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With computers and technology becoming lighter and is also effected by drag. Could a small satellite that lacks certain systems be designed to utilize an existing satellites systems like radio, solar cells and other equipment? By utilizing old hardware could weight on launch be reduced because the heavier weight needed to stay in orbit longer is already there?

Muze
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  • What is that: "gaining weight on arrival"? Arrival to what? – peterh Dec 19 '18 at 02:13
  • Probably a starting point for this question is 'how much mass is consumed by the computer'. First order guess is that the %CPU mass of existing satellites is low - the life time is limited by propellant, the batteries and eventually the solar cells so things that replaced those on orbit would offer advantages but that not where this question is going. – GremlinWranger Dec 19 '18 at 06:06
  • Extending the life of a satellite's mission through refueling or reboosting can make sense and has been seriously considered. However, providing upgrades to a satellite most certainly is more effort than it's worth. Considering the long generation cycles of satellites, it's not unreasonable to assume that equipment superior in every metric (including mass) is available at time of construction and the still functional equipment on 20 year old satellites isn't worth rescuing – Dragongeek Dec 19 '18 at 08:43
  • http://www.novawurks.com/services/conformal-spacecraft-services/ – uhoh Dec 19 '18 at 12:53
  • http://www.novawurks.com/applications/darpa-phoenix/ – uhoh Dec 19 '18 at 12:55
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    @uhoh I swear they stole my name and concept. – Muze Dec 19 '18 at 13:02
  • @Dragongeek not rescuing them. parts of them still might have value in orbit – Muze Dec 19 '18 at 13:06
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    @uhoh https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/31324/satellite-retrieval-fix-and-deploy-possible-remotely – Muze Dec 19 '18 at 13:13
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    resistance is...something – motosubatsu Dec 19 '18 at 14:41
  • As for augmenting an existing (operational) craft's capabilities, keep in mind that things like power budgets and bandwidth are typically constrained. There may not be any (non-contingency) resources that could be shared. – Alex Hajnal Dec 28 '18 at 01:44

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