Conceived as the transport of the future, in an era when fuel accounted for less than 10% of airline costs, the Concorde (Fig. 5.1) was a special case by any yardstick. Capable of flying at Mach 2, or over 2000 kph, for distances of about 6500 km without in-flight refuelling, it outpaces most and outsustains all the world's military aircraft. In fact, in mid-1987, by which time the Concorde had carried its millionth passenger, it had also operated at supersonic speeds for more than twice the time of the whole of the Western world's military fleet put together.

Its commercial failure – only sixteen production-standard aircraft were manufactured – was entirely a function of the change in the world economy in the 1970s. With the price of aviation fuel rising almost tenfold in a decade, there was a sustained drive to reduce the fuel consumption of all aircraft engines. Accordingly, concerted efforts to alter the design of subsonic engine components, allied to the emergence of the turbofan engine, meant that the Concorde's subsonic contemporaries were achieving up to 40% better fuel consumption than their forebears. The Middle East war of the early 1970s, which sparked the alarming increases in the price of oil shown in Figure 5.2, only served to emphasise the Concorde's uncompetitiveness, for the 40% improvement in fuel consumption only softened the blow to the airlines, which still found fuel to be 30% of their overall operating costs and would have found the Concorde even more consumptive. Over half the Concorde's weight is taken up by fuel. Hence, it is hardly surprising that the production run was limited.

The noise from the early pure jet and low-bypass turbofans was, in hindsight, wholly unreasonable. The public should never again be permitted to suffer such intrusion on sleep, conversation and relaxation without adequate redress via compensation from the aircraft suppliers and operators, or the customers who benefit from the service provided. Air travel has penetrated international frontiers, brought nations closer together and boosted world markets but, in the main, it is a luxury that pampers the business community and the tourist on a daily basis. Without air transportation, many people would not have the pleasure of visiting the numerous faraway places that are now readily accessible to them in a comparatively short travelling time. Similarly, on the commercial front, mail and freight services would be slower and the wide variety of perishable goods currently available would no longer be able to reach world markets. Business travel, which frequently represents the backbone of the revenue from passenger operations, would be reduced to the essential minimum, but the world would still manage, perhaps at a less frantic pace!

In order to enjoy the many benefits of air transportation, many people have had to suffer high levels of noise intrusion, in most cases, not of their own choice. Airports have expanded, many new ones have appeared, and “noise-impacted zones” have spread to embrace areas that have traditionally enjoyed an element of serenity. Although few people have seriously suggested that aircraft noise is detrimental to health, the impact of noise in general, and of aircraft noise in particular, has been, and still is, the subject of wide-ranging debate.

Introduction

In Chapter 1 we looked at propulsion and orbit acquisition in the context of launch vehicles. We established that only one vehicle (Proton) is capable of routinely injecting satellite payloads directly into geostationary orbit, and that passengers onboard any of the other vehicles had to be equipped with rocket engines of their own to accomplish the final leg of the voyage. In Chapter 3 we examined the causes of north-south and east-west drift of a geostationary satellite around its nominal sub-satellite point. We also suggested strategies for drift correction using thrusters. The design and use of these onboard propulsion devices is the subject of the present chapter.

Propulsion

Bipropellant Subsystem Architecture

Figure 9.1 shows the design of a modern bipropellant propulsion subsystem. The MMH fuel and the N2O4 oxidizer are stored in separate tanks. Pipes run from the tanks to a large thruster and to 12 smaller thrusters. Each thruster has a valve to admit propellants. When the fuel and the oxidizer mix in the thrust chambers, they ignite spontaneously. The combustion generates thrust forces. The large thruster is an apogee kick motor (AKM), while the smaller thrusters are used for orbit and attitude control.

The round tank at the top of the figure contains helium gas to pressurize the fuel and oxidizer tanks. Pressurization fulfils the same function as turbopumps in launch vehicle engines, namely to feed propellant to the thrusters at a controlled rate.

Introduction

In early 1986, a series of launch vehicle disasters temporarily crippled space activities in the West. The first disaster was also the greatest when in January the space shuttle Challenger carrying seven astronauts and a very costly TDRS data relay satellite exploded 72 s after lift-off. In April a Titan vehicle blew up within seconds after lift-off, destroying a sophisticated military surveillance satellite; it was, moreover, the second successive loss of a Titan after a long history of successful launches. Shortly afterwards a Delta launch was aborted in flight when the main engine closed down prematurely due to an electrical fault. The US Weather Service lost an urgently needed GOES satellite in the process. As a direct consequence of the Delta accident, impending Atlas/Centaur launches were postponed for many months while design similarities between the two vehicles were investigated. Finally, in May, the European Ariane rocket brought down an Intelsat- VA communications satellite when the launch vehicle failed for the fourth time in only 18 launches.

In these circumstances, Western space organizations with satellites awaiting launch began to look eastward for substitute launch vehicles. The purpose of this initiative was twofold: to find launch opportunities in the medium term, and to forestall any attempt by a recovering Western launch service agency to establish a commercial monopoly. The USSR and China responded favourably with offers for flights on Proton and Long March, respectively.

Introduction

By the time the light emanating from the sun reaches the geosynchronous earth orbit, its energy content has been reduced to approximately 1350 W/m2. Hence, if all of the light that falls on a 1 m2 surface could be converted to electric power, it would be just enough to run an electric iron. In practice, only 10–14% can be thus converted with today's technology. The engineering challenge facing a satellite designer is to draw on this meagre solar energy to operate and heat an entire spacecraft, and to transmit radio waves with sufficient signal strength to be received intelligibly on the earth some 36 000 km away.

This chapter describes how electric energy is generated, conditioned and stored onboard geostationary satellites.

Subsystem Architecture

The main building blocks are the solar array, the battery and the loads (Fig. 8.1). The solar array is made up of strings of photovoltaic cells cemented onto solar panels. The battery is charged by the array during sunlight so as to provide power in eclipse when the array is idle. The loads are the users of electric power, such as transmitters, receivers, microprocessors, electric motors and heaters. The battery can also be considered a load while it is being charged.

A satellite power subsystem contains switches to turn on or off various load combinations and to protect the battery from overcharge or depletion. Some of the switches are triggered automatically when certain conditions arise, while others are activated by telecommand.

Introduction

We live in a world of “room temperature technology” as far as electronics and chemicals are concerned. The ambient temperature in the technologically developed parts of the world is in the range of 0–30°C. Nearly all space-qualified materials are derived from earthbound applications, be it electronic components, electrolytes, lubricants, paints or adhesives. Equipment on earth having a tendency to run too hot or too cold may be readily brought back to acceptable operating temperatures through heat exchange with the atmosphere.

In space, however, there is only extreme cold and extreme heat. If no action were taken, passive satellite equipment would adopt temperatures from typically − 200 to + 150°C, while active electronics might reach temperatures of several hundred degrees. To make things worse, a satellite will occasionally dive into the earth's shadow and emerge again into sunlight, such that fierce thermal stresses develop within the spacecraft. Because vacuum prevails, there is no heat convection. The only heat exchange is through radiation and conduction, and they are poor substitutes for convection when it comes to creating some kind of temperature balance.

It is therefore necessary to create approximate room temperature inside a spacecraft where most of the electronics and chemicals are found. This is the task of spacecraft thermal control. Passive control using thermal blankets, paints and other surface treatments go a long way to Create the right operational environment, but sometimes it is necessary to resort to active control with the aid of electric heaters, louvres and heat pipes.

Introduction

In an ideal world, spacecraft development would begin at the preliminary design stage and stop when the complete design is finalized, the hardware manufactured, and the satellite assembled. The next logical step would be to test the spacecraft in order to ensure compliance with specified performance, establish design and performance margins, and verify that the workmanship has been flawless. The test phase would end after the satellite has been checked out in orbit and is ready to go into service.

Alas, in the real world of spacecraft construction, the sequence of events is not so straightforward. In this chapter we will attempt to steer the reader through a labyrinth of phased development, hardware hierarchy and heritage, model philosophy, assembly, integration and test. For the spacecraft builder, the path is fraught with technical, financial and schedule pitfalls, and his management skills are constantly put to test. The customer, meanwhile, looks nervously over the shoulder of the builder to ensure that no effort is spared to produce a satellite which offers maximum value for money.

Spacecraft Development

Satellites which make use of new technology or particularly complex designs undergo a phased development. By allowing for planned interruptions at well-defined points during the development programme, it is possible to take stock and change the approach without jeopardizing the programme as a whole. Phase A includes mission definition and technical feasibility studies. Phase B covers system design, while Phase C encompasses detailed design finalization and prototype validation.

Introduction

The structure is the skeleton of a satellite. The primary design criterion for a satellite structure is that it should be rigid enough to survive the launch ascent phase while being as light and compact as possible. Low weight usually means lower launch cost, and small volume is necessary if the satellite is to fit inside the confines of the launcher fairing. Perhaps the day will come when satellites are assembled not on the ground but in orbiting space stations, in which case this fundamental design criterion will become far less onerous.

A secondary criterion is that flimsy structures such as solar panels and antennae should suffer a minimum of deformation under the influence of dynamic forces and thermal stresses in geostationary orbit. Panels have a tendency to twist during attitude manoeuvres and could actually counteract the intended movements. Parabolic antenna reflectors may change geometry due to thermal stresses as the solar incidence angle varies; the result could be a loss in antenna gain due to defocussing.

The structure must also be sufficiently stiff to prevent permanent misalignment of highly directive equipment such as antennae, thrusters and attitude sensors. In this chapter we will study the architecture of a typical geostationary satellite structure, make an inventory of materials used, follow the design logic, and discuss a mathematical modelling method.

Structure Architecture

A fairly typical geostationary satellite structure is shown in Fig. 5.1. It is made up of a primary structure, a secondary structure and various appendages.

Introduction

A geostationary applications satellite must be orientated in space such that its antennae or radiometers view the earth continuously. The solar arrays should also face the general direction of the sun at all times. Given that the satellite-earth and the satellite-sun vectors move 360° relative to each other every day, the satellite has to be something of a contortionist to satisfy both pointing conditions.

The obvious design solution to the variable two-way pointing problem is to mount the antennae or telescopes on one part of the spacecraft and the solar arrays on another, allowing the two parts to rotate in opposite directions around a common shaft. Two-way pointing can be maintained as long as the orientation or attitude of the shaft remains approximately perpendicular to the earth and sun vectors. Hence the dual spin and the three-axis stabilized design concepts (Figs 10.1–10.4).

The attitude of a spacecraft is the orientation of its body axes in inertial space. The angles which define an attitude may be direction cosines or azimuth and elevation (Fig. 10.5); the latter convention was used in Chapter 2 to derive an expression for sun angle.

Although space is virtually void of matter, it is nevertheless full of forces acting on the spacecraft (see Chapter 4), and some of these cause the attitude to drift. If the two-way pointing requirement is to be met at all times, it is necessary to ensure attitude stabilization continuously, and perform measurement and control at regular intervals.

Twenty-two thousand miles above the equator, a very special family of man-made satelllites circles the earth. Basking in the sunshine, their wings dark blue and their bodies golden, they look like parrots perched side by side on an endless telephone wire. Most strain their ears to pick up messages from one part of the world and relay them to another. Some spend all their time observing the evolution of weather patterns in the atmosphere below. A few size up the earth to the nearest inch, while others perform scientific experiments. All of the satellites are hypochondriacal chatterboxes who mix tales about what they have just seen, heard or felt with frequent reports about their precarious health.

This is the family of geostationary satellites, so named because to an observer on the earth they appear to be fixed at one point in the sky. In fact they are not fixed at all but travel around the earth at the same rate as the earth turns about its axis. Unlike spacecraft in any other orbit, a geostationary satellite remains constantly within view of almost half the earth at all times, which is why it is so eminently suited for telecommunications and earth observation.

The spacecraft literature abounds with titles on payloads, such as telecommunication transponders, radiometers and scientific instruments. The rest of the spacecraft, called the platform, is usually only presented in outline, and the presentation of launch vehicles, orbits and programmatic issues is often schematic.

Introduction

From launch onwards, the quality of life of a satellite is abysmal. During the ascent phase it is subjected to violent acceleration, vibration, shock and decompression which stretch its endurance to the limit - and that is only the beginning of a satellite's troubles.

On earth, vacuum is employed to extend the storage life of foodstuffs. Out in space, vacuum has the opposite effect on satellites, for it shortens their lifespan. In the absence of an atmosphere, they are bombarded with charged particles and exposed to ultraviolet radiation. Different parts of a satellite reach temperature extremes at the same time and, because there is no temperature exchange through convection, such extremes cause structural stress leading to possible malfunction. The particle bombardment gives rise to electrostatic discharge which produces short or open circuits and burns out electronic components. Lubricants evaporate in vacuum and cause moving parts to seize up. Paints and sealants “outgas” (perspire) and settle on sensitive optical surfaces. Micrometeorites travel unimpeded through space and strike satellites with tremendous impact.

Fortunately, a satellite's environment is largely predictable. Much of the time and money spent on building a spacecraft goes on verifying its resilience against a known environment through elaborate quality control and testing. In this chapter we shall explore the environment surrounding a geostationary satellite during all its phases of flight.

Powered Flight Loads

During the ascent phase, a satellite is subject to compression forces due to quasi-static acceleration.