CN114735238A

CN114735238A - Satellite assembly composed of solar sailboard and antenna and satellite

Info

Publication number: CN114735238A
Application number: CN202210307649.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 冯田雨; 陈健; 陈雪芹
Original assignee: Harbin Institute of Technology
Current assignee: Harbin Institute of Technology
Priority date: 2022-03-25
Filing date: 2022-03-25
Publication date: 2022-07-12
Anticipated expiration: 2042-03-25
Also published as: CN114735238B

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a satellite assembly and a satellite, wherein the satellite assembly consists of a solar sailboard and an antenna, and the satellite assembly comprises: a sheet-shaped solar panel unit connected to a main body of the satellite; a plate-shaped antenna unit connected to the main body; wherein the solar panel unit and the antenna unit are configured to be stacked on each other and also have a sheet shape as a whole.

Description

Satellite assembly composed of solar sailboard and antenna and satellite

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of satellite structure design, in particular to a satellite assembly consisting of a solar sailboard and an antenna and a satellite.

Background

Solar panels are important components of satellite platforms, and most of the current satellite platforms rely on solar panels to provide energy. Generally, the solar panels need to have a large area that can be illuminated by sunlight after being deployed in order to provide sufficient required energy for the satellite platform. In particular, for satellite platforms with large power consumption, such as communication satellites and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites, the spread area of the solar panels of such satellite platforms is usually much larger than the surface area of the body of the satellite platform in order to satisfy the power consumption. Taking some SAR satellites as an example, the load working power is 10kW, the long-term power consumption of the satellite is 500W when the SAR satellites work for 5 minutes according to one orbit period, and the spread area of the solar sailboard needs to reach about 12.5 square meters.

In addition to solar panels, antennas are also important components of satellite platforms, for example, to accomplish tasks such as imaging ground. Also in the case of the SAR satellite described above, in order to improve the resolution and coverage area of the ground imaging, the effective aperture or the occupied area of the antenna needs to be increased. For the above-mentioned SAR satellite having a duty cycle of 10kW, if a phased array antenna is used, the area occupied by the antenna needs to be about 11 square meters.

Under the condition that the satellite platform comprises both the solar sailboard and the antenna, the solar sailboard with a larger area and the antenna with the larger area are simultaneously formed when the satellite platform runs, so that the rigidity of the whole structure of the satellite platform is reduced, the flexibility is increased, the windward area is also larger, and the energy consumption is larger when the attitude of the satellite platform needs to be adjusted.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the technical problems, embodiments of the present invention provide a satellite assembly and a satellite including a solar panel and an antenna, which overcome the problems of a satellite platform having a large area, such as a rigid bottom reduction of the overall structure, and a large frontal area, which result in a large energy consumption for attitude adjustment.

The technical scheme of the invention is realized as follows:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a satellite assembly including a solar panel and an antenna, where the satellite assembly includes:

a sheet-shaped solar panel unit connected to a main body of the satellite;

a plate-shaped antenna unit connected to the main body;

wherein the solar panel unit and the antenna unit are configured to be stacked on each other and also have a sheet shape as a whole.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the invention provide a satellite comprising a satellite assembly according to the first aspect.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a satellite assembly and a satellite composed of a solar panel and an antenna, in which since the solar panel unit and the antenna unit, both of which are in a sheet shape, are in a relative positional relationship of being superposed on each other and are also in a sheet shape as a whole, even though both of the solar panel unit and the antenna unit have a large area, the area occupied by both of them in total can be minimized, for example, in the case where the solar panel unit and the antenna unit have the same contour shape, the area occupied by both of them in total can be reduced by half, whereby it is possible to alleviate the problem of a reduction in the overall structural rigidity of the satellite and the problem of a large energy consumption required for attitude adjustment due to a large frontal area.

Drawings

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a satellite comprising a satellite assembly according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a satellite assembly according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 3 shows a top perspective view of an antenna element according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 illustrates a bottom perspective view of an antenna element according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic partial cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a satellite assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows an enlarged view of the dashed box area in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of a satellite assembly according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of a satellite assembly constructed to be collapsible in accordance with the present invention;

fig. 10 shows a perspective view of a satellite assembly according to a further embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a satellite assembly 10 comprised of a solar panel and an antenna, where the term "satellite assembly" should be understood to mean an assembly for a satellite. The satellite assembly 10 may include: a plate-shaped solar panel unit 11 connected to the main body 20 of the satellite 1, as schematically shown in fig. 1 by means of an unfilled plate-shaped block; the plate-like antenna element 12, which is connected to the body 20, is shown schematically in fig. 2 by means of a grey-filled, flat plate-like block. By "sheetlike" is meant that the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 extend in a two-dimensional plane, as shown in particular in fig. 1, but may also mean that they extend in a two-dimensional curved surface, not shown in fig. 1, as described in more detail below. Wherein the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 are configured to be stacked on each other and also have a sheet shape as a whole. "superposed" here means that the solar windsurfing board unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 may be either in a state of being in contact with each other as shown in fig. 1 or adjacent to each other without being in contact with each other, which is not shown in fig. 1. In order to make the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 in a sheet shape as a whole, both may be simple planar shapes, as shown in fig. 1, and in the case where one of the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 is in a curved shape, the other is also in a curved shape, and the portions of the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 that overlap each other have the same curved contour shape, so that the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 can be as close to each other as possible.

With the above-described satellite unit 10, since the relative positional relationship between the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12, which are both sheet-shaped, is such that they are superposed on each other and both are also sheet-shaped as a whole, even if both the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 have a large area, the area occupied by both in total can be reduced to the maximum extent, for example, in the case where the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 shown in fig. 1 have the same contour shape, the area occupied by both in total can be reduced by half, whereby the problem of the reduction in the overall structural rigidity of the satellite 1 and the problem of the large energy consumption required for attitude adjustment due to the large frontal area can be alleviated.

In a specific implementation of the above embodiment, referring to fig. 2, the antenna unit 12 may be composed of a plurality of antenna elements 120 arranged in a two-dimensional array. In this case, it is difficult to directly assemble the antenna elements 120 one by one to the windsurfing board unit 11 because the windsurfing board unit 11 needs to have a specific material and surface structure due to the function of converting solar energy into electric energy. In this regard, as shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of antenna elements 120 may be mounted on one side of the mounting plate 13 that is dedicated to performing a mounting function rather than having to have a specific material and surface structure as with the windsurfing board unit 11, such that the antenna elements 120 are integrally formed as a sheet-like member to facilitate connection with the solar windsurfing board unit 11. In this case, the solar panel unit 11 may be mounted to the other side of the mounting plate 13.

More specifically, referring to fig. 3 and 4, each antenna element 120 may include an element 12E and a radio frequency connector 12C, wherein the shape of element 12E may be determined according to a desired antenna frequency, gain, etc. In this case, in order that the vibrator 12E can better transmit and receive signals, referring to fig. 5, each antenna element 120 may be installed such that the vibrator 12E is distant from the mounting plate 13 and the radio frequency connector 12C is close to the mounting plate 13, and it is also easily understood in conjunction with fig. 2 that, when the antenna element 120 shown in fig. 3 and 4 is installed to the mounting plate 13 in the above-described manner, the vibrator 12E is directed toward the upper side or outer side of the satellite assembly 10 and the radio frequency connector 12C is directed toward the lower side or inner side of the satellite assembly 10. Still referring to fig. 5 in conjunction with fig. 6 and 7, in order to enable the antenna elements 120 to function properly, each antenna element 120 may be further equipped with a radio frequency cable 12L (schematically shown by thick solid lines in fig. 5) connected to the radio frequency connector 12C, a circuit box 12S (schematically shown by blocks filled with cross sectional lines in fig. 5) connected to the radio frequency cable 12L, and a connecting device 12G (schematically shown by blocks filled with vertical sectional lines in fig. 5) for interconnecting the antenna elements 120. In this case, in order not to affect the element 12E transmitting and receiving signals, as shown in fig. 5 and 6, the circuit box 12S and the connection device 12G are located on the side of the mounting board 13 on which the solar panel unit 11 is mounted, and the mounting board 13 is formed with a through hole 13T for the radio frequency cable 12L to pass through.

As is readily understood with reference to fig. 5, the above-described mounting manner for the circuit box 12S and the connector device 12G may result in unevenness of the side surface of the mounting plate 13 for mounting the solar panel unit 11, affecting the mounting of the solar panel unit 11. In this regard, still referring to fig. 2, 5 and 6, the solar panel unit 11 may be mounted to the mounting board 13 by means of a plurality of mounting posts 14 (schematically illustrated by black filled columns in fig. 5) to form a spacing space IS between the solar panel unit 11 and the mounting board 13 for accommodating the radio frequency cable 12L, the circuit box 12S and the connection device 12G, as will be readily understood with reference to fig. 2 and 5.

For the antenna unit 12 having a plate shape with a large area as described above, it is generally necessary to keep its temperature within a certain range, for example, heat dissipation is necessary for the antenna unit 12 in the light region, and heat insulation is necessary for the antenna unit 12 in the shadow region. While for insulation it is usually necessary to heat the antenna, thereby adding additional energy requirements, at the same time requiring an increased area of the solar panel unit 11. In order to e.g. reduce or even eliminate the energy consumption required for the heat preservation, see also fig. 5 and 6, the separation space IS may be filled with thermal spacers 15 (schematically illustrated by blocks filled with diagonal lines in fig. 5), which thermal spacers 15 are used to influence the conduction of heat generated by the solar panel unit 11 towards the antenna unit 12. For example, the thermal cushion 15 may be a heat conducting cushion, the heat generated by the solar panel unit 11 may be conducted to the antenna unit 12 for heat preservation of the antenna unit 12, the thermal cushion 15 may also be a heat insulating cushion to avoid the antenna unit 12 from being affected by the heat conducted from the solar panel unit 11, and the heat conducting cushion and the heat insulating cushion may also be sandwiched between the solar panel unit 11 and the mounting plate 13 at the same time to meet different requirements for heat at different areas of the antenna unit 12. The thermal pad 15 can be made of a multilayer polyimide film or a thermally conductive material, for example. In addition, in the case where the solar panel unit 11 is mounted to the mounting plate 13 by means of the plurality of mounting pillars 14, the plurality of mounting pillars 14 may be cylindrical heat pipes, metal pillars, or polyimide pillars for the purpose of controlling heat conduction. In this case, the thermal pad 15 may be designed to cooperate with the mounting pillar 14 to control the amount of heat conducted from the solar panel unit 11 to the antenna unit 12, so as to control the temperature of the antenna unit 12 and reduce the energy consumed by the antenna unit 12 for controlling the temperature.

In another specific implementation of the above embodiment, referring to fig. 8, the antenna unit 12 may be composed of a plurality of antenna elements 120 arranged in a two-dimensional array as in the previous implementation, but the plurality of antenna elements 120 are obtained by a pattern F Printed on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), and an auxiliary component 12A such as a radio frequency connector for the plurality of antenna elements is provided at an edge of the PCB so that the PCB and the solar panel unit 11 can be stacked on each other in a direct contact manner, as shown in fig. 8. In this way, the use of the mounting plate 13 and the mounting posts 14 described above can be eliminated, resulting in a reduction in the number of component parts of the satellite assembly 10 and a reduction in the overall structural thickness of the satellite assembly 10.

Referring to fig. 9, the satellite assembly 10 is divided into a plurality of plate-like sections 10P, and two adjacent sections 10P are connected by a hinge H so that the satellite assembly 10 can be folded and unfolded. In the above case, as shown in fig. 9, the solar panel unit 11, the antenna unit 12, and the mounting plate 13 are all composed of a solar panel unit section 11P, an antenna unit section 12P, and a mounting plate section 13P that are separated from each other, and the above-described hinge H may connect only two adjacent mounting plate sections 13P, for example. Although not shown in the drawings, it will be appreciated that for the satellite assembly 10 shown in fig. 8, the hinge H may, for example, only connect two adjacent solar panel unit sections, thereby enabling folding and unfolding. In this way, the satellite assembly 10 can be brought into a folded state during the launch phase of the satellite 1 to reduce the required accommodation space during launch, and in addition the satellite assembly 10 can be brought into an unfolded state during the on-orbit operation phase of the satellite 1 to enable the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 to function.

Since the solar panel unit 11 and the antenna unit 12 are connected together, they move together and may need to be in different attitudes with respect to the satellite assembly 10 when each functions. In this regard, the attitude of the satellite assembly 10 may be adjusted to be in an energy conversion attitude in which the solar panel unit 11 receives solar rays to convert solar energy into electric energy, except for being in a signal transceiving attitude for facilitating the antenna unit 12 to transceive signals when the satellite 1 needs to transceive signals.

In yet another implementation of the above embodiment, referring to fig. 10, the antenna unit 12 may be parabolic in shape as a whole, and the solar panel unit 11 is disposed at the back surface 12B of the antenna unit 12. In this case, in order to ensure that the solar panel unit 11 is superposed on the antenna unit 12 and is similarly shaped like a plate as a whole, it is necessary that the solar panel unit 11 is also shaped like a parabola as a whole, but the solar panel element shaped like a parabola is difficult to produce, and the solar panel element which is easy to produce is generally shaped like a flat plate. To this end, in the present invention, in order to obtain a solar panel unit 11 having a parabolic shape as a whole, said solar panel unit 11 may be composed of a plurality of solar panel elements 110 having a plate shape, each solar panel element 110 being arranged in a plane lying with said back surface 12B with only a single intersection point IP (as schematically shown by the cross) or each solar panel element 110 being tangent to the back surface 12B, and said intersection point IP being located at the geometric center of each solar panel element 110, so that the solar panel unit 11 can be as smooth as possible, except that the solar panel unit 11 composed of said plurality of solar panel elements 110 is superposed with the antenna unit 12 and likewise has a sheet shape as a whole.

Referring back to fig. 1, embodiments of the present invention also provide a satellite 1, and the satellite 1 may include a satellite assembly 10 according to various embodiments of the present invention.

It should be noted that: the technical schemes described in the embodiments of the present invention can be combined arbitrarily without conflict.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A satellite assembly comprised of a solar panel and an antenna, the satellite assembly comprising:

a sheet-shaped solar panel unit connected to a main body of the satellite;

a plate-shaped antenna unit connected to the main body;

2. The satellite assembly according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit is comprised of a plurality of antenna elements arranged in a two-dimensional array, the plurality of antenna elements being mounted on one side of a mounting plate, the solar sail panel unit being mounted to the other side of the mounting plate.

3. A satellite assembly according to claim 2, characterised in that each antenna element is mounted such that its elements are remote from the mounting board and its radio frequency connector is close to the mounting board, and each antenna element is further provided with a radio frequency cable connected to the radio frequency connector, a circuit box connected to the radio frequency cable and a connection device for interconnecting the antenna elements, wherein the circuit box and the connection device are located on the side of the mounting board where the solar panel unit is mounted, and the mounting board is formed with a through hole for the radio frequency cable to pass through.

4. The satellite assembly according to claim 3, wherein the solar panel unit is mounted to the mounting plate by means of a plurality of mounting posts to form a spacing space between the solar panel unit and the mounting plate for accommodating the radio frequency cable, the circuit box and the connection device.

5. The satellite assembly of claim 4, wherein the separation space is filled with thermal spacers for affecting conduction of heat generated by the solar panel unit towards the antenna unit.

6. The satellite assembly according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit is constituted by a plurality of antenna elements arranged in a two-dimensional array, the plurality of antenna elements being obtained by a pattern printed on a PCB, and auxiliary components for the plurality of antenna elements are provided at an edge of the PCB so that the PCB and the solar panel unit can be stacked on each other in a direct contact manner.

7. The satellite assembly of any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the satellite assembly is divided into a plurality of sections in the form of panels, with a hinge connection between adjacent sections enabling the satellite assembly to fold and unfold.

8. The satellite assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the attitude of the satellite assembly is adjusted to be in an energy conversion attitude in which the solar panel unit receives solar rays to convert solar energy into electric energy, except for being in a signal transceiving attitude for the antenna unit to transceive signals when the satellite needs to transceive signals.

9. The satellite assembly according to claim 1, wherein the antenna unit is parabolic in shape as a whole, and the solar panel unit is provided at a back surface of the antenna unit, wherein the solar panel unit is composed of a plurality of solar panel elements in a flat plate shape, each solar panel element is arranged such that a plane in which it lies has only a single intersection point with the back surface and the intersection point is located at a geometric center of each solar panel element.

10. A satellite, characterized in that it comprises a satellite assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9.