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US 5,152,482 AGranted
Modular mother satellite bus for subsidiary payloads
AssigneeStandard Space Platforms Corp.
InventorsFrederick W. Perkins, Phil Kananen
Life of this patent
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AssigneeStandard Space Platforms Corp.
InventorsFrederick W. Perkins, Phil Kananen
Estimating the term…
Multiple subsidiary small payloads are connected to standard mechanical and electrical interfaces provided by an expendable or recoverable modular mother satellite bus (MMSB) and launched into space as an assembly acting as a common carrier providing low unit launch costs for the attached subsidiary payloads and also providing a variety of electrical, pointing, and thermal control services for these payloads after reaching orbit. These services include but are not necessarily limited to controlled separation of free-flying satellites or re-entry vehicles, regulated electric power at a variety of voltages, telemetry, computer control, payload control via time delayed pre-programmed instructions, optional real-time payload control via direct radio communication or transmission through geostationary or other communication satellite links, time-driven or event-driven control logic, mass data memory, encryption and decryption of data and commands, payload pointing, augmented heat rejection, and interconnection between subsidiary attached payloads through the data bus. The MMSB thus provides a mechanism by which many subsidiary functionally related or unrelated payloads can be launched into orbit and provide data or services while sharing appropriate mother satellite bus functions essential to payload operation but not intrinsically part of the scientific, commercial, or data generation objective of the attached payload.
A self-contained, unmanned and unpressurized spacecraft adapted to be launched into space by a launch vehicle and subsequently separated therefrom, the spacecraft adapted to carry a plurality of subsidiary attached payloads and to provide bus services to each payload upon separation of the spacecraft from the launch vehicle, the spacecraft comprising:
A self-contained, unmanned spacecraft adapted to be launched into space by a launch vehicle and subsequently separated therefrom, the spacecraft adapted to carry a plurality of subsidiary attached payloads and to provide bus services to each payload upon separation of the spacecraft from the launch vehicle, the spacecraft comprising:
A self-contained and unmanned spacecraft adapted to be launched into space by a launch vehicle and subsequently separated therefrom comprising:
In a spacecraft adapted to be launched into space by a launch vehicle and subsequently separated therefrom, the spacecraft adapted to carry a plurality of diverse customer payloads into orbit, a communication system for electronically communicating with each of said payloads comprising:
An unmanned spacecraft adapted to be launched into space by a launch vehicle and subsequently separated therefrom, the spacecraft adapted to carry a plurality of subsidiary attached payloads and to provide bus services to each payload upon separation of the spacecraft from the launch vehicle, the spacecraft comprising:
An unmanned spacecraft adapted to be launched into space by a launch vehicle and subsequently separated therefrom, the spacecraft adapted to carry a plurality of subsidiary attached payloads and to provide bus services to each payload under separation of the spacecraft from the launch vehicle, the spacecraft comprising:
An unmanned spacecraft adapted to be launched into space by a launch vehicle and separated therefrom upon reaching a predetermined earth orbit comprising:
An unmanned and self-contained spacecraft adapted to be launched into space by a launch vehicle and separated therefrom upon reaching a predetermined earth orbit comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.