Applications of the Petite Amateur Navy Satellite (PANSAT)

Abstract

This thesis provides an analysis of potential Petite Amateur Navy Satellite (PANSAT) system users. At a point in time where large satellite designers are just now beginning to focus their efforts towards capturing a portion of the rapidly expanding light satellite (lightsat) market, the Naval Postgraduate School is designing a lightsat unlike any which has been built before or will be built in the foreseeable future. A single PANSAT (or an entire constellation) can be lofted into orbit at a relatively low cost as a secondary payload on a variety of launch vehicles. Its design makes it an ideal system for providing store and forward communications to a large number of users at a fraction of the cost of most (if not all other) satellite systems. The long-term success of this program relies not only on the technical aspects of design and production but also on the Naval Postgraduate School's ability to create a satellite system that provides maximum utility to potential user communities yet to be explicitly defined.