Packaging, development, and on-orbit assembly options for large geostationary spacecraft

摘要

Large spacecraft, particularly in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO), require special attention to the design challenges of launch vehicle packaging, deployment, and/or on-orbit assembly. Design studies of two different GEO spacecraft required that packaging, deployment, and on-orbit assembly analyses be conducted to establish the viability of these concepts for future NASA missions. This study used these analyses as strawman concepts for an investigation of packaging, deployment, and on-orbit assembly techniques. It also revealed generic guidelines for in-space assembly and highlighted the importance of early integration of packaging, deployment, and on-orbit assembly requirements into the spacecraft design. The first of the study spacecraft were used to study the definition and analyses of on-orbit assembly options for large GEO spacecraft. The second study spacecraft required investigation of the feasibility of deploying large spacecraft at GEO. The second spacecraft was also used to examine the packaging requirements of a deployable spacecraft and the packaging requirements for a hybrid assembled/deployable version of that spacecraft. This investigation was done with attention to minimum volume (and minimum launches) and to the relationship between packaging and spacecraft deployment and final configuration.