WO-2026090682-A1 - INTEGRATED SATELLITE PLATFORM

Abstract

The present invention relates to an integrated satellite platform that will find application in the satellite industry, more particularly for reducing the time to integrate, test, and launch into orbit around the Earth various types of payloads and obtain data therefrom. The developed integrated satellite platform is composed of a power unit, a communication system, on-board computers, an attitude determination and control system, and a propulsion system. All components and systems of the platform are, on the one hand, connected to a single central bus (6) for power transmission, and, on the other hand, are bidirectionally interconnected via the single central bus (6) for telemetry and telecommand transmission within the platform. An embedded diagnostic and test module (7) is also connected to the single central bus (6) via interrupting mechanisms. The unified bus (6) allows data and power to be transferred between the components of the platform without the need for cabling between the components. The platform is equipped with standard power interfaces (8.1) and high-speed data communication interfaces (8.2) to the payload.

Inventors

• Raychev, Raycho Ruslanov

Assignees

• "ENDUROSAT" JOINT STOCK COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20250708

Priority Date

20241029

Claims (3)

1. PATENT CLAIMS
2. 1. An integrated satellite platform, comprising a power supply unit, a communication system, on-board computers, and an attitude determination and control system, characterized in that the power supply unit comprises at least one battery pack (1.1) with an input power conversion module coupled thereto (1.2) and power distribution modules (1.3) by converting to different regulated power supplies, the communication system comprises at least one radio frequency transceiver module (2.1) and at least one high-speed radio frequency transmitter module (2.2), and associated antennas (2.3), the on-board computers include a main on-board computer (3.1) and a computer for software applications and payload integration (3.2), the attitude determination and control system includes a computer (4.1) connected to external sensors for attitude determination (4.2) and actuators for active attitude change (4.3), the platform also includes a propulsion system composed of ion or chemical thrusters (5.1), wherein all components and systems of the platform are, on the one hand, connected to a single central bus (6) for power transmission, and, on the other hand, are bidirectionally interconnected via the single central bus (6) for telemetry and telecommand transmission within the platform, with an embedded diagnostics and test module (7) connected to the single central bus (6) via power (7.1) and data (7.2) power supply interrupt mechanisms, and the platform is equipped with standard power (8.1) and high-speed data (8.2) communication interfaces to the payload.
3. 2. The integrated satellite platform according to claim 1, characterized in that the RF transceiver module (2.1) uses an S-band frequency range for RF communication and the high-speed RF transceiver module (2.2) uses an X-band or K-band frequency range for high-speed data transmission to ground stations.

Description

Integrated satellite platform Technical field The present invention relates to an integrated satellite platform that will find application in the satellite industry, more particularly for reducing the time to integrate, test and launch into orbit around the Earth various types of payloads and obtain data therefrom. Background of the invention Micro satellites are traditionally defined as having a mass between 10-200 kg, and small satellites as having a mass between 200-600 kg. These classes of satellites are increasingly being used for Earth observation, communications, information transfer, research and education. The development of launch vehicles over the last 10 years and the reduction in the launch cost of this class of satellites has contributed to their significantly increased capabilities for applications where multiple satellites perform a single mission in the form of a so-called satellite constellation. The largest such constellations involve hundreds or even thousands of satellites that are designed to monitor the Earth's surface, connect remote points without access to a GSM network, provide accurate weather, and assist navigation systems such as GPS, among many others. In the last few years, there has been talk of so-called "reactive space", a concept of rapid response and the ability to launch satellites in crisis situations or in the event of the loss of existing ones, in order to preserve, resume or rapidly scale infrastructure in orbit. There are many risks associated with space weather and human factors such as contamination of the Earth's orbital environment, as well as deliberate attacks on satellites, which can lead to a sudden reduction in the number of available satellites in orbit and consequently significant negative effects on the Earth infrastructure they serve. The concept of "reactive space" provides an instantaneous response to such a situation by launching a new constellation, replacement satellites or scaling up an existing constellation based on a rapid requirement to scale resources to unexpected situations on Earth. While this concept has been around for several years and significant resources are being invested in having rockets ready to put new satellites into orbit in under 1 week, micro and small satellites today take several months to several years to assemble and test, resulting in the need to keep this class of satellites in a ready state in storage. In the event that there is any damage during their downtime (as electronics have a finite waiting life), this results in huge delays and, at best, significant losses. Patent document BG67584 discloses a unified platform for nanosatellite systems composed of communication buses to which are bidirectionally connected a power supply module, an on-board computer, a communication module and an orientation determination and control module. The known platform does not provide the capability to assemble, integrate and test all functionalities within hours. Technical nature of the invention The task of the invention is to create an integrated satellite platform that the complete infrastructure required by the major payload types for Earth observation, meteorology and communication. The platform must be secure, autonomous and capable of assembling, integrating and testing all functionality within hours by providing power, radio communication, an orientation control system, an on-board timekeeping system, an autonomous operation system and an embedded self¬ diagnostics and testing system. The task has been solved by creating an integrated satellite platform including a power supply unit, a communication system, on-board computers and an atitude determination and control system. According to the invention, the power supply unit comprises at least one battery pack with an input power conversion module coupled thereto, connected to solar panels, and power distribution modules for converting to different regulated power supplies. The communication system comprises at least one radio frequency transceiver module and at least one high-speed radio frequency transmitter module, and associated antennas. On-board computers shall include a main on-board computer and a computer for software applications and payload integration. The attitude determination and control system shall include a computer connected to external attitude sensors and actuators for active attitude change. The platform also includes a propulsion system composed of ion or chemical thrusters. All components and systems of the platform are, on the one hand, connected to a single central bus for power transmission, and on the other hand, are bidirectionally interconnected via the single central bus for telemetry and telecommand transmission within the platform. An embedded diagnostic and test module is also connected to the single central bus via interrupting mechanisms for power and data. The platform is equipped with standard power and communication interfaces for hi