Non-Contacting Interfaces: A Case Study in Modular Spacecraft Design

Abstract

The benefits of modularization, such as reusability and upgradeability, remain underutilized in space. Exploiting these advantages after a spacecraft is launched introduces too much cost and risk in the current paradigm of spacesystem design. This gap between modular design and its benefi ts has inspired us to focus attention on interfaces. Many of the obstacles to bridging this gap lie in mechanical attachment of spacecraft subsystems. This paper reexamines the function of mechanical interfaces among spacecraft components and describes a new realization in which flux-pinning superconductors and permanent magnets provide stable, but unpowered, connections among spacecraft components that appear to hover at some distance from one another. Beginning with functional abstraction, this study identifies a new set of unexploited possibilities that add versatility to space-systems architectures. First, the limitations imposed on modularity due to mechanical coupling in spacecraft architecture are identified. These limitations are then used to back out the requirements for a non-contacting interface. With several technologies that enable adhesion without mechanical contact identified, requirements flowdown and functional analysis is performed to quantify technical performance measures for the interface.