System Design and Capabilities of a Current Technology, Low-Cost, Small Satellite

Ball Aerospace, with its successful background and strong interest in low-cost lightweight satellites, is studying the designs of current technology satellites for a variety of launchers (e.g., STS/GAS, Pershing, Scout, Poseidon, Conestoga, Titan 11, ILV, and Delta II). Ball Aerospace has completed the design of a current technology, multi-mission, low-cost Scout-compatible satellite. This paper summarizes the system design features and capabilities of this Ball Scout Satellite (BSS). The BSS is designed to accommodate a wide range of Earth and celestially oriented missions, both spinning and 3-axis stabilized. The BSS design provides a marked improvement in payload support capabilities (mass, power, data rate, pointing, interfaces, flexibility, reliability, etc.) than was previously available with earlier Scout satellites, and at a lower cost in current-year dollars.