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:
Oct. 08, 2019
Filed:
Apr. 14, 2017
Space Systems/loral, Llc, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Robert Erik Schwarz, Redwood Estates, CA (US);
Space Systems/Loral, LLC, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A spacecraft includes at least one deployable propulsion module, the propulsion module including at least one thruster fixedly disposed with respect to the propulsion module, a first arrangement for coupling the propulsion module to a first portion of the spacecraft in a first configuration and a second arrangement for coupling the propulsion module to a second portion of the spacecraft in a second configuration. The spacecraft is reconfigurable, on-orbit, from the first configuration to the second configuration. In the first configuration, the deployable propulsion module is detached from the second arrangement and the at least one thruster is oriented to produce thrust in a first direction. In the second configuration, the deployable propulsion module is detached from the first arrangement and the at least one thruster is oriented to produce thrust in a second direction, the second direction being substantially different from the first direction.