A satellite system operates at altitudes between 180 km and 350 km relying on vehicles including an engine to counteract atmospheric drag to maintain near-constant orbit dynamics. The system operates at altitudes that are substantially lower than traditional satellites, reducing size, weight and cost of the vehicles and their constituent subsystems such as optical imagers, radars, and radio links. The system can include a large number of lower cost, mass, and altitude vehicles, enabling revisit times substantially shorter than previous satellite systems. The vehicles spend their orbit at low altitude, high atmospheric density conditions that have heretofore been virtually impossible to consider for stable orbits. Short revisit times at low altitudes enable near-real time imaging at high resolution and low cost. At such altitudes, the system has no impact on space junk issues of traditional LEO orbits, and is self-cleaning in that space junk or disabled craft will de-orbit.

A chassis for a spacecraft includes a solid plate that includes a first side and an opposing second side, and also includes a plurality of transverse walls extending from a surface of the second side and configured to radiate heat generated from the spacecraft into outer space.

A space vehicle may extract and store energy, and also include a propulsion system. The space vehicle includes one or more wings connected to a body of the apparatus. Each of the one or more wings includes a propellant system configured to eject mass away from the apparatus, the ejection of the mass causes the apparatus to move from a first position to a second position.

In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a power management system for a space vehicle, the system including: a photovoltaic array including a plurality of panels, wherein each panel includes one or more solar cell strings, each solar cell string including a plurality of photovoltaic cells connected in series to produce direct current (DC) power; at least one regulator module disposed on each of the one or more solar cell strings, the at least one regulator module being configured to condition the DC power produced by the one or more solar cell strings in the panel and supply it through at least one electrical connection line to the electrical power harness to route said power to a root power management unit; and an interface configured to transfer power produced by the photovoltaic array from the root power management unit to the vehicle, the interface having a first end configured to be connectable with the vehicle and a second end configured to be connectable with the photovoltaic array.

Various enhanced power supply configurations for satellite devices are discussed herein. In one example, satellite device includes a chassis and a power control module. The satellite device also includes an array of polygonal-shaped power units combined into a geometric arrangement by disposing the polygonal-shaped power units around the power control module within the chassis. In some examples, the polygonal-shaped power units comprise a rhomboid chassis or enclosure that provides arrangement into a hexagonal array when coupled to eight further rhomboid power units. Other polygonal arrays can be formed using arrangements of the repeating polygonal-shaped power units.

Energy storage radiators are disclosed. The structure of the radiator may be used as a battery to store and release energy, as well as serving to regulate the temperature of that battery and the associated device or vehicle. The structure may be configured to provide mechanical support, an enclosure, an attachment point, or an extension for a vehicle or a device. By designing an energy storage radiator to function as a battery, a separate battery superstructure may not be required. Also, the heat to be radiated away can be used to keep the battery in its operating temperature range. This may provide mass reduction of the radiator structures or materials, as well as make those materials multifunctional and replace material elsewhere with respect to conventional systems.

A stage for a space launch vehicle is provided. The space launch vehicle has a main body including a first end and a second end, and defines a central longitudinal axis between the first end and the second end. The stage comprises a stage rocket engine arranged at or near the first end of the stage to propel the launch vehicle vertically upwards at take-off. The stage furthermore comprises a plurality of fans for providing lift during a landing procedure of the stage, wherein the fans have a rotational axis arranged substantially perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis. Also provided are space launch vehicles and methods for transporting a payload into space.

A representative spacecraft system includes a launch vehicle elongated along a launch vehicle axis and having at least one stage carrying a corresponding rocket engine. The representative system further includes an annular support structure carried by the at least one stage and positioned to support a cargo spacecraft having a service module and a cargo module. The cargo module of the cargo spacecraft is positioned along the launch vehicle axis in a direction distal from the support structure, and at least a portion of the service module of the cargo spacecraft positioned within an annulus of the support structure.

An electrical power system may comprise a first energy source management converter (ESMC) configured to be connected in electronic communication with a first power source, a second ESMC configured to be connected in electronic communication with a second power source, and a multi-channel DC bus, wherein the first ESMC is configured to supply electric power to a first channel of the multi-channel DC bus, the second ESMC is configured to supply electric power to a second channel of the multi-channel DC bus, and the multi-channel DC bus is configured to supply electric power to a load.

The present technology relates to an artificial satellite and a control method thereof that enable to ensure quality of a captured image while suppressing battery consumption. An artificial satellite includes: an imaging device configured to perform imaging of a predetermined region on the ground; and a management unit configured to change accuracy of attitude control in accordance with a remaining battery amount at an instructed imaging time, and configured to change an imaging condition in accordance with accuracy of the attitude control. The present technology can be applied to, for example, an artificial satellite or the like that performs satellite remote sensing by formation flight.