ConeXpress was a concept orbital life extension vehicle project that was co-funded by

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

and Orbital Recovery Ltd. The Ariane-5 interface cone structure would be the basis. ConeExpress satellites would travel to the Geostationary orbit, lock on to satellites that have run out of fuel and extend their lives. It was conceived to provide the operators of

geostationary A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitude ...

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...

s with an opportunity to extend the revenue-earning life of select space assets by up to 10 years.

Docking

The onboard docking equipment consisted of a capture tool that inserts a probe into the throat of the apogee motor of the Client satellite, locks itself to the throat by expanding the crown of the probe, and pulls the Client satellite back towards it by retracting the probe. This process is reversed for undocking. ConeXpress was sized to work with dock with satellites weighing up to .

Specifications

*Shape: Conical *Base Dimension: 2.6m *Height: 0.9m *Power:

Solar Panels A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a phot ...

*Solar Wing Span: 15m *Mass: 1400 kg *Propulsion: Ion Engines

ConeXpress Partners

Partners included: *Dutch Space * Arianespace *EADS CASA Espacio *

Oerlikon Space RUAG Holding (originally Rüstungs Unternehmen Aktiengesellschaft; Joint Stock Defence Company) is a Swiss company specialising in aerospace engineering and the defence industry. Its headquarters are located in Bern, while it also has numerous pr ...

* GMV *

Kayser-Threde Kayser-Threde GmbH based in Munich, Germany is a systems house specializing in applications in manned and unmanned space missions, optics, telematics, crash test data acquisition, and process control for the rail sector. On September 1, 2014, Breme ...

* DLR * NLR *Sener *

Snecma Moteurs Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It ...

Swedish Space Corporation The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) provides space subsystems, space and satellite operations, rocket and balloon systems including experiment equipment, launch services, aerospace engineering services as well as airborne maritime surveillance s ...

References

External links

*https://archive.today/20121212001523/http://telecom.esa.int/telecom/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=17870 *http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/conexpress-ors.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Conexpress Proposed satellites