Aeronautics and astronautics – Spacecraft – Spacecraft formation – orbit – or interplanetary path
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-09
2001-08-21
Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3643)
Aeronautics and astronautics
Spacecraft
Spacecraft formation, orbit, or interplanetary path
C244S159200, C102S489000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06276639
ABSTRACT:
PRIORITY CLAIM
This application is based on and claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Patent Application 198 56 670.0, filed on Dec. 9, 1998, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an apparatus for launching and deploying multiple satellites into orbit. The satellites are gathered together to form a single payload that is arranged about a central structure and connected by an adapter to a launcher rocket or launch vehicle.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Modern telecommunication systems often encompass a series of individual satellites that must be placed respectively into their orbit one after the other according to a pre-established ordering principle. The so-called Constellation Project, for example, provides for launching ten satellites simultaneously with the use of a single launcher rocket. After the rocket reaches the intended orbit, a specially constructed apparatus for placing the satellites in orbit, the so-called “dispenser”, then dispenses one satellite after the other into the intended orbit.
In known dispensers the satellites are individually fastened to or on a central primary support structure that then bears the entire loads and forces transmitted during the lift-off, ascent and flight phases of the launch. In an apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,226 (Jones et al.), a total of six satellites are mounted on support plates arranged in a star configuration, in two planes or layers, one above the other. A similar arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,653 (Bombled et al.). According to this U.S. patent, a central mast or cylinder supports the satellites. In both of the above-mentioned conventional arrangements, the central structure, and not the satellites themselves, bears the thrust and lateral or shear forces that arise during the lift-off, ascent and flight phases of the launch. Consequently, the central structure of these known dispensers must be very stable and, thus, necessarily heavy in order to ensure that it provides the required strength and stiffness.
According to the principle of the known so-called Iridium Dispenser, several satellites are individually fastened to a plate-like adapter disk, and each satellite has its own release mechanism. In this known arrangement, the adapter disk can be provided with a drive unit that is used to position and dispense or deploy each satellite into its intended individual position. The adapter disk and the release mechanism must be relatively heavy in order to satisfy the stiffness and strength requirements. Another variation of this concept does not provide a separate drive unit for the dispenser.
Another known apparatus for launching satellites, which is part of the so-called Globalstar concept, is also based on a central tube to which all payloads are fastened. This relatively thin central tube and an associated soft adapter shell in the form of a flat conical adapter also require a relatively large structural mass in order to fulfill the demands of strength and stiffness to which they are subject.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to provide a payload dispenser for launching and dispensing or deploying satellites into orbit, having the simplest and lightest possible construction, yet providing the greatest degree of strength and stiffness. The invention further aims to avoid or overcome the disadvantages of the prior art and to achieve additional advantages as are apparent from the present specification.
The above objects have been achieved according to the invention, in that each satellite to be launched is assembled having an outer shape, of a partial cylinder shell segment, and in that a plurality of such satellites are bundled and arranged about a central structure to form a single cylindrical payload. In this arrangement, the respective outer shells of the satellites together form a complete outer cylindrical shell stiffened by axial stringers. A respective protruding flange rim or lip in the form of a conical ring segment is provided on the upper and lower edges of the outer shell, respectively, of each respective satellite assembly rack.
The conical ring segments of the satellites arranged in a particular plane about the central structure together form a complete conical ring about the outer cylindrical shell. The satellites are releasably held together in that each conical ring is releasably held together by a tension band having a conical inner structure that fits around the conical ring and encircles the outer shell of the satellites at the respective plane of the conical ring. Conical ring segments are also provided on an adapter shell, which is releasably connected by respective tension bands to the satellites on the one hand, and to the upper stage of the launcher rocket on the other hand.
The underlying principle of the invention is to bundle the satellites in such a way that they form a single cohesive structure that can absorb the large loads placed on the structure during the lift-off and ascent phases of a launch, and transmit these loads into the structure of the launcher rocket. Particularly, the outer cylindrical shell formed by the cylindrical shell segments of the respective satellites, which are releasably joined together by the tension bands, carries the arising loads and transfers those loads through the conical adapter shell directly into the load-bearing outer shell of the launcher rocket. The central structure does not have to be very strong and massive because it does not have to support the significant loads arising during the launch. Bundling the satellites to form a cohesive structure advantageously enables the entire satellite dispensing arrangement to be of particularly light construction.
The preferred embodiment of the invention provides for a total of e.g. ten satellites to be launched into orbit from a single launcher rocket. The satellites are arranged in two stacks one above the other, each stack comprising five satellites. The two stacks of satellites are bundled together to form a single or unitary payload structure.
Various configurations of tension bands and clamps used to fasten satellites to a satellite dispenser are known in the field and are not discussed in detail herein. The inventive apparatus may make use of any such known tension bands and clamps. So-called Marman bands and clamps with a self-acting release mechanism, known particularly from U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,349 (Hornung et al.), may especially be used as the tension bands and clamps for the apparatus of the invention. Other conventional tension bands, however, such as ones that are tangentially pretensioned by tension screws and are pyrotechnically released and discarded after separation from the launcher rockets, can also be used to bundle the satellites to form a single payload structure.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4455943 (1984-06-01), Pinson
patent: 4750423 (1988-06-01), Nagabhushan
patent: 4854526 (1989-08-01), Rochefort
patent: 5350137 (1994-09-01), Henley
patent: 5411226 (1995-05-01), Jones et al.
patent: 5411349 (1995-05-01), Hornung et al.
patent: 5605308 (1997-02-01), Quan et al.
patent: 5613653 (1997-03-01), Bombled et al.
patent: 5720450 (1998-02-01), Kanne
patent: 5884866 (1999-03-01), Steinmeyer et al.
patent: 6138951 (2000-10-01), Budris et al.
patent: 4221525 (1994-01-01), None
Bolz Joerg
Borgwardt Peter
Hornung Ernst
Ory Huba
Quadt Markus
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG
Fasse W. F.
Fasse W. G.
Jakel Kevin
Poon Peter M.
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