SPACECRAFT SERVICING - FIRST ORDER MODEL FOR FEASIBILITY AND COST EFFECTIVENESS

This paper describes a method that can be employed to determine which client satellite missions make the most sense to service on-orbit. The method employs a first order model appropriate for an architecture model level of detail. The client satellite constellation is modeled along with the servicing infrastructure. Depending upon the servicing approach employed, the potential savings in life cycle cost can be estimated. Analysis of these models is shown to prove that it is the client satellite constellation characteristics that influence life cycle cost the most. A variety of sample client satellite constellations are analyzed against a number of servicing architectures to show when servicing makes the most sense. The first order model equations are presented to compare serviced architectures to traditional block-upgraded satellite constellations. Using a mass model for satellite servicing architectures, unpractical, infeasible servicing infrastructure solutions can be highlighted.