Whole-Spacecraft Isolation Development Efforts at the USAF Phillips Laboratory

One of the most severe environments that a satellite experiences during its lifetime will occur during launch. The traditional approach to spacecraft design against launch vibration has been through structural stiffening or component isolation. This approach is costly, time consuming, and adds significant weight. The USAF Phillips Laboratory is actively investigating an alternative approach, which involves isolation of the whole spacecraft from the launch vehicle effects. This is in contrast to other efforts which have utilized isolation of secondary components of the spacecraft only. The objective of the current effort is to reduce the launch-induced structural-borne dynamic acceleration of the satellite by insertion of an isolator between the spacecraft and the launch vehicle. This paper summarizes the status of several programs being managed by the USAF Phillips Laboratory in the area of whole spacecraft isolation. These programs are targeted towards isolation for small to medium class launch vehicles, but are applicable to all sizes of launch vehicles. This paper presents key results from several of these programs, perceived benefits of whole-spacecraft isolation, and planned activities for flight demonstration of a whole-spacecraft isolation system.