STABILITY OF THE EQUILIBRIUM POSITION OF THE LINEAR MOTION OF THE CENTRE OF MASS OF A SYSTEM OF TWO SATELLITES

In a linear motion of a system of two satellites connected by extensible cable, one stable equilibrium point exists when perturbative forces like Solar radiation pressure, shadow of the earth, oblateness of the earth, air resistance and earth's magnetic force act simultaneously. Many research workers obtained the stable points in case of any one of these perturbative forces mentioned above. We have obtained one stable point of equilibrium in case of perturbative forces like the shadow of the earth due to solar radiation pressure and oblateness of the earth acting together on the motion of a system of two satellites connected by extensible cable in the central gravitational field of earth in case of circular orbit of the centre of mass. We have used Liapunov's theorem on stability to examine the stability of the equilibrium point.