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US 12,319,443 B2Granted
Stacked satellite assemblies and related methods
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsRichard W. Aston, Emily Colleen Woods, Rachel Elizabeth Zilz, Michael John Langmack, Nicole Marie Hastings
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A satellite apparatus is disclosed, including a housing having first and second opposing walls, and a support structure inside the housing spanning the first and second walls. The support structure is structurally connected to the housing only at the first and second walls, and an end portion of the support structure is configured for connection to a launch vehicle by a separation system.
Claims20
A first satellite apparatus, comprising:
- a housing including an opposing fore wall and aft wall and four side walls spanning between the fore wall and aft wall, and
- a support structure spanning the fore wall and aft wall and enclosed by the four side walls of the housing, the support structure having a distal end portion that is affixed to the fore wall and a proximal end portion that protrudes through the aft wall,
- wherein the proximal end portion of the support structure includes a first interface flange and a first portion of a separation system for connection to a launch vehicle through a second portion of the separation system mounted to the launch vehicle, and
- wherein each of the four side walls is connected to the support structure only through the fore wall and aft wall.
1 more element
A satellite assembly, comprising:
- a launch vehicle having a launch axis, and
- a plurality of satellite stacks inside the launch vehicle, each satellite stack including a proximal satellite and a distal satellite,
- wherein each satellite, of the plurality of satellite stacks, has an internal cylindrical core structure, and the internal cylindrical core structures of the proximal satellite and the distal satellite of each satellite stack are aligned along a common core axis perpendicular to the launch axis, and
- wherein the distal satellite of each stack is connected only to the proximal satellite of the stack, and loads transfer from the distal satellite to the launch vehicle through the internal cylindrical core structure of the proximal satellite of the satellite stack.
1 more element
A method of deploying satellites from a launch vehicle, comprising:
- stacking a plurality of satellites inside the launch vehicle by aligning the satellites along a stack axis that is horizontal relative to a vertical launch axis,
- connecting each satellite of the plurality of satellites to one or more satellites that are adjacent along the stack axis, wherein each two connected satellites are connected by one of a plurality of separation systems,
- connecting a first satellite of the plurality of satellites directly to the launch vehicle by one of the plurality of separation systems,
- carrying the plurality of satellites to space in the launch vehicle, and
- sequentially separating the plurality of satellites, by using each separation system of the plurality of separation systems to urge either a distal one of the respective two connected satellites or the first satellite away from the launch vehicle in a horizontal direction relative to the vertical launch axis.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.