Session
Technical Session III: New Approaches to Space Launch
Abstract
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Shuttle Small Payloads Project (SSPP), in partnership with the United States Air Force and NASA's Explorer Program, is developing a Shuttle based launch system called SHELS (Shuttle Hitchhiker Experiment Launcher System), which shall be capable of launching up to a 400 pound spacecraft from the Shuttle cargo bay. SHELS consists of a Marman band clamp push-plate ejection system mounted to a cast structure; the casted structure is mounted to one Orbiter sidewall adapter beam. Avionics mounted to a second adapter beam will interface with Orbiter electrical services and provide optional umbilical services and ejection circuitry. SHELS provides an array of manifesting possibilities to a wide range of satellites.
Shuttle Hitchhiker Experiment Launcher System (SHELS)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Shuttle Small Payloads Project (SSPP), in partnership with the United States Air Force and NASA's Explorer Program, is developing a Shuttle based launch system called SHELS (Shuttle Hitchhiker Experiment Launcher System), which shall be capable of launching up to a 400 pound spacecraft from the Shuttle cargo bay. SHELS consists of a Marman band clamp push-plate ejection system mounted to a cast structure; the casted structure is mounted to one Orbiter sidewall adapter beam. Avionics mounted to a second adapter beam will interface with Orbiter electrical services and provide optional umbilical services and ejection circuitry. SHELS provides an array of manifesting possibilities to a wide range of satellites.
