SPACECRAFT DESIGN ENABLING THE COMPACT NESTING OF MULTIPLE SPACECRAFT IN THE SAME LAUNCH VEHICLE

摘要

A spacecraft (100) such as a satellite, is shaped roughly in the form of a cup with a hollow inner cavity (106) such that a plurality of such spacecraft may be stowed for launch in a nested stack (204), thereby enabling a greater number of satellites to be launched simultaneously with a single launch vehicle (201). The cup-shaped configuration results from the satellite having a base member (105) with panels or side walls (101a, 101b, 101c) extending from portions of the perimeter of the base member at a non-zero angle thereto.