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As per the agreed work distribution, I am focusing on the design of the
spacecraft required to accomplish the said mission. The design will be created
on the Onshape-CAD software which was recently familiarized to us during our
coursework. I will be modelling the satellite to achieve the weight of the
spacecraft, as we can specify the material for each part of the satellite with the
desired material of choice. The design will start from the basic structural
components of the satellite, and further details and parts will be added to the
final design as we gain a better understanding of the required components and
materials that can be used to enhance the efficiency of the retrieval vehicle.
STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS USED FOR MANUFACTURING SATELLITES
Below listed are some of the structural materials used for the manufacturing
of satellites.
1.ALUMINIUM: Among conventional structural materials, aluminium is by far the

most common. A large variety of alloys exist, providing a broad range of such
characteristics as strength and weldability. Thus for applications at moderate
temperatures in which moderate strength and a good strength-to-weight
ratio are desirable, aluminium is still often the material of choice. This
popularity is enhanced by ready availability and ease of fabrication. Several
surface-coating processes exist to allow the tailoring of surface characteristics
for hardness, emissivity, absorbtivity, etc.
2.MAGNESIUM: It is often used for applications in which higher stiffness is

desired than can be provided by aluminium. It is somewhat more difficult to
fabricate and is more chemically active than aluminium, it requires a surface
coating for any extensive exposure to the atmosphere for which several
coating exists. Environmental constraints in recent years have limited the
availability of certain desirable magnesium alloys containing zirconium.
3.STEEL: Steel, in particular, stainless steel is often used in applications requiring

higher strength or higher temperature resistance. A variety of steels can be
used, but stainless steel is often preferred because its use eliminates the
concern about rust and corrosion during the fabrication and test phase.
4.TITANIUM: It is a high-strength, lightweight structural material with excellent
high-temperature capability and also exhibits good stiffness. Some alloys are
fairly brittle, which tends to limit their application, but several alloys with
reasonable ductility exist. The use of titanium is limited majorly due to higher
cost, lower availability and fabrication complexity to applications that
particularly benefit from its special capabilities. Pressure vessels of various
types and external skin of high-speed vehicles are typical applications.
5.BERYLLIUM: It offers the highest stiffness of any naturally occurring material

along with low density, high strength and high-temperature tolerance and
good thermal conductivity. Beryllium has been used in limited applications
where its desired characteristics have been desired. The main limitation of
the more extensive use of this excellent material is toxicity. In bulk form,
beryllium metal is quite benign and can be handled freely. The dust of
beryllium, however, has very detrimental effects on the human respiratory
tract. This means that the machining and grinding operations are subject to
extensive safety measures to capture and contain dust and chips. This
renders normal fabrication methods unusable without resorting to these
intensive/expensive measures.
6.FIBERGLASS: It was the first-ever composite material used for space structure
and is still used the most. The matrix material may be epoxy, phenolic, or
other material, and the glass can range from relatively low-quality fibreglass
to highly processed quartz fibre. It is desirable because of the relative ease
with which complex shapes can be fabricated. It also exhibits strength and
offers the ability to tailor strength and stiffness both in absolute value and
direction in the material by choice of fibre density and orientation.
7.GRAPHITE-EPOXY: Is in very common use and may even have supplanted

fibreglass in the frequency of use. The use of high-strength and stiffness
graphite fibre in a matrix of epoxy or other polymer makes an excellent high-
strength structural material. Proper selection of the cloth and/or
unidirectional fibres offer the ability to tailor strength and stiffness directly
and to the desired levels to optimize it for the purpose. The low density of
graphite offers a weight advantage as well. High-temperature characteristics
are improved by the use of graphite instead of glass, although the matrix is
the final limiting factor. An increasing number of high-temperature polymers
are available for high-temperature structures. In addition to graphite, Kevlar
and other high-strength fibres are increasingly used.
8.INCONEL ALLOYS: The Inconel family of alloys and other similar alloys based on
nickel, cobalt, etc. are used for high-temperature applications. A typical
application is as a height shield in the vicinity of the rocket nozzle to protect
the lower-temperature components from thermal radiation or hot gas
recirculation. These alloys are of relatively high density, equal to that of steel
or greater so, weight can be a problem. However, Inconel lends itself to
processing into quite thin foils which allow it use as a shield, often in multiple
layers with a minimum mass penalty.
New materials coming into use are mostly composites of various types,
although some new alloys have also appeared. Among the alloys, aluminium-
lithium is of considerable interest, because the addition of lithium results in
alloys of somewhat higher strength than familiar aluminium alloys, but having
equal or lower density. This material is already seeing extensive use in
commercial aviation and the most recent version of the space shuttle's
external tank.
High-temperature refractory materials have been available for many years but
have seen limited use because of high density, lack of ductility, cost and other
factors. Tungsten, tantalum, and molybdenum fall into this category. These
materials are somewhat less available than they were some years ago. A great
many suppliers have dropped out of the field. This may in part be related to
the collapse of the commercial nuclear power industry in the United States.
One exception is niobium (formerly called columbium). This material is useful
to temperatures as high as 1300 K but has a density only slightly higher than
steel. It is available in commercial quantities. Like all refractory metals, it
oxidises rapidly if heated in air, but a silicide coating offers substantial
protection in this environment.
Metal matrix composites involve the use of metal matrix, eg., aluminium,
stiffened and strengthened by fibres of another metal or another nonmetallic
material. In aluminium for example fibres of boron, silicon, carbide, and
graphite have been used. Some difficulties have been encountered, such as the
tendency of the molten aluminium to react with the graphite during the
manufacture of the composite.
The use of composite and new age materials can be inducted in the design of
such a spacecraft that will be designed to perform a single recovery mission,
which can significantly reduce the payload of the launch vehicle,
manufacturing cost of the vehicle and operating expences of such missions.
Such spacecrafts, if used in tandem with re-usable launch vehicles with low
payload capacity sufficient enough to deliver such vehicles into the desired
orbit can make the removal of space debris more viable in the near future.

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As per the agreed work distribution, I am focusing on the design of the

STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS USED FOR MANUFACTURING SATELLITES

1.ALUMINIUM: Among conventional structural materials, aluminium is by far the

2.MAGNESIUM: It is often used for applications in which higher stiffness is

3.STEEL: Steel, in particular, stainless steel is often used in applications requiring

5.BERYLLIUM: It offers the highest stiffness of any naturally occurring material

7.GRAPHITE-EPOXY: Is in very common use and may even have supplanted

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