A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...

, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are opposed to specially produced satellites. Bus-derived satellites are usually customized to

customer requirement In product development and process optimization, a requirement is a singular documented physical or functional need that a particular design, product or process aims to satisfy. It is commonly used in a formal sense in engineering design, inclu ...

s, for example with specialized

sensors A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

or transponders, in order to achieve a specific mission. They are commonly used for

geosynchronous A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...

satellites, particularly communications satellites, but are also used in spacecraft which occupy lower orbits, occasionally including

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...

missions.

Examples

Some satellite bus examples include: * Boeing DS&S

702 __NOTOC__ Year 702 ( DCCII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 702 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...

* Lockheed Martin Space Systems A2100 * Alphabus * INVAP

ARSAT-3K ARSAT-3K is a geostationary communications satellite bus designed and manufactured by INVAP of Argentina for the local telecommunication company ARSAT S.A. It is a small (4.2 kW of power generation and of launch mass) three axis stabilized pl ...

* Airbus D&S

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operate ...

* ISRO's

I-1K I-1K (also referred to as INSAT-1000) is a satellite bus developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and marketed by Antrix Corporation. The I-1K bus is designed to be compatible with lightweight geostationary satellites and is commo ...

, I-2K,

I-3K I-3K or the INSAT 3000 is a satellite bus developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and marketed by Antrix Corporation and New Space India Ltd. It is the standard bus for 3,000-kg class satellites; the 'I' in I-3K stands for INSAT, ...

, I-4K,

I-6K I-6K is a Satellite bus developed by Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which i ...

, and

Indian Mini Satellite bus Indian Mini Satellite (IMS) is a family of modular mini satellite buses developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Variants See also * Comparison of satellite buses This page includes a list of satellite buses, of which multipl ...

* NASA Ames MCSB * SSL 1300 *

Orbital ATK Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) was a sector (business segment) of Northrop Grumman from 2018 through 2019. It was formed from Orbital ATK Inc. a company which resulted from the merger of Orbital Sciences Corporation and parts of Alli ...

GEOStar * Mitsubishi Electric DS2000 * Spacecraft bus of the James Webb Space Telescope * SPUTNIX TabletSat * SPUTNIX OrbiCraft-Pro

Components

A bus typically consists of the following subsystems:Satellite Bus Subsystems
, NEC, accessed 25 August 2012. * Command and data handling (C&DH) system *

Communications system A communications system or communication system is a collection of individual telecommunications networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations, and terminal equipment usually capable of interconnection and interoperat ...

and antennas * Electrical power system (EPS) *

Propulsion Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived f ...

Thermal control A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...

Attitude control system Spacecraft attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of a spacecraft (vehicle/satellite) with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, et ...

(ACS) * Guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) system * Structures and trusses * Life support (for crewed missions).

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Satellite Glossary

Spitzer's Spacecraft Bus

es:Satélite artificial#Modelo de satélite