FUTURE PAYLOAD ISOLATION AND POINTING SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY

Pointing requirements for spaceborne scientific instruments are getting progressively more stringent. At the same time, many of these instruments are likely to fly in an increasingly disturbance-rich environment characterized by large basebody and instrument-to-instrument dynamic interactions. It is not clear that current state-of-the-art pointing technology will be able to adequately address the needs of articulated instruments in a multipayload environment. Design options to meet these needs are suggested herein, including a soft-mounted, inertially reacting concept.