General Purpose Satellites: a concept for affordable low earth orbit vehicles
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Authors
Boyd, Austin W.
Fuhs, Allen E.
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Date of Issue
1997-01
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Abstract
A general purpose satellite has been designed which will be launched from the Space Shuttle using a NASA
Get-Away-Special (GAS) canister. The design is based upon the use of a new extended GAS canister and a low
profile launch mechanism. The satellite is cylindrical. measuring 19 inches in diameter and 35 inches long.
The maximum vehicle weight is 250 pounds, of which 50 pounds is dedicated to user payloads. The
remaining 200 pounds encompasses the satellite structure and support components. which include a
hydrazine propulsion system. a 75 watt solar power system an s-band telemetry transmitter and receiver,
a 12 megabyte data storage unit and a 16 bit system microprocessor. Active nutation control techniques are
employed for spin stabilization about the longitudinal axis. Using the hydrazine propulsion system. circular
orbits as high as 835 nm or elliptic orbits with an apogee of 2200 nm are attainable. departing a nominal
Shuttle orbit of 135 nm. Pointing accuracies of + /- two degrees are possible Total cost for the satellite and a
GAS launch will be approximately $1 million dollars.
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Article
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Space Systems Academic Group
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.