The Air Force Research Laboratory/Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV) is developing a satellite structural architecture in support of the Department of Defense's Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) initiative. Such a structural architecture must enable rapid Assembly, Integration, and Test (AI&T) of the satellite, accommodate multiple configurations (to include structural configurations, components, and payloads), and incorporate structurally integrated thermal management and electronics, while providing sufficient strength, stiffness, and alignment accuracy. The chosen approach will allow a wide range of satellite structures to be assembled from a relatively small set of structural components. This paper details the efforts of AFRL, and its contractors, to develop the technology necessary to realize these goals.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.