Application of existing satellites to Space and Earth science missions

Abstract

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space (LMMS) in Sunnyvale, California, is developing adaptations of commercial production-line spacecraft as a way to dramatically lower the cost of small-to-medium space and Earth science missions. The IRlDIUM communications satellite bus is being transformed into the LM700/sup TM/ Multi-Use Platform and the Commercial Remote Sensing System (CRSS) bus is being adapted as the LM900/sup TM/ Multi-Use Platform. The spacecrafts are named after their size classes of roughly 700 kg and 900 kg. This paper describes the spacecrafts and the process of adding, modifying, or removing subsystems to fit the science application. It also addresses some of the missions for which these commercial spacecrafts have been proposed.