Telescopic Satellite

This is a hypothetical telescopic satellite design. Two solar panels provide electricity for the satellite's systems and are articulated via rotational joints in the model. The 70 cm telescope is a visual spectrum reflecting telescope of Nasmyth-Cassegrain design. The design of this satellite is intended to orbit the L2 Lagrange point around Earth, with the high gain unidirectional antenna pointed at Earth, and the telescope shaded by the body of the satellite to minimize chromatic aberration due to solar thermal cycling. A set of 8 three-axis thrusters comprise the Reaction Control System for attitude control. Three ion thrusters provide the primary engine source after the satellite has been deployed. Besides the telescope, the satellite also is equipped with an aerogel interstellar stardust collector in a honeycomb pattern on an extension boom. The satellite body is covered with metallized polyethylene terephthalate (not shown) to reflect unwanted sunlight from heating up sensitive electronic components within the spacecraft body.

File formats are in .iges and .step. Additionally, an untextured .stl file is provided. The only texture used in this model is the solar panel texture (provided). Model generated in Autodesk Fusion 360, a Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline CAD engineering program.

A video of the solar panel rotational movement is here:

https://youtu.be/6IXTBKHle4A

Total dimensions are 1300 cm x 320 cm x 400 cm.

Rendered background from the sIBL archives and ESO footage:

http://www.hdrlabs.com/sibl/archive.htmlhttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/ESO_-The_Milky_Way_panorama(by).jpg

-novakepler