At the Small Payloads Rideshare Conference 2013 in Los Angeles, the Secondary Adapters Committee met and agreed to document rideshare accommodations for small satellites. This set of slides is the current status of this document and also lists other topics of interest for this Committee.

1.
US Rideshare Options in 2014
2.
Smallsat-to-Launch Vehicle Interfaces
3.
Smallsat Adapters and Dispensers
– CubeSat Interfaces
– Smallsat Adapters
– Four-Point Mount Interfaces
Topics for Future Consideration
1.
Hosted Payloads
2.
Rideshare Wiki Page (Under Construction) http://smallsatrideshare.wikispaces.com/
3.
International Boosters/Rideshare Interfaces
Document standard interfaces and available rideshare adapters with allowable payload masses and volumes
NOTE: Some of the documented hardware does not yet have flight heritage.
The information provided here is a guide; please consult with the vendor.
Rideshare Conference 2014

National Defense Authorization Act, 2014
“The DoD Executive Agent for Space shall conduct a study on responsive, low-cost launch efforts. Such study shall include … an assessment of the viability of greater utilization of innovative methods, including the use of secondary payload adapters on existing launch vehicles. … Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the DoD
Executive Agent for Space shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report containing (1) the results of the study … and (2) a consolidated plan for development within the DoD of an operationally responsive, low-cost launch capability.”
Rideshare Conference 2014

• Rideshare opportunities by third-party brokers/integrators
– Adaptive Launch Solutions (ALS)
– NanoRacks LLC
– Spaceflight Inc.
– TriSept Corporation
– Tyvak Nanosat Systems
• Large US vehicles w/ secondary capabilities
– Antares (including Cygnus) [Orbital]
– Atlas V [United Launch Alliance (ULA)/Lockheed Martin
Commercial Launch Services]
– Delta IV [ULA/Boeing Launch Services]
– Falcon 9 (including Dragon and Surfboard) [SpaceX]
– Falcon Heavy (2015) [SpaceX]
– SLS (11 6U CubeSats slated for EM-1 2017) [NASA]
Rideshare Conference 2014

• US small launchers
– ALASA [DARPA/Boeing]
– Athena II [Lockheed Martin]
– GO Launcher 1, 2 [Generation Orbit]
– LauncherOne [Virgin Galactic]
– Minotaur I, IV, V, VI, C [Orbital]
– Neptune [Interorbital]
– Pegasus [Orbital]
– SuperStrypi [Sandia National Labs]
• US space planes
– DreamChaser [Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC)]
– Lynx [XCOR]
– Rocketplane [Kistler]
– Spaceship Two [Virgin Galactic]
Rideshare Conference 2014

(source ?)
Mass (kg)
PL Volume (cm)
EELV ABC
PL Volume (cm)
H W L 400 km 900 km
L Eq/Polar 80 Eq/Polar
EELV ESPA 71
Falcon 9 FANTM 71 61 100 dia 61
181
225/
40/
250/60 40/
350/250 220/125
Minotaur IV 241
Antares (Orbital) 241
1150/550 600/190
530/390 390/260
54 133 dia 1540/1120 1300/880
54 80 300
• ABC only on Atlas V
73 80 300
• ESPA on Atlas V, Delta IV, Falcon 9, Antares
• Small launcher volumes show single payload mass/vol
Rideshare Conference 2014

• Φ62.01” (1575 mm), 120 x ¼” fasteners
– Atlas V, Delta IV, Falcon 9, Antares, Minotaur IV, V, VI
• Φ38.81” (986 mm), 60 x ¼” or #10 fasteners
– Minotaur I, Athena, Taurus, Pegasus
• Φ24” (610 mm), 36 x ¼” or 5/16” fasteners
– ESPA Grande, CubeStack
• Φ15” (381 mm), 24 x ¼” fasteners
– ESPA, Atlas V Aft Bulkhead Carrier, Athena Rideshare Adapter
• Φ8” (203 mm), 12 x ¼” fasteners
– Small Launch ESPA, Athena Rideshare Adapter
• Most adapters can be flexible with customer interfaces
– ALS Aquila/A-Deck
– CubeStack, ESPA, Moog CSA Flat Plates
– DesignNet Rideshare Adapter (RSA)
– SNC Nanosatellite Dispenser/Adapter
• S/C mounted w/ resettable HDRM-4K sep nuts, kinematic mount

• Planetary Systems Corp Lightbands
– MkII MLB24.000-36: Φ24” 36 x ¼” fasteners
– MkII MLB15.000-24: Φ15” 24 x ¼” fasteners
• RUAG Clampband
– PAS 610S: Φ24”
• Sierra Nevada Clampbands
– Qwksep 24: Φ24” 36 x ¼” or 5/16” fasteners
• Tapped or 0.332” clearance holes
– Qwksep 15: Φ15” 24 x ¼” or 5/16” fasteners
• 0.266” clearance holes
Rideshare Conference 2014

• Φ38.810” 60 x ¼” fasteners
• Φ31.600” 48 x ¼”
• Φ24.000” 36 x ¼”
• Φ23.250” 32 x ¼”
• Φ19.848” 28 x ¼”
• Φ18.250” 28 x ¼”
• Φ15.000” 24 x ¼”
• Φ13.000” 20 x ¼”
• Φ11.732” 18 x ¼”
• Φ8.000” 12 x ¼”
Rideshare Conference 2014

• Cal Poly P-POD (Poly Picosat Orbital Deployer) 3U dispenser
• Planetary Systems CSD (Canisterized Satellite
Deployer) 3U, 6U, 12U dispensers
• Nanoracks ISS deployers: 3U, 4U, 6U
• Tyvak dispensers
• NASA Ames NLAS (NanoSat Launch Adapter System)
6U dispenser
• TriSept/Moog CSA FANTM-RiDE generic smallsat dispenser: Multiple 3U/6U (and larger) deployments
• International products
– ISIS dispenser ISIpod [Netherlands]
– Clyde Space [Scotland]
– JAXA ISS ejector, J-SSOD [Japan]
– SFS X-POD dispensers [Canada]
Rideshare Conference 2014

• Naval Postgraduate School CubeSat Launcher
(NPSCuL): 8 3Us or 4 6Us with Φ15” interface
• Small Sat Transporter (NASA Wallops, GSFC):
Similar to NPSCuL but includes propulsion option
• Wafer adapters: 8 3Us or 4 6Us with Φ38.81” interface, can also carry “primary” small sat at
Φ38.81”, 24”, or 15” interface
– NASA Ames NLAS
– LoadPath/Moog CSA CubeStack
• ALS Aquila CubeSat accommodations
• SpaceX CubeSat Surfboard
Rideshare Conference 2014

• DesignNet Rideshare Adapter: Multiple
CubeSats with Φ38.81” interface, can also carry
“primary” small sat
• LM Athena Composite P-POD Carrier (ACPC):
Multiple CubeSats built into the Athena rideshare adapter
• Moog ESPA SUM (6U Mount): 2 3Us or 1 6U with
Φ15” interface; options for inboard and outboard on ESPA 15” port
• PSC Canisterized Satellite Dispenser (CSD) has bolt patterns for mounting directly to launch vehicle or satellite interfaces
Rideshare Conference 2014

• Moog CSA ESPA
– Standard, Grande, Small Launch versions
• ALS Aquila/A-Deck
– Center Deck capacity: 1000 kg, 56” dia up to 60” tall
• DesignNet Rideshare Adapter
– ORS Mission
• LM Athena Rideshare Adapter
• SNC Nanosatellite Dispenser/Adapter
– 2014 CYGNSS mission
• Moog CSA plate adapter
– 2011 GRAIL mission
• CSA CASPAR
– 74” adapter separation system not yet qualified
Launch vehicle companies (and others) develop custom adapters based on need, e.g., Orbital STP S-26 adapter
Rideshare Conference 2014

• SNC discrete separation joints
– QWKnut 3K, 10K
– FASSN 30K, 1500
• TiNi Aerospace discrete separation joints
– ORBCOMM Generation 2 constellation launch on ESPA with adapter plates on ports
• Applied Physics Lab (APL) Express platform: Satellites between 6U and ESPA-class, especially 20-50 kg
– Satellite deployment uses new sep interface with two separation nuts at opposite corners of 4-point mount
• AFRL ESPA Augmented Geostationary Laboratory
Experiment (EAGLE) interface: Developed for propulsive
ESPA ring
– First copy of EAGLE ESPA replaces several of six ESPA ports with sets of four mounting pads for attaching hosted payloads
– 4-point-mount interface also for use with separable satellites, up to 180 kg with 20-inch CG offset, as in standard ESPA
Rideshare Conference 2014