A satellite system may have a constellation of communications satellites that provides services to users with electronic devices such as portable electronic devices and home and office equipment. A network operations center may use gateways to communicate with the satellite constellation. The satellite constellation may include sets of satellites with different orbits such as circular orbits with different inclinations, sets of satellites with elliptic orbits, sets of satellites with circular orbits of different altitudes including low earth orbits, medium earth orbits, and/or geosynchronous orbits, and/or sets of satellites with other orbits. The satellite orbits of the satellites in the satellite constellation may be selected to provide coverage to desired user population concentrations at different locations on the earth without using an excessive number of satellites.

Methods, systems, and devices for satellite operations are described. A system for satellite communications may include a payload, a power system, and a thermal management component. The payload may be configured to provide a service with varying levels of capacity based on a demand profile. The payload may consume electrical energy at a peak rate when a level of demand indicated by the demand profile is above a threshold and at a lower, off-peak rate when a level of demand indicated by the demand profile is below a threshold. The peak rate may exceed a rate at which electrical energy is generated by the power system. The thermal management component may process excess thermal energy generated by the payload when the payload operates at the peak rate. Processing the excess thermal energy may include storing thermal energy while the payload operates at the peak rate.

A universal test port is connected to the different functional sub-systems of a spacecraft, allowing the sub-systems to be tested from a single location of an assembled spacecraft. The universal test port is mounted on an external surface of the spacecraft and configured to connect to the different functional sub-systems (such as power, propulsion, and command and data handling, for example) of the assembled spacecraft, allowing for the streamlining of testing operations by electrical ground system equipment during assembly, integration, and test (AIT) operations and reducing the risk of collateral damage to spacecraft hardware during testing in AIT.

A satellite constellation (110) includes a plurality of artificial satellites flying on an inclined circular orbit for each of six or more orbital planes having a common orbital inclination and arranged so that south and north axes are mutually shifted in an east-west direction. The plurality of artificial satellites include eight or more artificial satellites for each orbital plane. Each of the artificial satellites includes a fore-and-aft communication device. For each orbital plane, each of the artificial satellites forms a communication network with front and rear artificial satellites by the fore-and-aft communication device. Each of the artificial satellites on each orbital plane crosses southern and northern edges of the orbital plane in synchronization with artificial satellites on other orbital planes, and forms a communication network with that artificial satellites by the fore-and-aft communication device.

Retrofittable satellite systems for an in-orbit host satellite comprising an enhancement module for adding a capability to the in-orbit host satellite, modifying the function of the in-orbit host satellite, and/or extending the function of the in-orbit host satellite. The in-orbit, retrofittable satellite system comprises a transfer vehicle for transferring the enhancement module from a first to a second location and a service vehicle for receiving the enhancement module from the transfer vehicle and installing the enhancement module on the in-orbit host satellite. In-orbit space situational awareness systems, comprising one or more in-orbit host satellites having one or more enhancement modules attached thereto, the enhancement modules comprising sensors such as satellite spatial location/position sensors, range sensors, navigation sensors, and/or proximity sensors for detecting other objects in-orbit, their location, speed, acceleration, orbital trajectory or the like, wherein the enhancement modules communicate to create a mesh network between the satellites.

Apparatus, computer-readable medium, and method for optimal delivery of one or more satellite effects via reverse time heat equation isomorphism including constructing a generalized formulation of the heat equation corresponding to a commander's intent for delivery of the one or more satellite effects, performing a separation of variables to decouple a plurality of variables into a plurality of corresponding separated equations, solving the plurality of separated equations to produce candidate solutions, applying boundary conditions to each candidate solution, filtering the candidate solutions to mitigate ill-posedness of solving the inverse of the heat equation, assessing formal differences between the candidate solutions and the inverse of the heat equation, and generating an optimized schedule of the one or more satellite effects based on the assessment of the formal differences of the candidate solutions.

Methods, apparatuses and systems for providing renewable energy powered, continuous geostationary orbital communications include arranging a plurality of renewable energy powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) having ground and air communication capabilities in a belt configuration around the earth, spacing apart the plurality of UAVs to provide intercommunication between at least neighboring ones of the plurality of UAVs, and positioning the plurality of UAVs in a relatively stationary location above the earth at a height of between 12 to 15 miles.

A satellite is disclosed, including a body and a communication device attached to the body. The body has an additively manufactured external wall structure at least partially forming an enclosed compartment, and the communication device is configured to receive and transmit data while in space.

Generally, this disclosure provides systems and methods for solar communication and defense networks. A system may comprise a sun and a plurality of celestial bodies; a plurality of mutual orbits of the sun and celestial bodies; and a plurality of spacecraft each of which comprises at least a transmitter, a receiver, an antenna, a sensing device that is capable of monitoring and detecting space objects, a system that is able to adjust the orbit, and a system that is able to intercept space objects.

A satellite system can include one or more satellites that orbit the Earth. The one or more satellites may have satellite buses that support antenna arrays. The antenna arrays may include space fed arrays. Each space fed array may have an antenna feed array and an inner array that is coupled to a direct radiating array. The direct radiating array may operate in the same satellite band as the space fed array, or upconversion and downconversion circuitry may be used to communicatively couple a direct radiating array that operates in a different satellite band to the space fed array. The satellites may have peripheral walls with corner fittings that can be selected to provide the satellite bus with particular leg strengths. This can reduce overall mass of the satellites in a payload fairing while accommodating different types of antenna arrays.