Spacecraft manufacturing implications for volume production satellites

• Autorzy: Wade D. , Weich C.
• Konferencja: Proceedings of the Third Seminar on Recent Research and Design Progress in Aeronautical Engineering and its Influence on Education/seminar(III; 23-25.11.1998; Warszawa, Polska)
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

To date, practically all spacecraft development programmes have followed a trend of ever increasing size, complexity, mass and cost. Today's missions may typically result in a spacecraft which has a mass at launch of the order of 10000 kg and a cost of around $150 million. Over the past ten years the emergence of the 'small satellite', with a mass of less than 1000 kg, has in part, reversed this trend, albeit whilst in many cases, employing the same design and manufacturing approach used for their conventional counterparts. Both conventional and small satellites have design and manufacture implications resulting from the conflicting low production quantities and high reliability requirements. Even series satellites tend to undergo significant redesign work for particular mission requirements resulting in the retention of high costs. Attempts to lower costs to date have centred on the use of modularity and 'off-the-shelf designs, which have had some success, particularly in the arena of small satellites. Proposals for new spacecraft applications, such as global mobile communications, require the use of satellite constellations. The size of a constellation is dependant upon its application, however present concepts range from 20 to 850 satellites . Many of these proposals suggest the use of existing spacecraft development methods. However, other methods, not currently associated with spacecraft design, may lead to significant cost reductions, whilst maintaining a sufficiently high level of reliability and redundancy. Two programmes which have already tried to adopt some of these methods are Iridium2 and Globalstar2, which will borrow ideas from the automobile industry in the manufacture of the 72 and 56 satellites (including in-orbit spares) required for the respective constellations. This paper will outline some of these new methods, describing factors which will be of primary importance in the future development of constellation satellites if an entirely new low cost approach is to be developed. These include the impact and importance that computer aided engineering will have across the manufacturing activities, embracing design, production, simulation and test. as well as integration and testing procedures, component classification and even configuration control.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

spacecraft manufacturing; satellites

PL

pojazdy kosmiczne; satelity

• Wydawca: Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics, Warsaw University of Technology
• Czasopismo: Research Bulletin / Warsaw University of Technology, Institute of Aeronautics and Applied Mechanics
• Rocznik: 1999
• Tom: nr 9
• Strony: 171--178
• Opis fizyczny: Bibliogr. 12 poz., rys., tab., wykr.

Twórcy

autor

Wade D.

autor

Weich C.

• Kingston University, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Production Engineering, Kingston Upon Thames, United Kingdom