Ariane Passenger Experiment (Apex): Planning Study

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Ariane Passenger Experiment (Apex): Planning Study

H. V. Bassewitz / H. Bassner / K. Bohnhoff / K. Fetzer / H. Imbiel

Th ARIANE development flight L04, scheduled for Dec. 1980, offers the possibility of flying a passenger test satellite at low cost. Such a passenger would allow for testing and flight-qualification of satellite application components newly developed and ground tested or currently under development. This mission goal, its feasibility, and the costs necessary to its achievement were studied. Three passenger satellite alternatives, all based on the same satellite platform bus, were compared. These are: (1) a double-U structure (INTELSAT 5) equipped with a unified propulsion system plus an ion drive for attitude corrections, an ultralight panel solar generator, and two KfK offset antennas with 2 m diameter apertures; (2) a modular structure equipped with a unified propulsion system plus a hyrazine rocket, and the same solar power unit and antenna array as the first as well as additional ESA experiments; and (3) a double-U structure (INTELSAT 5) equipped with a central engine plus a liquid propellant stabilizing system, a modified solar power unit, a French-German jointly developed antenna array, and spin stabilized transfer with an active nutation damper. No final passenger satellite configuration has as yet been chosen.