US 11,787,572 B1
Spacecraft stack assembly configured for stacking, securing, and releasing spacecraft
Andrew C. Thompson, Hebron, CT (US); Patrick Sodt, Anaheim, CA (US); Thomas Tarlton, Los Angeles, CA (US); Robert S. Tarlton, Playa Vista, CA (US); and Michael Dergance, Hermosa Beach, CA (US)
Assigned to Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, CA (US)
Filed by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, CA (US)
Filed on May 10, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/870,975.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/847,872, filed on May 14, 2019.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B64G 1/64 (2006.01); B64G 1/00 (2006.01); B64G 1/40 (2006.01); B64G 1/10 (2006.01); B64G 1/22 (2006.01)
CPC B64G 1/645 (2013.01) [B64G 1/007 (2013.01); B64G 1/641 (2013.01); B64G 1/226 (2013.01); B64G 1/40 (2013.01); B64G 2001/1092 (2013.01); B64G 2001/643 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for securing spacecraft to a rocket and deploying the spacecraft into orbit, comprising:
a stack having a plurality of spacecraft arranged in layers, with each spacecraft being releasably mated with at least one spacecraft in an adjacent layer; and
at least one hold down and deploy assembly extending along a length of the stack and configured to, in a first configuration, secure the layers of the stack together and secure the entire stack to the rocket, and, in a second configuration, release the entire stack from the rocket into orbit such that the layers are free to separate.