Spacecraft Subsystem

Spacecraft Subsystem

A spacecraft subsystem comprises of several assemblies or subsystem depending on

the mission profile.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 1

 Spacecraft Subsystem

Spacecraft Subsystem

A spacecraft subsystem comprises of several assemblies or subsystem depending on

the mission profile.

 Attitude Determination and Control

 Telemetry, Tracking and Command

 Command and Data Handling

 Power – Sources, Energy storages, Power distribution

 Thermal – Spacecraft thermal environment, Thermal control components

 Structures and Mechanisms – Structural design and analysis

 Guidance, Navigation and Control

Space Mission Design & Analysis 2

 Spacecraft Subsystem

Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem (ADCS)

• The attitude determination and control subsystem (ADCS) stabilizes the vehicle
and orients it in desired directions during the mission despite the external disturbance
torques acting on it.

• This requires that the vehicle determine its attitude, using sensors, and control it using
actuators.

• The ADCS often is tightly coupled to other subsystems on board, especially the
propulsion and navigation functions.

• A body in space is subject to small but persistent disturbance torques from variety of
sources. These torques are categorized as cyclic, varying in a sinusoidal manner during
an orbit, or secular, accumulating with time, and not averaging out over an orbit. These
torques would quickly reorient the vehicle unless resisted in some way.

• ADCS system resists these torques either passively, by exploiting inherent inertia or
magnetic properties to make the "disturbances" stabilizing and their effects tolerable, or
actively, by sensing the resulting motion and applying corrective torques.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 3

 AttitudeDetermination
Attitude Determinationand
andControl
ControlSubsystem
Subsystem

Space Mission Design & Analysis 4

 AttitudeDetermination
Attitude Determinationand
andControl
ControlSubsystem
Subsystem

Space Mission Design & Analysis 5

 Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem

Typical Attitude Control Modes

• Orbit Insertion: Period during and after boost while spacecraft is brought to final orbit.
Options include no spacecraft control, simple spin stabilization of solid rocket motor,
and full spacecraft control using liquid propulsion system

• Acquisition: Initial determination of attitude and stabilization of vehicle. Also may be

used to recover from power upsets or emergencies.

• Normal, On-Station: Used for the vast majority of the mission. Requirements for this
mode should drive system design

• Slew: Reorienting the vehicle when required.

• Contingency of Safe: Used in emergencies if regular mode fails or is disabled. May use
less power or sacrifice normal operation to meet power or thermal constraints.

• Special: Requirements may be different for special targets or time periods, such as
eclipses.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 6

 Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem

Typical Attitude Determination and Control Performance Requirements

• Determination – Accuracy and Range

• Accuracy: How well a vehicle’s orientation with respect to an absolute reference is

known.
• Examples: 0.25 deg, 3σ (93.3% accuracy), all axes; may be real-time or post-processed
on the ground

• Range: Range of angular motion over which accuracy must be met

• Examples: Any attitude within 30 deg of nadir

• Control – Accuracy, Range, Jitter, Drift and Setting Time

• Accuracy: How well the vehicle attitude can be controlled with respect to a commanded
direction
• Examples: 0.25 deg, 3σ, includes determination and control errors, may be taken with
respect to an Inertial or Earth-fixed reference

• Range: Range of angular motion over which control performance must be met
• Examples: All attitudes, within 50 deg of nadir, within 20 deg of Sun
Space Mission Design & Analysis 7
 Attitude Determination and Control Subsystem

Typical Attitude Determination and Control Performance Requirements

• Control – Accuracy, Range, Jitter, Drift and Setting Time

• Jitter: A specified angle bound or angular rate limit on short-term, high-frequency

motion
• Examples: 0.1 deg over 1 min, 1deg/s, 1 to 20 Hz; usually specified to keep spacecraft
motion from blurring sensor data

• Drift: A limit on slow, low-frequency vehicle motion. Usually expressed as angle/time.

• Examples: 1 deg/hr, 5 deg max. used when vehicles may drift off target with infrequent
resets (especially if actual direction is known)

• Setting Time: Specifies allowed time to recover from maneuvers or upsets

• Examples: 2 deg max rotation, decaying to < 0.1 deg in 1min; may be used to limit
overshoot, ringing or nutation

Space Mission Design & Analysis 8

 Spacecraft Subsystem: Attitude Control Methods and Their Capabilities
Type Pointing Options Attitude Typical accuracy Lifetime Limits
maneuverability
Gravity-gradient Earth local vertical Very limited ±5 deg (2 axes) None
only
Gravity-gradient Earth local vertical Very limited ±5 deg (3 axes) Life of wheel bearings
and Momentum only
Bias Wheel
Passive Magnetic North/south only Very limited ±5 deg (2 axes) None
Pure Spin Inertially fixed any High propellant usage to ±5 deg to ±1 deg in 2 Thruster propellant (if
Stabilization direction move stiff momentum axes (proportional to spin applies)*
Repoint with vector rate)
precession maneuvers
Dual-Spin Limited only by Momentum vector same Same as above spin Thruster propellant (if
Stabilization articulation on despun as above section applies)*
platform Despun platform Despun dictated by Despin bearings
constrained by its own payload reference and
geometry pointing
Bias Momentum (1 Best suited for local Momentum vector of the ±0.1 deg to ±1 deg Propellant (if applies)*
wheel) vertical pointing bias wheel prefers to stay Life of sensor and
normal to orbit plane, wheel bearings
constraining yaw
maneuver
Zero Momentum No constraints No constraints ±0.1 deg to ±5 deg Propellant
(thruster only) High rates possible

Zero Momentum (3 No constraints No constraints ±0.001 deg to ±1 deg Propellant (if applies)*
wheels) Life of sensor and
wheel bearings
Zero Momentum No constraints No constraints ±0.001 deg to ±1 deg Propellant (if applies)*
CMG (Control High rates possible Life of sensor and
Moment wheel bearings
Gyroscope)
Space Mission Design & Analysis 9
Spacecraft Subsystem: Attitude Control Methods and Their Capabilities

Space Mission Design & Analysis 10

 Spacecraft Subsystem

Telemetry, Tracking and Command Subsystem (TT&C)

• The telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) or communication system provides the
interface between the spacecraft and ground systems. Payload mission data and
spacecraft housekeeping data pass from the spacecraft through this subsystem to
operators and users at the operations center.

The subsystem functions include the following:

• Carrier tracking (lock onto the ground station signal)

• Command reception and detection (receive the uplink signal and process it)
• Telemetry modulation and transmission (accept data from spacecraft systems, process
them, and transmit them)
• Ranging (receive, process, and transmit ranging signals to determine the satellite's
position)
• Subsystem operations (process subsystem data, maintain its own health and status, point
the antennas, detect and recover faults.)

Space Mission Design & Analysis 11

 Telemetry, Tracking and Command Subsystem

Carrier tracking

• 2-way coherent communication (downlink frequency is a ratio of the uplink frequency)

• 2-way noncoherent communication
• l-way communication

Command reception and detection

• Acquire and track uplink carrier (carrier signal or carrier wave)

• Demodulate carrier and subcarrier
• Derive bit timing and detect data bits
• Resolve data-phase ambiguity if it exists
• Forward command data, clock, and in-lock indicator to the subsystem for command
and data handling

Telemetry modulation and transmission

• Receive telemetry data streams from the command and data handling subsystem or data
storage subsystem
• Modulate downlink subcarrier and carrier with mission or science telemetry
• Transmit composite signal to the ground station or relay satellite
Space Mission Design & Analysis 12
 Telemetry, Tracking and Command Subsystem

Ranging

• Detect and retransmit ranging pseudorandom code or ranging tone signals

• Retransmit either phase coherently or noncoherently

Subsystem operations

• Receive commands from the subsystem for command and data handling
• Provide health and status telemetry to the C&DH subsystem
• Perform antenna pointing for any antenna requiring beam steering
• Perform mission sequence operations per stored software sequence
• Autonomously select omni-antenna when spacecraft attitude is lost
• Autonomously detect faults and recover communications using stored software sequence

Space Mission Design & Analysis 13

 Telemetry, Tracking and Command Subsystem

Typical TT&C requirements

• Type of signals (voice, television, and data)

• Capacity (number of channels and bandwidth)

• Coverage area & ground site locations (local, regional, national, international)

• Link signal strength (usually derived from ground terminal type)

• Connectivity (crosslinks, relay ground stations, and direct links)

• Availability (link times per day and days per year, outage times)

• Lifetime (mission duration)

Space Mission Design & Analysis 14

 Telemetry, Tracking and Command Subsystem

Design Parameter for the TT&C subsystem

Antenna Sidelobe Levels

• Design to minimize. Sidelobes degrade the antenna's directionality.
• Very high sidelobes may interfere with other antennas and receivers on the satellite.
• High sidelobe levels also affect security by making detection of signals more likely.

Polarization
• Polarizations can be circular (right or left), or linear (horizontal or vertical).
• To decrease signal loss in the link, the polarizations need to be compatible.
• For example, the satellite antenna and ground station must both have right-circular
polarization.

Frequency Stability
• When we need to acquire the signal quickly, the receiver frequency must be known and
stable.
• Thus, we specify the original receiver frequency's set point, short-term stability, temperature
stability, and aging stability so we can acquire the uplink signal with little uncertainty.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 15

 Telemetry, Tracking and Command Subsystem
Design Parameter for the TT&C subsystem
Capture and Tracking Range
• The capture range is the band of frequencies over which the uplink-carrier signal can drift
from the receiver's best-lock frequency, so the receiver will still lock to the uplink signal.
• The tracking range is the band of frequencies, the receiver will follow while locked to a
sweeping, uplink-carrier signal without losing lock.
• Typically the capture range is 1% of the tracking range.

Diplexer Isolation
• The diplexer allows us to use the same antenna for transmitting and receiving.
• The diplexer isolates the transmitter from the receiver.
• A diplexer with low isolation may require a band-reject filter between the transmitter and
the diplexer

Coupling Between Antennas

• Signal and noise coupling between a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna may
cause the receiving antenna to lock onto a frequency coming from the transmitting
antenna's transmitter.
• More commonly, broadband noise from the transmitting antenna may couple over to the
receiving antenna and raise the noise floor of the receiving antenna's receiver, reducing the
signal-to-noise ratio
Space Mission Design & Analysis 16
Telemetry, Tracking and Command Subsystem

Space Mission Design & Analysis 17

 Spacecraft Subsystem

Command and Data Handling (C&DH) Subsystem

• The C&DH performs two major functions.

• It receives, validates, decodes and distributes commands to other spacecraft systems and
gathers, process and formats spacecraft housekeeping and mission data for downlink or
use by an onboard computer.
• This equipment often includes additional functions, such as spacecraft timekeeping,
computer health monitoring (watchdog) and security interfaces.

C & DH consists of two prime units

1. Command decoder
2. Data handling unit

Space Mission Design & Analysis 18

 Command and Data Handling (C&DH Subsystem)

Command Decoder

• The command decoder determines command output type and the specific interface
channel.
• A typical system provides two types of output: discrete and serial.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 19

 Command and Data Handling (C&DH Subsystem)

Command Decoder

Discrete Commands
• Discrete commands are a fixed amplitude and a fixed pulse duration and consist of two
basic types

• High-Level Discrete Command: A +28 V, 10 to 100 ms pulse used to drive a latching

relay coil or fire an ordnance device.

• Low-Level Discrete Command: An open collector or 5 V pulse typically interfacing with

digital logic

Serial Command
• A serial command is a 3-signal interface consisting of a shift clock, serial command data,
and a data enable used to indicate the interface is active.
• A portion of the received command message bits (typically 8 or 16) is sent in serial form
to a user subsystem

Space Mission Design & Analysis 20

 Command and Data Handling (C&DH Subsystem)

Data Handling Unit

The terms data handling and telemetry are often used interchangeably. However, data
handling is more than just telemetry. Data handling combines telemetry from multiple
sources and provides it for downlink or internal spacecraft use

Space Mission Design & Analysis 21

 Command and Data Handling (C&DH Subsystem)

Data Handling Unit

High-Level Analog:
• A telemetry channel with information encoded as an analog voltage, typically in the
range of 0 to 5.2 V.

• Data handling equipment converts this information to digital form

Low-Level Analog:
• A telemetry channel with information encoded as an analog voltage.

• The signal range is low enough to require amplification before the information is
encoded into digital form.

• Because of the signal's low voltage range, it is subject to noise contamination and thus
uses an interface in which the telemetry information is the difference between signal and
reference inputs to the command and data handling system.

• This is differential or double-ended interface.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 22

 Command and Data Handling (C&DH Subsystem)

Data Handling Unit

Passive Analog:
• A telemetry channel with information encoded as a resistance.

• The command and data handling system supplies a constant current to the resistive
sensor and encodes the resulting IR voltage drop into a digital word

All analog telemetry is converted to digital form within the command and data handling
system. The system determines data resolution by the number of quantization levels. The
two most common forms of digital telemetry data are described below

Bi-Level (Discrete) Input:

• A telemetry channel conveying two state information (such as on/off or enable/disable).

• Information is encoded as voltages, but may be encoded as a resistance or the presence

or absence of a signal.

• Typically a logic 0 =0 to 1 V, and a logic 1=3 V to 5 V (or 3 V to 28 V)

Space Mission Design & Analysis 23

 Command and Data Handling (C&DH Subsystem)

Data Handling Unit

Serial Telemetry (Digital) Interface:

• A 3-signal interface used to transfer digital data from an external source to the data
handling equipment.

• The command and data' handling system provides a shift clock and an interface enable
signal to control data transfer.

• Interface circuits may be differential line drivers or single ended. Serial rather than
parallel interfaces are preferred on spacecraft, because they simplify cable design and
require fewer interface circuits

Space Mission Design & Analysis 24

 Spacecraft Subsystem

Power (Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS))

• EPS provides stores, distributes and controls spacecraft electrical power.

• We must identify the electrical power loads for mission operations at beginning-of-life,
BOL and end-of-life EOL

Space Mission Design & Analysis 25

 Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS) Subsystem

Typical functions of EPS

• Supply a continuous source of electrical power to spacecraft loads during the mission
life.

• Control and distribute electrical power to the spacecraft.

• Support power requirements for average and peak electrical load.

• Provide converters for AC and regulated DC power buses, if required.

• Provide command and telemetry capability for EPS health and status, as well as control
by ground station or an autonomous system.

• Protect the spacecraft payload against failures within the EPS.

• Suppress transient bus voltages and protect against bus faults.

• Provide ability to fire ordnance, If required.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 26

 Preliminary design process for EPS Subsystem
Steps Information Required Derived Requirements
Identify requirements Top-level reequipments, Design requirements,
mission type (LEO, GEO), spacecraft electrical power
spacecraft configuration, profile (average and peak)
mission life, payload definition

Select and size power source Mission type, spacecraft EOL power requirement, type
configuration, average load of solar cell, mass and area of
requirements for electrical solar array, solar array
power configuration
Select and size energy storage Mission orbital parameters, Eclipse and load-levelling
average and peak load energy storage requirement
requirements for electrical (battery capacity requirement),
power battery mass and volume,
battery type
Identify power regulation and Power-source selection, Peak-power tracker or direct-
control mission life, requirements for energy-transfer system,
regulating mission load and thermal-control requirements,
thermal control requirements bus-voltage quality, power
control algorithms
Space Mission Design & Analysis 27
 Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS) Subsystem
Power Sources

• The power source generates electrical power within the spacecraft.

• Launch vehicles such as Titan IV or Delta use primary batteries as the power source for
electrical loads because the batteries usually need to last less than an hour.

• Typically, we use four types of power sources for spacecraft

1. Photovoltaic solar cells, the most common power source for Earth-orbiting spacecraft,
convert incident solar radiation directly to electrical energy.

2. Static power sources use a heat source typically plutonium-238 or uranium-235 (nuclear
reactor), for direct thermal-to-electric conversion.

3. Dynamic power sources also use a heat source-typically concentrated solar radiation,
plutonium-238, or enriched uranium-to produce electrical power using the Brayton, Stirling,
or Rankine cycles.

4. The fourth power source is fuel cells, used on manned space missions such as Gemini,
Apollo, SkyLab, and the Space Shuttle. Fuel cells converts the chemical energy (fuel-H2
oxidizing agent-O2) into electrical energy (through redox reactions).
Space Mission Design & Analysis 28
 Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS) Subsystem

Energy Storage

• Energy storage is an integral part of the spacecraft's electrical-power subsystem providing all
the power for short missions (<1 week) or back-up power for longer missions (> 1 week).

• Any spacecraft that uses photovoltaics or solar thermal dynamics as a power source requires a
system to store energy for peak-power demands and eclipse periods.

• Energy storage typically occurs in a battery, although systems such as flywheels and fuel cells
have been considered for various spacecraft.

• A battery consists of individual cells connected in series. The number of cells required is
determined by the bus-voltage.

• The amount of energy stored within the battery is the ampere-hour capacity or watt-hour
(ampere-hour times operating voltage) capacity.

• All battery cells are either primary or secondary.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 29

 Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS) Subsystem

Energy Storage

Primary Batteries
• Primary battery cells convert chemical energy into electrical energy but cannot reverse this
conversion, so they cannot be recharged.

• Primary batteries typically apply to short missions (less than one day) or to long-term tasks
such as memory backup, which use very little power.
Examples: Silver zinc, Lithium Thionyl Chloride, Lithium Sulfur Dioxide,
Lithium Monoflouride, and Thermal cells.

Secondary Batteries
• secondary battery for energy storage can convert chemical energy into electrical energy
during discharge and electrical energy into chemical energy during charge. It can repeat this
process for thousands of cycles.

• Secondary battery provides power during eclipse periods on spacecraft that employ
photovoltaics and can also level loads. Secondary batteries recharge in sunlight and discharge
during eclipse.
Examples: Nickel cadmium, Nickel hydrogen, Lithium-Ion, Sodium-Sulfur

Space Mission Design & Analysis 30

 Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS) Subsystem

Power Distribution

• A spacecraft's power distribution system consists of cabling, fault protection, and switching
gear to turn power on and off to the spacecraft loads.

• It also includes command decoders to command specific load relays on or off.

• The power distribution system is a unique feature of the electrical-power subsystem and often
reflects individual spacecraft loads and power-switching requirements.

• Power distribution designs for various power systems depend on source characteristics, load
requirements, and subsystem functions.

• Power switches are usually mechanical relays because of their proven flight history,
reliability, and low power dissipation.

• Solid-state relays, based on power technology, which uses metal-oxide semiconductor field-
effect transistors are available

Space Mission Design & Analysis 31

 Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS) Subsystem

Power Regulation and Control

• The energy source determines how we regulate a spacecraft's power. For example, we
regulate a static or dynamic power source through the direct energy transfer method.

• But because most aerospace applications use solar photovoltaics, we will examine power
regulation emphasizing that viewpoint. Power regulation divides into three main categories:
controlling the solar array, regulating bus voltage, and charging the battery

• We must control electrical power generated at the array to prevent battery overcharging and
undesired spacecraft heating.

• The two main power control techniques are a Peak-Power Tracker (PPT) and a Direct-
Energy-Transfer (DET) subsystem.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 32

 Spacecraft Subsystem

Thermal Control Subsystem (TPS)

• The role of the thermal control subsystem (TCS) is to maintain all spacecraft and
payload components and subsystems within their required temperature limits for each
mission phase.

• Temperature limits include a cold temperature which the component must not go below
and a hot temperature that it must not exceed.

• Two limits are frequently defined: operational limits that the component must remain
within while operating and survival limits that the component must remain within at all
times, even when not powered.

• Thermal control techniques are broadly divided into two categories.

• Passive thermal control makes use of materials, coatings, or surface finishes (such as
blankets or second surface mirrors) to maintain temperature limits.
• Active thermal control which is generally more complex and expensive, maintains the
temperature by some active means, such as heaters or thermo-electric coolers

Space Mission Design & Analysis 33

 Thermal Control Subsystem

Example of Typical Thermal Requirements for Spacecraft Components.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 34

 Thermal Control Subsystem

Spacecraft Thermal Environment

• Spacecraft thermal control is a process of energy management in which the thermal

environment plays a major role.

Direct Solar
• Sunlight is the major source of environmental heating on most spacecraft. Fortunately,
the Sun is a very stable energy source which is constant to within a fraction of a percent.

• However, because the Earth's orbit is elliptical, the intensity of sunlight reaching Earth
varies approximately ±3.5%, depending on Earth's distance from the Sun.

• At summer solstice, Earth is farthest from the Sun, and the intensity is at a minimum
value of 1322 W/m2; at winter solstice, the intensity is at its maximum value of 1414
W/m2.

• The intensity of sunlight at Earth's mean distance from the Sun (1 AU) is known as the
solar constant and is equal to 1367 W/m2.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 35

 Thermal Control Subsystem

Spacecraft Thermal Environment

Albedo

• Sunlight reflected off a planet or moon is known as albedo.

• A planet's albedo is usually expressed as the fraction of incident sunlight that is reflected
back to space and is highly variable.

• Usually, reflectivity is greater over land as compared with oceans and generally
increases with decreasing local solar-elevation angles and increasing cloud coverage.

• Because of greater snow and ice coverage, decreasing solar elevation angle, and
increasing cloud coverage, albedo also tends to increase with latitude.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 36

 Thermal Control Subsystem

Spacecraft Thermal Environment

Earth IR

• All incident sunlight not reflected as albedo is absorbed by Earth and eventually
reemitted as IR energy or blackbody radiation.

• While this balance is maintained fairly well on a global annual average basis, the
intensity of IR energy emitted at any given time from a particular point on Earth can
vary considerably depending on factors such as the local temperature of Earth's surface
and the amount of cloud cover.

• A warmer surface region will emit more radiation than a colder one.

• Generally, highest values of Earth emitted IR will occur in tropical and desert regions
(as these are the regions of the globe receiving the maximum solar heating) and will
decrease with increasing latitude.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 37

 Thermal Control Subsystem

Spacecraft Thermal Environment

Environment of Interplanetary Missions

• Interplanetary trajectories can expose spacecraft to a range of thermal environments
much more severe than those encountered in Earth orbit.
• During most of an interplanetary cruise, the only environmental heating comes from
direct sunlight, which falls off as the square of the distance from the Sun.
• During a flyby, or after a spacecraft is placed into orbit around a planet, it is also
exposed to IR and albedo loads from the planet.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 38

 Thermal Control Subsystem

Thermal Control Component

Surface Finishes
• In spacecraft thermal designs, wavelength-dependent thermal control coatings are
used for various purposes.
• Solar reflectors such as second-surface mirrors and white paints or silver- or aluminium-
backed Teflon are used to minimize absorbed solar energy, yet emit energy almost like
an ideal blackbody.
• To minimize both the absorbed solar energy and infrared emission, polished metal such
as aluminium foil or gold plating is used.

Insulation:
• Multilayer insulation (MLI) and single-layer radiation shields are among the most
common thermal control elements on spacecraft.
• MLI blankets are used either to prevent excessive heat loss from a component or
excessive heating from environmental fluxes or rocket plumes.
• Most spacecraft are covered with MLI blankets, with cut-outs provided for radiator areas
to reject internally generated waste heat.
• MLI blankets are also typically used to protect internal propellant tanks, propellant lines,
solid rocket motors, and cryogenic dewars.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 39

 Thermal Control Subsystem

Thermal Control Component

Radiators
• Most spacecraft waste heat is rejected to space by radiators.
• These occur in several different forms, such as spacecraft structural panels, flat-plate
radiators mounted to the side of the spacecraft, or panels that are deployed after the
spacecraft is on orbit.
• The radiator must reject both the satellite waste heat plus any radiant-heat loads from the
environment or other spacecraft surfaces that are absorbed by the radiator.

Heaters:
• Heaters are sometimes required to protect components from cold-case environmental
conditions or to make up for heat that is not dissipated when an electronic box is turned
off.
• Heaters may also be used with thermostats or solid-state controllers to provide precise
temperature control of a particular component.
• A third common use for heaters is to warm components to their minimum operating
temperatures before they are turned on

Space Mission Design & Analysis 40

 Thermal Control Subsystem

Thermal Control Component

Louvers
• Louvers are active thermal control elements that have been used in different forms on
numerous spacecraft.
• While most commonly placed over external radiators, louvers may also be used to
modulate radiant heat transfer between internal spacecraft surfaces, or from internal
surfaces directly to space through openings in the spacecraft wall.
• In general, a louver in its fully open state allows the rejection of six times as much heat
as it does in the fully closed state, with no power required to operate it.

Heat Pipes:
• A heat pipe uses a closed two-phase fluid-flow cycle to transport large quantities of heat
from one location to another without the use of electrical power.
• The heat pipe can be used to create isothermal surfaces or to spread out heat from a
localized source uniformly over a larger area.
• One-way (diode) heat pipes have been tested and flown as have variable-conductance
heat pipes, which maintain a constant temperature under varying heat load conditions.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 41

 Spacecraft Design and Sizing

Spacecraft

• An unmanned spacecraft consists of at least three elements:

i. Payload,
ii. Spacecraft bus,
iii. Booster adapter.

• The payload is the mission-peculiar equipment or instruments.

• The spacecraft bus carries the payload and provides housekeeping functions.

• The payload and spacecraft bus may be separate modules, or the vehicle may be an
integrated design.

• The booster adapter provides the load-carrying interface with the boost vehicle

Space Mission Design & Analysis 42

 Spacecraft Design and Sizing

Spacecraft

Overview of Spacecraft Design and Sizing

1. Prepare list of design requirements and constraints

2. Select preliminary spacecraft design approach and overall configuration based on the
above list

3. Establish budgets for spacecraft propellant, power, and weight

4. Develop preliminary subsystem designs

5. Develop baseline spacecraft configuration

6. Iterate, negotiate, and update requirements, constraints, design budgets

Space Mission Design & Analysis 43

 Spacecraft Design and Sizing

Initial Spacecraft Design Decisions or Trade-offs

Design Approach or Aspect Principal Options or Key Issues
Spacecraft Weight Must allow for spacecraft bus weight and payload weight.
Spacecraft Power Must meet power requirements of payload and bus.
Spacecraft Size Is there an item such as a payload antenna or optical system that
dominates the spacecraft's physical size? Can the spacecraft be
folded to fit within the booster diameter? Spacecraft size can be
estimated from weight and power requirements.
Attitude Control Approach Options include no control, spin stabilization, or 3-axis control:
selection of sensors and control torquers. Key issues are number
of items to be controlled, accuracy, and amount of scanning or
slewing required.
Solar Array Approach Options include planar, cylindrical, and omnidirectional
arrays either body mounted or offset
Kick Stage Use Use of a kick stage can raise injected weight. Options include
solid and liquid stages.
Propulsion Approach Is metered propulsion required? Options include no propulsion,
compressed gas, liquid monopropellant or bipropellant
Space Mission Design & Analysis 44
 Spacecraft Design and Sizing

Spacecraft Configuration

• To estimate the size and structure of a spacecraft, we select a design approach, develop a
spacecraft configuration (overall arrangement) and make performance allocations to the
spacecraft subsystems.

• First, the allocated design requirements are dictated by considering the overall spacecraft
design - a top-down approach. Alternatively, the allocated design requirements are developed
by gathering detailed design information - a bottom-up approach.

Space Mission Design & Analysis 45

Spacecraft Design and Sizing: Spacecraft Configuration

Defence Support Program

Space Mission Design & Analysis 46

 Spacecraft Design and Sizing

Spacecraft Configuration Drivers

Space Mission Design & Analysis 47

 Payload Design and Sizing

Payload

• The payload is the combination of hardware and software on the spacecraft that interacts
with subject to accomplish the mission objectives.

• Most space mission and payloads classified by following

 Communications
 Remote sensing
 Navigation
 Weapons
 In situ sciences
 Other

Space Mission Design & Analysis 48

Types of Spacecraft Mission and Payload

Space Mission Design & Analysis 49

 Payload Design and Sizing

Payload Design and Sizing Process

1. Select Payload Objectives

2. Conduct Payload Subject Trades

3. Develop the Payload Operations Concept

4. Determine the Required Payload Capability

5. Identify Candidate Payloads

6. Estimate Candidate Payload Characteristics

7. Evaluate Candidates and Select a Baseline

8. Assess Life-cycle Cost and Operability

9. Define Payload-derived Requirements

10. Document and Iterate

Space Mission Design & Analysis 50

 Payload Design and Sizing

Payload Design and Sizing Process

Select Payload Objectives

• These objectives will, of course, be strongly related to the mission objective.
• However, unlike the mission objectives which are a broad statement of what the mission
must do to be useful, the payload objectives are more specific statements of what the payload
must do (i.e., what is its output or fundamental function).
Example:
• For FireSat, this is specific performance objectives in terms of identifying fires.

Conduct Payload Subject Trades

• The subject is what the payload interacts with or looks at. A key part of the subject trade is
determining what the subject is or should be.
Example:
• For a mobile communications system, it is the user's handheld receiver. Here the subject
trade is to determine how much capability to put in the user unit and how much to put on the
satellite.

Develop the Payload Operations Concept

• Ultimately, the data or product produced by the payload must get to the user in an
appropriate form or format.
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 Payload Design and Sizing

Payload Design and Sizing Process

Determine the Required Payload Capability

• What is the throughput and performance required of the payload equipment to meet the
performance thresholds
Examples:
• For mobile communications, how many phone calls or television channels must it handle
simultaneously?
• For FireSat what is the specification on the equipment needed to meet the temperature,
resolution, or geolocation requirements?

Identify Candidate Payloads

• Here we identify the possible payloads and their specifications.
• For simple missions there will be a single payload instrument.
• For most missions, there will be multiple instruments or units which frequently must
work together to meet mission requirements.
Example:
• Thus, a system designed to identify the source of solar storms may have an imager and a
spectrometer or a magnetometer and an instrument to map small temperature
fluctuations on the photosphere or in the solar wind

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 Payload Design and Sizing

Payload Design and Sizing Process

Estimate Candidate Payload Characteristics

• Here we need to determine the performance characteristics, the cost, and the impact on
the spacecraft bus and ground system so that we can understand the cost vs. performance
for each of the viable candidate system.
• Payloads will differ in their performance and cost, but also in weight, power, pointing,
data rate, thermal, structural support, orbit, commanding, and processing requirements.

Evaluate Candidates and Select a Baseline

• Here we examine the alternatives and make a preliminary selection of the payload
combination that will best meet our cost and performance objectives.
• In selecting a baseline, we must decide which elements of performance are worth how
much money.

Assess Life-cycle Cost and Operability

• Ultimately, we want to determine mission utility as a function of cost.
Example:
• For FireSat we may decide that only one type of fire or one geographic region will be
addressed

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 Payload Design and Sizing

Payload Design and Sizing Process

Define Payload-derived Requirements

• In this step we provide a detailed definition of the impact of the selected payloads on the
requirements for the rest of the system (i.e.. the spacecraft bus, the ground segment, and
mission operations).
Eaxmple:
• FireSat will have power, pointing, geolocation, and data rate requirements

10. Document and Iterate

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