US 6,969,030 B1Granted

Spacecraft docking mechanism

AssigneeMacdonald Dettwiler Space and Associates Inc.

InventorsHoward Martin Jones, Pat Malaviarachchi, Andrew Charles MacKenzie Allen, Mariano Ficocelli, Geoffrey William Frederick Sprawson

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

patentgrep

Loading patent…

Abstract

The present invention provides a docking mechanism that is capable of interfacing with Apogee Boost Motors (ABM) including Liquid Apogee Motors (LAM) of the satellite being captured to allow a servicing spacecraft to dock with a satellite that has no special docking features. The docking mechanism includes a compliant probe with spring-loaded fingers at its tip which is inserted into the LAM by the approach motion of the servicer spacecraft. When the probe tip has passed beyond the throat of the LAM the finger extend to trap the LAM on the probe thus achieving capture. The rigidization stage of docking is achieved by retracting the probe to pull the two spacecraft together. The docking mechanism includes abutment pads which interface with the launcher interface ring of the client spacecraft. With the preload applied by the probe retraction mechanism reacted through these pads, the docking mechanism can maintain a rigid docked interface under loads induced by thrusting maneuvers of the combined spacecraft or loads induced by on-orbit servicing operations.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A docking mechanism for capturing and coupling a target spacecraft to a servicing spacecraft, the target spacecraft having an Apogee Boost Motor (ABM) or Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM), comprising:

a support frame which is attachable to the servicing spacecraft, and at least one elongate berthing post having first and second ends, the berthing posts being attached to the frame at said first ends, the at least one berthing post including a berthing pad attached to the second end thereof for contacting the target spacecraft being docked with the servicing spacecraft;
a berthing mechanism attached to the support frame, the berthing mechanism including an extendable stage;
a compliance mechanism mounted on the extendable stage of the berthing mechanism;
a probe including an elongate flexible shaft having first and second ends, a probe head assembly attached to the first end of the longitudinal flexible shaft and the second end of the longitudinal flexible shaft being attached to an abutment plate, the abutment plate being attached to the compliance mechanism, the probe head assembly including fingers extendable laterally therefrom, the compliance mechanism providing kinetic energy absorption and damping of the docking mechanism during capture and coupling of the two spacecraft together for reducing overshooting and undershooting of the probe with respect to the apogee motor;
and
wherein during capture and coupling of the target spacecraft to the servicing spacecraft together the servicing spacecraft is positioned behind the thruster of an apogee rocket on the target spacecraft with the extendable stage in the fully extended position, and wherein the probe head assembly is extended into the thruster by movement of the servicing spacecraft and once it has been extended past a throat in the thruster, the fingers are deployed laterally therefrom and the extendable stage of the berthing mechanism is retracted until the berthing pads on the ends of berthing posts contact an interface ring on the target spacecraft.

3 more elements

A docking mechanism for capturing and coupling a target spacecraft to a servicing spacecraft, the target spacecraft having an Apogee Boost Motor (ABM) or Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM), comprising:

a support frame which is attachable to the servicing spacecraft, and at least one elongate berthing post having first and second ends, the berthing posts being attached to the frame at said first ends, the at least one berthing post including a berthing pad attached to the second end thereof for contacting the target spacecraft being docked with the servicing spacecraft;
a berthing mechanism attached to the support frame, the berthing mechanism including an extendable stage and a motor connected to the extendable stage, a motor controller including a microprocessor and computer control instructions for controlling the probe during capture and disengagement of the servicing spacecraft from the target spacecraft;
a compliance mechanism mounted on the extendable stage of the berthing mechanism;
a probe including an elongate flexible shaft having first and second ends, a probe head assembly attached to the first end of the longitudinal flexible shaft and the second end of the longitudinal flexible shaft being attached to an abutment plate, the abutment plate being attached to the compliance mechanism, the probe head assembly including fingers extendable laterally therefrom, the compliance mechanism providing kinetic energy absorption and damping of the docking mechanism during capture and coupling of the two spacecraft together for reducing overshooting and undershooting of the probe with respect to the apogee motor;
and
wherein during capture and coupling of the target spacecraft to the servicing spacecraft together the servicing spacecraft is positioned behind the thruster of an apogee rocket on the target spacecraft with the extendable stage in the fully extended position, and wherein the probe head assembly is extended into the thruster by movement of the servicing spacecraft and once it has been extended past a throat in the thruster, the fingers are deployed laterally therefrom and the extendable stage of the berthing mechanism is retracted until the berthing pad on the ends of berthing posts contact an interface ring on the target spacecraft.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.