According to its function and structure, mooring cables are mainly divided into four categories: pure cables, mooring cables, mooring optical cables, and mooring optoelectronic composite cables. In pure cables, there are generally only tensile parts and sheaths, without optical or electrical units; The tethered cable only contains power conductors, which are used to supply power from ground facilities to equipment on the Aerostat; The tethered optical cable only contains optical (fiber) units and does not contain power conductors. The equipment on the Aerostat relies on its own generator set for power supply. The optical unit in the cable is responsible for the optical signal transmission between the equipment on the Aerostat and the ground equipment; The tethered optoelectronic composite cable includes both an optical unit and a power wire unit. The power wire supplies power to the equipment on the ball, and the optical unit is responsible for transmitting optical signals between the equipment on the ball and the ground equipment. The different types of cables mentioned above are collectively referred to as mooring cables in the following text. Unlike traditional optical cables or cables, the design of mooring ropes requires a deep understanding of the working characteristics and usage environment of the mooring ropes. The design of the mooring rope must meet its special usage requirements and the special requirements proposed by the user.

Usually, mooring ropes have the following characteristics during use and must be considered in the design of mooring ropes:

1. The optical cable or cable can only be laid once, while the mooring cable needs to be repeatedly retracted and released during use, so it is often in a state of repeated winding under stress.

2. During the lifting and hovering of the Aerostat, due to the influence of wind direction and wind force, the mooring cable is always under repeated tension under stress.

3. The lifting load of the Aerostat is strictly limited, and the weight and outer diameter of the mooring cable are also strictly limited.

4. Functions of the Aerostat system. Some mooring cables need to contain lightning discharge channels to enhance the safety of the cable when it is struck by lightning. Therefore, some mooring cables need to contain electromagnetic radiation shielding layers.

5. Functions of the Aerostat system: some mooring cables need to contain light units, some mooring cables need to contain power conductors, and some must contain both light units and power conductor units.

6. The rope is always in a state of stress during operation, including tension, lateral pressure, impact, torsion, bending, etc. Therefore, the mooring rope should have excellent mechanical performance to ensure that the internal optical and electrical units of the rope can work normally when the rope is under stress.

7. The cable is used in the outdoor environment, so it is necessary to consider the impact of environmental conditions such as Low-pressure area, high temperature, low temperature, light and salt spray corrosion on the cable.

8. When the cable contains power conductors, it is usually necessary to transmit thousands of volts of high-voltage current inside the power conductor. When designing, it is necessary to fully consider the withstand voltage and high current performance of the power conductor, as well as the temperature rise of the cable itself caused by the current.