This paper describes the bipropellant propulsion subsystem for the LEASAT spacecraft. LEASAT is a Shuttle-launched spacecraft which will provide satellite communications services to the United States Navy. Propulsion is provided by three separate subsystems: a solid perigee motor, a bipropellant subsystem, and a monopropellant reaction control subsystem. The solid perigee motor provides impulse to raise the apogee from the Shuttle parking orbit. The bipropellant subsystem, which utilizes monomethyl hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide, is designed to provide the impulse required for apogee augmentation and injection into synchronous orbit at apogee. The monopropellant hydrazine reaction control subsystem provides the impulse required for spacecraft spinup, apogee augmentation, attitude and spin speed control, and other required on-orbit maneuvers. The subsystem presented herein is scheduled to be flown in 1982, and represents one of the first configurations designed for Shuttle-optimized spacecraft.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.