[AR] Re: What makes a useful launch vehicle?
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: arocket <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2019 18:56:14 -0500 (EST)
On Fri, 8 Mar 2019, David Summers wrote:
We don't plan on offering any interface for the payloads to electrically
connect to the launch vehicle, though. Is that a show stopper?
Provided *you* are responsible for separating the payload from the rocket,
no, it's normal for smallsats to have no electrical umbilical. In fact,
it's common for there to be a launch requirement that they be completely
inert during launch -- that all their internal power route through a
"separation switch" that is closed when they separate. No live
electronics, no heater power, no nothing while they're on the rocket.
They *do* strongly prefer to launch with their batteries more or less
fully charged, but otherwise there's generally no need for anything
electrical on the way up.
(Mind you, offering the option of this, for people with unusual
requirements, might be another way to distinguish your service as
something worth paying for.)
Dispensers like the P-POD do need a "separate now" signal from the rocket,
although they will typically have their own batteries to provide any
energy needed for the act of separation.
Henry
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