Rotated Satellite Stack Structure for Low-Mass Launch Strength
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing satellite designs face challenges in reducing mass while ensuring structural integrity to withstand the launch environment without adding significant mass.
Innovation Solution
A satellite stack design with tightly nested satellites, where each satellite is oriented at a rotational angle with respect to the one beneath, supported by subsystem housings and a support base, enhancing structural robustness and resistance to launch forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If satellite mass is reduced to lower launch costs, then launch cost decreases, but structural integrity to withstand launch forces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple satellites are nested within a common support structure, with each satellite positioned in its own cavity. The support structure acts as a shared framework that provides structural integrity for all satellites simultaneously, allowing mass reduction of individual satellites while maintaining overall strength through the common structure.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple satellite support structures are merged into a single common support structure that serves all satellites. This consolidation reduces redundant structural mass while the distributed arrangement of satellites within the unified structure ensures that launch forces are collectively resisted, resolving the contradiction between mass reduction and structural integrity.
2Weight of moving object
If satellite mass is reduced, then launch cost decreases, but resistance to launch forces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Satellites are nested within a robust common support structure that is specifically designed to withstand launch forces. The support structure's rigid framework distributes and resists launch forces across the entire assembly, allowing individual satellites to have reduced mass while the collective system maintains adequate force resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure extends in multiple dimensions with vertical support members and horizontal cross members creating a three-dimensional framework. This multi-dimensional geometry provides enhanced resistance to launch forces from multiple directions while keeping the overall mass low through efficient structural design.
3Weight of moving object
If satellites are tightly nested to reduce mass, then mass and launch cost decrease, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is segmented into standardized components including vertical support members, horizontal cross members, and satellite cavities. This modular segmentation allows for systematic assembly and simplifies manufacturing while achieving the tightly nested configuration that reduces overall mass and launch cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The common support structure performs multiple functions simultaneously: it provides structural integrity, resists launch forces, positions multiple satellites, and serves as a unified platform for deployment. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate structural elements, thereby reducing complexity despite the tightly nested arrangement.
Data Source
AI summary
A satellite stack includes satellites arranged in a stack, where each satellite in the stack has a planar portion with an associated support structure and a subsystems housing containing satellite subsystems extending along an edge of the planar portion. For each satellite, a height of the subsystems housing is greater than a combined height of the planar portion and the associated support structure. Each satellite is oriented at a nonzero rotational angle with respect to the satellite immediately beneath, such that no satellite has its subsystems housing positioned directly above the subsystems housing of the satellite immediately beneath.