Hybrid launch isolation system

Abstract

An innovative new hybrid isolation system has been developed to significantly increase the performance over a passive whole-spacecraft isolation design. The design builds upon the passive design and incorporates active components in parallel to the passive design. This means that if the active system fails, the passive system would be able to handle the isolation requirements. Preliminary results show that significant attenuation can occur using the hybrid isolation system over the passive isolation system. Also, it has been determined that the performance gained by the hybrid isolation system will be dependent on the stiffness of the launch vehicle. As this stiffness now becomes an important design parameter when developing a whole- spacecraft launch isolation system.