Spartan Lite Status Report

Spartan Lite is an inexpensive, three axis, fine pointer with mission unique pointing capabilities to arc seconds. It is a low cost, class D, single string, spacecraft designed to be launched from a Hitchhiker eject system on the Shuttle or as multiple payloads on a Pegasus class vehicle. The science payload is a cylinder 14 inches in diameter, 28 inches long, and weighing 75 pounds with 40 watts of experiment power. The spacecraft electronics wrap around the payload. Solar arrays are rigidly deployed at one end in a "Flower Petal" configuration. Attitude control actuators and sensors and antennas are mounted on the arrays. Existing hardware designs and software have been used where possible to keep the costs down. The highly autonomous spacecraft is operated in the 'Principal Investigator' mode with simplified mission operations. Fixed science accommodations can support different instruments capable of doing solar, celestial, or earth pointing missions. The Shuttle launched solar version had its Preliminary Design Review in May 1996. As a result, the payload capabilities have been enhanced to 40 inches in length and 100 pounds with more power available for the experiment. Other mission types are under study for the Critical Design Review in March 1997.