Aerostar International, Inc.

Space Systems/loral, LLC

Other

Carey Graham Hijmans

David Solum

Jonathan Nutzmann

Kyle Brookes

John Cromie

Michael Freestone

Daniel Andrew Fluitt

Jude Zils

Aaron Fan

Matthew A Torres

Douglas William Dietz

Christopher Bowles

Trevor Martens

Tom Cohen

Aspects of the technology relate to a braking assembly for a lateral propulsion system of a high altitude platform (HAP) configured to operate in the stratosphere. Power is supplied to a propeller assembly as needed during lateral propulsion so that the HAP can move to a desired location or remain on station. When lateral propulsion is not needed, power is no longer supplied to the propeller assembly and it may slowly cease rotating. However, in certain situations, it may be necessary to cause the propeller assembly to stop rotating as soon as possible. This can include an unplanned descent. Rapid braking can avoid the propeller blades from entangling in the envelope, parachute or other parts of the HAP. A reusable brake is employed to prevent uncontrolled rotation of the propeller on descent, or otherwise to prevent the propeller from spinning freely when not being used to propel the HAP laterally.

Wedge brake control system and method

Aspects of the technology relate to rotational electromechanical systems, in which data and or power are supplied to components while one part of the system is rotating relative to another part of the system. Repeated rotation may create strain on or otherwise cause the cables to intermittently or permanently fail. A helical cable management system is provided that enables full rotation to the extent permitted. One or more cables are wound in a helical shape around the axis of rotation, which distributes the deformation of the cable along the helical length. Rotation in one direction causes the helix diameter to increase, while rotation in the other direction causes the helix diameter to decrease. A structure is used to maintain the distance between helical turns, while permitting the increase and decrease of the helix diameter. This reduces the overall strain on the cables, which can significantly extend their useful lifetime.

Helical cable management system

Aspects of the technology relate to a propeller blade assembly that is used in lateral propulsion systems for lighter-than-air high altitude platforms designed to operate, e.g., in the stratosphere. During operation, the propeller of the assembly is pointed along a specified heading and rotates at a selected velocity (e.g., hundreds or thousands of revolutions per minute). Power is supplied to the propeller as needed during lateral propulsion to move the platform along a particular trajectory or to remain on station over a given geographic location. In certain circumstances, the propeller may become damaged. This can include one or more blades breaking or shattering, which can result in failure of the propeller and potentially the entire LTA platform. The technology provides blades that are sufficiently flexible to avoid breakage or shattering due to debris impact or envelope entanglement, or otherwise shed a load. This can avoid catastrophic failure during stratospheric operation.

Propeller blade assembly

Wedge brake system for propeller rotor

Helical cable assembly tooling and method

A spacecraft includes a main body structure and a plurality of deployable modular reflector elements, the spacecraft being reconfigurable from a launch configuration to an on-orbit configuration. In the launch configuration, the modular reflector elements are disposed in a storage system that includes an arrangement for supporting the modular reflector elements with respect to dynamic launch loads. In the on-orbit configuration, in some implementations, an assembly of the plurality of modular reflector elements forms a large-aperture, offset fed, reflector, the reflector being coupled with a boom or yoke with the main body structure by way of a two or three axis positioning mechanism configured to steer the reflector with respect to the main body structure. In some implementations, in the on-orbit configuration, the plurality of modular reflector elements are assembled to form a large aperture reflective surface that is self-supporting.

Space based robotic assembly of a modular reflector

A spacecraft includes a 3-D closed truss structure including at least four coupling nodes and at least six strut elements, attached together by a plurality of joints, each coupling node including at least two legs, each strut element disposed between and attached with a respective pair of the plurality of coupling nodes. Each coupling node is attached, at respective ones of the plurality of joints, with at least two strut elements. Each strut element is attached at a first end with a first leg of a first coupling node and is attached at a second end with a second leg of a second coupling node, the first leg being substantially longer than the second leg.

Truss structure

An antenna reflector includes a laminated structure including a first layer and a second layer, where the first layer has an electrically conductive and electrically reflective front surface and includes a nonwoven metallized fiber matte and the second layer includes an open weave fabric. The laminated structure is acoustically permeable. In some implementations, a laminated structure is formed by co-curing the first layer and the second layer.

Reflective and permeable metalized laminate

Growing community of inventors

Morgan Hill, CA, United States of America

Carey Graham Hijmans