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The Boeing 376 Satellite

A Brief History of the world’s most Popular Spin

Stabilized Spacecraft

AIAA Orange County Chapter

ASAT Conference

John R. Ellison

May 2013

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Overview

• Boeing 376 spin-stabilized spacecraft was the first satellite to be launched by the Space Shuttle.

• First built by Hughes Space and Communications Company (Now Boeing Spacecraft Development Center), El Segundo CA

• Boeing 376 models have two telescoping solar panels and antennas that fold for compactness during launch.

• They were available in several configurations and

• were boosted by any of the world’s major launch vehicles.

http://www.boeing.com/boeing/history/boeing/376sat.page

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Overview, Continued

• The first Boeing 376 satellite model was launched in 1980

• in 2002, the Boeing 376 was the world’s second most purchased satellite – after the Boeing 601.

• Boeing could produce a Boeing 376 satellite in less than 14 months. – Due to its shorter manufacturing time compared to larger models, the

Boeing 376 filled a unique niche for customers who were entering the business and needed a smaller spacecraft, or

– for established operators who had a specific business opportunity for a specific region and needed a satellite on a short schedule.

• E-bird, launched in September 2003, was the last Boeing 376 launched and remains in service today, along with several other Boeing 376 satellites

• Notable as the first satellite launched on the Shuttle with Sally Ride being the payload specialist responsible for deployment

http://www.boeing.com/boeing/history/boeing/376sat.page

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What Is Spin Stabilized? (If It Spins, It Wins!)

Dual-spin stabilized satellite -- 1-3 m. in

diameter, up to several meters tall;

lower section spins to provide

gyroscopic stability, upper section

does not spin (or spins very slowly or

intermittently) to point antenna and/or

other sensors in a specific direction

https://www.courses.psu.edu/aersp/aersp055_r81/satellites/satellites.html

http://www.tpub.com/neets/book17/76a.htm

All Spinning

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The 376

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/hs376.htm http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&biw=1256&bih=814&tbm=isch&tbnid=mMZjSnstKrqrGM:&imgrefurl=

http://www.digitalsat.co.uk/3aconstruction.html&docid=2OMJOkCvW4nL_M&imgurl=http://www.digitalsat.c

o.uk/images/astra3abuild.jpg&w=450&h=550&ei=lflJUeacAcqDjAKb64GgAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1006

&vpy=105&dur=2500&hovh=248&hovw=203&tx=137&ty=126&page=1&tbnh=153&tbnw=122&start=0&nds

p=38&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0,i:109

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376 Progressive Variants

376-Classic 376-HP 376-W

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Some 376 Launches – 56 out of 58 Successful

Images courtesy of Google.com

Search Engine (Public Domain)

STS with PAM-D Delta-II with PAM-D

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More 376 Launches

http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sat/hs-376.htm

Atlas I CZ-3 Ariane 44L and 44P Ariane-3 Ariane-5G

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Design Progression

• Throughout the 23 years that Boeing delivered the

Boeing 376 satellite, the design continuously evolved to

incorporate new technologies,

• More efficient solar cells produced by Boeing subsidiary,

Spectrolab.

• The Boeing 376W (W for Widebody) model is an

extension of the Boeing 376 family.

– The Boeing 376W is larger, wider, and more powerful than the

Boeing 376.

http://www.boeing.com/boeing/history/boeing/376sat.page

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376-HP MEASAT Upgrades • MEASAT was the first of the growth version of the HS 376, with three major

enhancements over the standard model. First, it delivers 40 percent more payload power -- more than 1100 watts -- through the use of gallium arsenide solar cells. MEASAT was also the first HS 376 model with Hughes' lightweight, high-gain shaped antenna.

• This antenna features a specially contoured surface that increases gain and eliminates the need for multiple feedhorns. Additionally, MEASAT is the first HS 376 model using the more efficient bipropellant propulsion system for stationkeeping and attitude control maneuvers. Such advanced antennas and propulsion systems are being used on Hughes' larger HS 601 model satellites

• A two-component rocket propellant, such as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, fed separately to the combustion chamber as fuel and oxidizer propulsion system for stationkeeping and attitude control maneuvers. Such advanced antennas and propulsion systems are being used on Hughes' larger HS 601 model satellites.

• Both MEASAT-1 & 2 satellites were launched on Arianerockets from CSG at Kourou in French Guiana.

– Dual launch configuration with a co-passenger was cost effective

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hughes+gets+go-ahead+to+build+second+Malaysian+satellite.-a016051191

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Improvement Comparisons

376 Classic 376-HP

Solar Cells Silicon Gallium

Arsenide

Batteries Nickel Cadmium Nickel Hydrogen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel%E2%80%9

3hydrogen_battery

Propulsion Hydrazine

Monopropellant

MMH-MON3

Bipropellant

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Nickel Cadmium Battery Cell • NiCd technology is both weight and cost effective for

• average power levels of about IkW. They are available in

• sizes ranging from 9Ah to 50Ah. NiCd batteries have been used in space applications since the 1960's.

• The thermal

• management and the required support structures are well understood.

• A sizable database with both ground and flight

• experience is available. Some disadvantages are: the

• inability to maintain performance when cells are scaled up

• to more than 50Ah capacity, a sensitivity to overcharge

• especially at high temperatures, long term storage

• degradation and limited domestic sources for celIs. For

• NiCd, failure is usually due to internal short circuits,

• separator degradation and loss of electrolyte during cycling.

• Advanced design nickel cadmium cells are available that

• eliminate some of these problems.

http://www3.alcatel-lucent.com/bstj/vol42-1963/articles/bstj42-4-1687.pdf https://wiki.umn.edu/pub/SolarSail/WebHome/00686814.pdf

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Typical IPV Ni-H Battery • The development of the nickel hydrogen battery

started in 1970 at Comsat

• The nickel-hydrogen battery combines the positive nickel electrode of a nickel-cadmium battery, and the negative electrode includes the catalyst and gas diffusion elements of a fuel cell

• In one communication satellite battery, the pressure at full charge was over 500 pounds/square inch (3.4 MPa), dropping to only about 15 PSI (0.1 MPa) at full discharge.

• If the cell is over-charged, the oxygen produced at the nickel electrode reacts with the hydrogen present in the cell and forms water; as a consequence the cells can withstand overcharging as long as the heat generated can be dissipated.

• The cells have the disadvantage of relatively high self-discharge rate, i.e chemical reduction of Ni(III) into Ni(II) in the cathode:

• NiOOH + 0.5 H2 = Ni(OH)2.

• Compared with other rechargeable batteries, a nickel-hydrogen battery provides good specific energy of 55-60 watthours/kg, and very long cycle life (40,000 cycles at 40% DOD) and operating life (> 15 years) in satellite applications.

• the gaseous nature of hydrogen means that the volume efficiency is relatively low (60-100 Wh/L for an IPV (individual pressure vessel) cell), and the high pressure required makes for high-cost pressure vessels

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battery_workshop_1993_Fig1_Nickel_

hydrogen_battery.jpg

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Propulsion Subsystem Thrusters

• Hydrazine Monoprop

– Thrust = 5 lbf (22N)

– ISP = ~ 230 sec

• MMH MON-3 Bipropellant

– Thrust = 5 lbf (22N)

– ISP = 293 sec

Patent number: 4,069,664

Filing date: Mar 22, 1976

Issue date: Jan 24, 1978

Inventor: Phil Donatelli, Hughes Aircraft Co.

Not to scale http://www.ampacisp.com/products_1.php

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A Little More About Bipropellant Thrusters

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576504001614

Shanghai Institute of Space Propulsion, No. 680 Guiping Road, Shanghai 200233, PR China

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Rescue of Palapa B2 and Westar 6 • Palapa B2 and Westar 6 made history twice. They

were launched side by side in the cargo bay of the same Shuttle mission, in which BOTH experienced the very same perigee motor stage malfunction! BOTH satellites went into useless low earth orbits of the same altitude.

• Second, Palapa B2 and Westar 6 were the first satellites in history to be retrieved and relaunched. Only Palapa B2, however, was relaunched at the Cape where it had started its incredible journey of millions of miles, 6 years earlier.

• Finally, Palapa B2 had arrived safely back on earth after 288 days in orbit, having traveled 119 million miles in space!! During its 9 months in low earth orbit Palapa B2 was struck by thousands of meteorites that left small impact holes on its solar cells. During refurbishment the solar cells were removed and many were unavoidably destroyed in the process. The few remaining nearly-intact cells were encapsulated in Plexiglas displays of which only four are known to exist today.

• Westar 6 was ultimately relaunched as the first Western satellite on the Chinese Long March launch vehicle – a major first all by itself.

http://www.sattel.com/life_of_palapa_b2.htm

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A Typical 376 Legacy • The Brasilsat A1 Boeing 376 satellite, built by Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) in El Segundo,

Calif., was launched in 1985 and contracted to serve eight years. It was recently de-orbited, but not before it became one of 93 Boeing-built satellites to outlast their contract life.

• Nearly half of all satellites built by BSS, the satellite-manufacturing arm of Boeing Space and Communications (S&C), a unit of The Boeing Co. , have surpassed their contract life.

• "Brasilsat A1's long life speaks volumes about the robustness and reliability of the Boeing 376. With 56 launched, we have a perfect on-orbit record, and because we built a lot of margin into the initial design, so far 31 Boeing 376 satellites -- 55 percent -- have outlasted their contract life." (as of 2002) – quote from Art Rosales, Boeing V.P.

• BSS built the two Brasilsat A series spacecraft in the mid-1980s under a subcontract to Spar Aerospace of Canada for Brazil's national telecommunications provider Embratel. Brasilsat A1 became the first national communications satellite to operate in South America.

• After Brasilsat A1 served its contract life, Embratel leased the satellite to PanAmSat Corp., Wilton, Conn. With its antenna re-aimed at North America, Brasilsat A1 continued to generate revenue for PanAmSat until it was taken out of service in March 2002, more than 17 years after it was launched.

• The first Boeing 376 satellite model was launched in 1980, and today (2002) the Boeing 376 is the world's second most purchased satellite after the Boeing 601. BSS can produce a Boeing 376 satellite in about 12-14 months.

• Due to its shorter manufacturing time compared with larger models, the Boeing 376 should "continue to fill a unique niche for customers who are getting into the business and need a smaller spacecraft, or for established operators who have a specific business opportunity for a specific region and need a satellite on a short schedule," Rosales said.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=8322

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Other References of Interest • http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sat/hs-376.htm

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palapa • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Satellite_Developme

nt_Center

• http://www.sspi.org/?Static_Timeline

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AsiaSat_1 • AIAA 20004-071, Parametric Examination of Propellant Temperature and

Pressure Effects on Transient Thermal Response of a Radiation-Cooled

Bipropellant Thruster; G.P. Purohit, P.A. Donatelli and J.R. Ellison - Hughes

Space and Communications Company and, V.K. Dhir - University of

California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

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Supplemental Information

Harold A. Rosen

"Father of the Geostationary Satellite"; Member of National Academy of Engineering

Dr. Harold A. Rosen has earned worldwide recognition for his pioneering work in the field of

communications satellites and is widely recognized as “the father of the geostationary satellite” in

that he formed and led the team that designed and built the first successful geostationary satellite,

Syncom, and subsequently, as Vice President, went on to help build the world’s largest

communications satellite business at Hughes Aircraft Company. Dr. Rosen has received the 1995

National Academy of Engineering’s Draper Prize, the 1990 Arthur C. Clarke Award (presented by

the President of Sri Lanka), the 1985 National Medal of Technology (presented by President

Reagan), the 1985 Communications and Computing Prize from NEC, the 1982 Alexander Graham

Bell Medal and the 1976 Ericsson International Prize in Communications (presented by the King of

Sweden). In 2003, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In addition to the

above, he has received numerous other awards and honors, among them the 1992 Design News

Special Achievement Award, the 2003 Discover magazine Innovation Award, and the ISCe 2004

Lifetime Achievement Award. A holder of over eighty patents, he is a Fellow of the IEEE and the

AIAA. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of Caltech (1976), from which he received his PhD in

electrical engineering (with a minor in aeronautics). Dr. Rosen now consults for Boeing in the

design of new satellite systems. He lives with his wife, Deborah Castleman, in Santa Monica,

California. He has two sons, Robert and Rocky.