Optimization and Conceptual Design of Demonstration Military and Civilian Mobile Satellites using Existing Buses

The Canadian Mobile Satellite (MSAT) program, as it was initially conceived, was intended to demonstrate the feasibility of providing reliable communications, via a geosynchronous satellite, to a variety of users operating in different bands. The spacecraft was intended to carry both military and civilian payloads. Each of these payloads was to have been comprised of multiple transponders. The spacecraft bus was to have been selected from amongst existing designs to meet the needs of the mission. Careful evaluation of possible host spacecraft, and the detailed optimization of the civilian users payload for a complex number of parameters, led to the conclusion that the use of an existing bus for the proposed shared mission was cost effective and technically feasible. Additionally, it was concluded that the information to be gained through participation in such programs can provide useful experience on which future operational military mobile satellite systems can be optimized. Finally, alternative conceptual designs were developed for a purely military mission. Examples of such designs for the RCA Satcom and Ford Aerospace Intelsat V buses are presented.