A review on the interfaces of orbital replacement unit: Great efforts for modular spacecraft

Abstract

Over the past decades, the development of single spacecraft for outer space exploration requires more complicated design and higher investment. From the modular design ideas of the International Space Station on-orbit service, an interface design for orbital replacement unit (ORU) provides a path to develop modular spacecraft with reduction of design period and cost for satellites. A review on the ORU interfaces has been made in order to summarize the development of grabbing interfaces, mechanical docking interfaces, and multifunctional docking interfaces of ORUs in the recent 30 years. The interface parameters for both grabbing and mechanical docking processes have been summarized and compared based on the design features of ORUs. The characteristics of mechanical, power, data, thermal flow, and fluid interfaces of the ORUs are discussed as well. The future direction, challenges, and applications of the ORU interfaces have been investigated, and advanced technologies such as target recognition and precise measurement and control are suggested for the development of autonomous and intelligent interfaces. This work provides fundamental knowledge and guidelines for the development of ORU interfaces.

Research on Deployment Process Dynamics and Vibration for Replaceable Interface Mast

“…where V r is the Volume of reconfigurable modules, M is the quality matrix of the reconfigurable module, M = V r ρA T AdV r ; A is the shape functions of the rigid body module, q r is a generalized coordinate system defined by the fixed point q, r is a position vector in the global coordinate system. The virtual work of inertial forces for reconfigurable modules can be calculated by Equation (2).…”

“…In the space field, the research direction of modular spacecraft and on-orbit replacement has received a lot of attention for its high maintainability, so on-orbit replacement can be applied to the rover mast to extend its service time in orbit. One of the key technologies of the modular spacecraft is the fast docking between the modules [2][3][4][5][6]. Most of the studies have focused on the analysis of the dynamics of the docking mechanism during the docking process [7][8][9] but less on the influence of the docking mechanism on the dynamics of the completed system after the docking.…”

Research on Deployment Process Dynamics and Vibration for Replaceable Interface Mast

“…In the space field, the research direction of modular spacecraft and on-orbit replacement has received a lot of attention for its high maintainability, so on-orbit replacement can be applied to the rover mast to extend its service time in orbit. One of the key technologies of the modular spacecraft is the fast docking between the modules [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Most of the studies have focused on the analysis of the dynamics of the docking mechanism during the docking process, but less on the influence of the docking mechanism on the dynamics of the completed system after the docking.…”