{
  "patent_number": "US 11685554",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Spacecraft Servicing Pods Maneuver and Refuel Other Satellites",
  "original_title": "Spacecraft servicing devices and related assemblies, systems, and methods",
  "summary": "A specialized robotic pod designed to dock with aging satellites and use a flexible, multi-jointed boom arm to adjust their orbit or velocity.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a small, deployable spacecraft 'servicing device' that acts as a life-extension kit for satellites. The device features a rotatable boom arm with a thruster assembly at the end, which allows it to precisely position engines to push or steer a target satellite. By placing the boom arm's pivot point near the docking mechanism, the device can maintain a stable connection while moving its thrusters to different angles. This allows the servicer to perform orbital corrections or station-keeping maneuvers on a target satellite that has run out of its own fuel.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover autonomous docking systems that lack a movable boom arm for thruster positioning",
    "Does not cover servicing devices that are permanently integrated into the host spacecraft rather than being deployable pods",
    "Does not cover non-mechanical methods of orbital adjustment, such as solar sails or electromagnetic tethers",
    "Does not cover the internal chemical composition of the thruster fuel itself"
  ],
  "filed": "2020-11-30",
  "granted": "2023-06-27",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Northrop Grumman Systems Corp",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/northrop-grumman-systems-corp",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Benjamin Michael Hekman",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/benjamin-michael-hekman"
    },
    {
      "name": "James Garret Nicholson",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/james-garret-nicholson"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kenneth Siu-Kin Chow",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/kenneth-siu-kin-chow"
    },
    {
      "name": "Mark Lieberbaum",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/mark-lieberbaum"
    },
    {
      "name": "James Dulin REAVILL",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/james-dulin-reavill"
    },
    {
      "name": "Daniel Carl Treachler",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/daniel-carl-treachler"
    },
    {
      "name": "Peter Michael Cipollo",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/peter-michael-cipollo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Carlos Guillermo Niederstrasser",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/carlos-guillermo-niederstrasser"
    },
    {
      "name": "Robert Bryan Sullivan",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/robert-bryan-sullivan"
    },
    {
      "name": "Oliver Benjamin Ortiz",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/oliver-benjamin-ortiz"
    },
    {
      "name": "Michael Joseph Glogowski",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/michael-joseph-glogowski"
    },
    {
      "name": "William A. Llorens",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/william-a-llorens"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 2,
  "tags": [
    "aerospace",
    "mechanical",
    "telecommunications"
  ],
  "abstract": "Spacecraft servicing devices or pods and related methods may include a body configured to be deployed from a host spacecraft at a location adjacent a target spacecraft and at least one spacecraft servicing component configured to perform at least one servicing operation on the target spacecraft.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11685554/starship-upper-stage",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11685554/starship-upper-stage/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11685554",
  "relatedPatents": []
}