A Systems Approach to Select a Deployment Scheme to Minimize Re-contact When Deploying Many Satellites during One Launch Mission

A Systems Approach to Select a Deployment Scheme to Minimize Re-contact When Deploying Many Satellites during One Launch Mission

The proliferation of small, standardized/canisterized satellites and their associated adapters has made the viability of launch missions carrying thirty or more small satellites feasible. There are several missions that are pioneering an architecture where a large primary satellite drives mission requirements without utilizing all of the lift capacity of the launch vehicle. This allows the carriage of adapters containing canisterized satellites as tertiary satellites. Multi-satellite missions flying ten or more tertiary satellites require a systems approach to selecting a deployment scheme. This deployment approach eliminates the possibility of re-contact with the primary space vehicle while minimizing the possibility of re-contact between the various small tertiary satellites. This paper will summarize a systems approach to selecting a deployment scheme that meets these requirements. It will outline the use of unconventional maneuvers in the radial and anti-radial directions (straight up and straight down) to take advantage of the unique orbits resulting from these maneuvers. It allows for the separation of the primary space vehicle and all of the small tertiary satellites by treating the tertiary satellites as a “swarm.” It places all tertiary satellites in similar orbits which can be managed as a system.