Aeronautics and astronautics – Spacecraft – Spacecraft formation – orbit – or interplanetary path
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-04
2001-07-17
Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3644)
Aeronautics and astronautics
Spacecraft
Spacecraft formation, orbit, or interplanetary path
C244S159200, C244S172200, C244S173300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260804
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the manufacture and deployment of orbital spacecraft, and more particularly to the manufacture of spacecraft using functional modules and the deployment of such spacecraft using conventional launch vehicles.
2. Related Art
The deployment of orbital spacecraft incurs substantial costs. One source of these costs arises from the nonrecurring costs of designing, developing and manufacturing entirely new spacecraft for each new mission. To alleviate these costs, manufacturers have turned to the use of standard spacecraft busses. A spacecraft bus includes all of the subsystems required to support a payload. Common bus subsystems include those for electrical power, attitude knowledge and control, communication, propulsion, thermal management, onboard processing, and structure. Under this approach, a single spacecraft bus can support a variety of mission payloads without substantial nonrecurring bus-related costs for each mission.
Such monolithic spacecraft busses are generally manufactured in a centralized process resembling an automobile assembly line. One disadvantage of this approach is that it features a single critical path. If a problem occurs with any bus on the assembly line, the line must be halted until the problem is corrected. During this halt, most of the manufacturing equipment and personnel are forced to remain idle.
Another disadvantage of this centralized approach is that it is a slow one. One solution conventionally employed is to simply replicate the assembly line so that multiple assembly lines can be operated simultaneously. Of course, each individual assembly line is prone to the problem described above. Another flaw in this solution is that the replication of assembly lines requires duplication of manufacturing equipment and staffing of additional personnel, thereby multiplying the cost of the manufacturing process.
Another significant cost arises from the use of launch vehicles to deploy spacecraft in orbit. The prevailing trend is to launch spacecraft using expendable launch vehicles such as the Atlas, Proton, and Delta II rockets. The spacecraft are mounted inside the fairing at the top of the vehicle for transport to orbit. During the ascent phase of the launch, or after reaching the desired orbit, the spacecraft are deployed.
One way to minimize the per-spacecraft launch cost is to maximize the number of spacecraft that can be mounted within a launch vehicle fairing. Some efforts have concentrated on optimizing the cross-sectional size and shape of the spacecraft to fit a particular fairing. Unfortunately, conventional cross sections that are optimized for a particular launch vehicle are not well-suited for other launch vehicles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a functionally and structurally modular, parallelogram-shaped spacecraft. The spacecraft includes a plurality of modules joined to one another along an axis of the spacecraft, wherein each module is devoted to a particular function of the spacecraft, and wherein all of the modules have the same cross-sectional size and geometry. The geometry is approximately a parallelogram in a plane normal to the axis of the spacecraft. The functions include power, processing, propulsion, and the like.
According to one aspect of the invention, an internal angle of the parallelogram is approximately sixty degrees and an edge of the parallelogram is approximately 33 inches.
According to another aspect of the invention, each corner of the parallelogram includes a mounting surface.
According to another aspect of the invention, a plurality of longitudinal members are each coupled to one of the mounting surfaces of each module, at least one of the members is formed into a channel, thereby improving the structural stiffness of the spacecraft and providing an interconnection path between the modules.
According to another aspect of the invention, a plurality of clips are coupled between the structural panels of adjacent modules.
According to another aspect of the invention, the spacecraft includes a solar array foldable into a plurality of sections, each of the sections positionable against a side of the spacecraft corresponding to a side of the parallelogram.
According to another aspect of the invention, the spacecraft includes a mission antenna foldable into a plurality of sections, each of the sections positionable against a side of the spacecraft corresponding to a side of the parallelogram.
One advantage of the present invention is that functional modules can be added to a spacecraft or removed from a spacecraft with ease.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the functional modules can be assembled in different arrangements based on mission considerations.
Yet another key advantage of the present invention is that it permits parallel and distributed manufacturing.
Another advantage is that it is easy to reconfigure a manufacturing facility to make different types of spacecraft for different missions by retaining the manufacturing lines for modules that are common to the new spacecraft, such as propulsion and power, while merely adding new lines for new modules that are required by the mission, such as a new payload module.
Another advantage of the present invention is that its unique cross-sectional shape permits a large number of spacecraft to be mounted in each of the commercially-available launch vehicle fairings.
Further features and advantages of the present invention as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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Anderson Thomas W.
Bay F. M.
Bonham John
Dinh Tien
Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space
Poon Peter M.
Swidler Berlin Shereff & Friedman, LLP
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