enhance the collection performance of the inlet. Under some assumptions， the ABEP is able to produce the thrust， which can cancel the total drag of the configuration designed here， proving its ability of flying at an altitude of 180 km at 7 760 m/s. Decreasing the accommodation coefficient in the Gas-Surface Interaction （GSI） can not only reduce the total drag but also enhance the collection and compression performances of the inlet， thus relaxing the requirement for the ionization efficiency and thrust-to-power ratio in order to acquire the thrust-drag balance. If a larger thrust-to-power ratio can be obtained， a solar panel with a smaller area can be employed to relieve the demand for the ionization efficiency， and if a higher ionization efficiency can be obtained， a solar panel with a larger area can be utilized to alleviate the requirement for the thrust-to-power ratio. In the future， the effective methods to achieve thrust-drag balance and long-time flight in the upper atmosphere are reducing the GSI accommodation coefficient by means of designing or smoothing the aircraft surface material and increasing the ionization efficiency and thrust-to-power ratio by developing efficient ionization and acceleration technology.
Xuhong JIN , Ziwei LI , Weilong SHI , Yihao LIU . Mechanic principle and concept scheme for flying in upper atmosphere for a long time[J]. ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA, 2026 , 47(2) : 132158 -132158 . DOI: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2025.32158
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