ConeXpress was a concept orbital life extension vehicle project that was co-funded by

ESA The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European ...

and Orbital Recovery Ltd. The Ariane-5 interface cone structure would be the basis. ConeExpress satellites would travel to the Geostationary orbit, lock on to satellites that have run out of fuel and extend their lives. It was conceived to provide the operators of

geostationary A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

s with an opportunity to extend the revenue-earning life of select space assets by up to 10 years.

Docking

The onboard docking equipment consisted of a capture tool that inserts a probe into the throat of the apogee motor of the Client satellite, locks itself to the throat by expanding the crown of the probe, and pulls the Client satellite back towards it by retracting the probe. This process is reversed for undocking. ConeXpress was sized to work with dock with satellites weighing up to .

Specifications

*Shape: Conical *Base Dimension: 2.6m *Height: 0.9m *Power:

Solar Panels A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

*Solar Wing Span: 15m *Mass: 1400 kg *Propulsion: Ion Engines

ConeXpress Partners

Partners included: *Dutch Space *

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in March 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It operates two launch vehicles: Vega C, a Small-lift launch vehicle, small-lift rocket, and Ariane 6, a Medium-lift launch vehicl ...

*EADS CASA Espacio * Oerlikon Space * GMV *

Kayser-Threde Kayser-Threde GmbH based in Munich, Germany is a systems house specializing in applications in crewed and uncrewed space missions, optics, telematics, crash test data acquisition, and process control for the rail sector. On September 1, 2014, Breme ...

* DLR * NLR *Sener *

Snecma Moteurs Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It de ...

Swedish Space Corporation The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), also registered as Svenska rymdaktiebolaget, is a Swedish space services company. SSC operations consist of launches of sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons, tests of future generation rocket engines a ...

References

External links

*https://archive.today/20121212001523/http://telecom.esa.int/telecom/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=17870 *http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/conexpress-ors.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Conexpress Proposed satellites