Hybrid communications assembly for spacecraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10312998-B2
Application number	US-201514864698-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 24, 2015
Priority date	Sep 24, 2015
Publication date	Jun 4, 2019
Grant date	Jun 4, 2019

Abstract

A hybrid communications assembly for a spacecraft is provided. The hybrid communications assembly may include an assembly base, one or more laser communications terminals mounted on the assembly base, and a radio frequency antenna system mounted on the assembly base. The assembly may be mounted on an earth deck of the spacecraft, and the laser communications terminals may be mounted at an angle between 20 and 70 degrees with respect to the earth deck. A thermal radiator may be mounted on the assembly base and thermally coupled to the laser communications terminal. The radio frequency antenna system may be disposed between the laser communications terminals. The radio frequency antenna system may include one or more antenna reflectors mounted on the assembly base and one or more antenna feeds mounted on a tower.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A spacecraft, comprising:
a body having an earth deck;
one or more solar panels mounted to one or more sides of the body; and
a hybrid communications assembly mounted to the earth deck, the hybrid communications assembly comprising:
an assembly base having one or more angled mounting surfaces, each fixedly disposed at an angle between 50 degrees and 70 degrees with respect to the earth deck;
one or more laser communications terminals each mounted to a corresponding one of the angled mounting surfaces of the assembly base, each of the one or more laser communications terminals comprising an optical port;
an antenna tower mounted to a surface of the assembly base that is parallel to the earth deck and adjacent to at least one of the angled mounting surfaces; and
a radio frequency antenna system comprising an antenna feed mounted to the antenna tower and a deployable antenna reflector mounted directly to the assembly base and configured to prevent obstructing an operation of the optical ports.

2. The spacecraft of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid communications assembly further comprises a thermal radiator mounted to the assembly base and thermally coupled to the one or more laser communications terminals.

3. The spacecraft of claim 2 , further comprising a cold plate thermally coupled to the one or more laser communications terminals and mounted in a cavity within the assembly base, wherein the cold plate is coupled to the thermal radiator via a heat pipe that extends from the thermal radiator through a housing of the assembly base to couple the thermal radiator to the cold plate within the cavity in the assembly base.

4. The spacecraft of claim 1 , wherein the one or more angled mounting surfaces include two angled mounting surfaces disposed on opposing sides of the surface of the assembly base that is parallel to the earth deck, wherein the one or more laser communications terminals comprise two laser communications terminals each mounted to a corresponding one of the two angled mounting surfaces, and wherein the deployable antenna reflector is located substantially between the two laser communications terminals and is configured to deploy without interfering with the operation of the optical ports.

5. The spacecraft of claim 4 , further comprising:
a plurality of additional antenna reflectors mounted to the body, wherein the plurality of additional antenna reflectors and the one or more solar panels are configured to deploy without obstructing an operation of the optical ports.

6. The spacecraft of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid communications assembly comprises a plurality of mounting feet that attach the assembly base to the earth deck.

Assignees

• Lockheed Corp

Inventors

• Goodzeit Neil E
• Jones Craig Edward

Classifications

• H04B10/112

  Line-of-sight transmission over an extended range · CPC title

• B64G1/443

  Photovoltaic cell arrays · CPC title

• H04B10/118

  specially adapted for satellite communication · CPC title

• B64G1/503

  Radiator panels · CPC title

• B64G1/1007

  Communications satellites · CPC title