Lightning induced voltages on conductors interlinking the towers of a satellite launch pad

Abstract

Modern satellite launch pads are provided with lightning protection system to take care of direct lightning strike to the satellite launch vehicle during launch preparation period. This paper presents the results of the induced voltage on the conductors interlinking the towers of such a protection system due to a nearby lightning strike. The variation in the induced voltages with lightning strike distances as well as ground conductivities are studied and the results presented in the paper. It has been seen that the waveshape of the induced voltage depends on the striking distance, where as the earth conductivity has negligible effect on the induced voltage. Computational analysis also shows that the magnitude of the induced voltage is reduced by bundling the conductors interlinking the towers.