The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 27, 2018
Filed:
Mar. 11, 2016
The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA (US);
Richard P. Welle, Sunset Beach, CA (US);
THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION, El Segundo, CA (US);
Abstract
A dedicated satellite to reduce the cost and increase the rate and reliability of data transmission from space to ground is provided. For each client satellite producing data in Earth orbit, a dedicated relay satellite is provided. The relay satellite may fly near the client satellite and receive data from the client satellite by RF communication. The relay satellite may transmit the data to a ground terminal or to another satellite using a laser communication system. Because the relay satellite is not physically connected to the client satellite, the attitude-control requirements of an optical communication system are not imposed on the client satellite. The relay satellite may also be deployed from the client satellite. The relay satellite may allow downlinking large amounts of data for new satellite operators without an existing ground network and for established satellite operators seeking higher data rates, lower latency, or reduced ground system operating costs.