Hitachi, Ltd.

Hisatoshi Kimura

Koichi Watanabe

Tsukasa Funane

Makoto Ito

Yosuke Tanabe

An artificial satellite and artificial satellite system has power transmission and reception efficiency and includes an expandable solar panel that generates power, expandable power transmitting antennas, and expandable beam members to connect the solar panel and the power transmitting antennas to each other. The beam members are expanded from being provided in the artificial satellite, on a plurality of rotational symmetry axes of an imaginary polyhedron formed with substantially a center of the artificial satellite as an origin. The beam members are arranged at substantially equal distances in directions of the rotational symmetry axes. A light receiving surface of the solar panel and installation surfaces of the power transmitting antennas, when expanded, are substantially perpendicular to a solar panel rotational symmetry axis passing through a center of the solar panel, and being arranged on opposite sides of a plane passing through the center of the artificial satellite.

Artificial satellite and artificial satellite system

The space structure control system includes: a space structure; an artificial satellite connected to the space structure; and a propulsion device installed on the artificial satellite and configured to control an orbit and an attitude of the artificial satellite, in which the space structure includes a film-like structure, a solar reflectance control device that controls a spatial pattern of a solar reflectance in a reflecting mirror provided in the film-like structure, and a shape retaining device that is connected to the film-like structure, the propulsion device rotates the film-like structure to generate a centrifugal force, the solar reflectance control device controls a solar reflectance in the reflecting mirror to control a solar radiation pressure to be applied to the reflecting mirror, a three-dimensional shape of the film-like structure is controlled based on the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the film-like structure and the solar radiation pressure, and the shape of the film-like structure is retained or stabilized by the shape retaining device.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Hisatoshi Kimura