Out To Launch

doi:10.1117/3.2249071.ch12

Out To Launch

Book: Satellite Communications for the Nonspecialist

Author(s): Mark R. Chartrand

Published: 2004

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2249071.ch12

Abstract

What the public calls a “rocket,” the industry people usually call a launch vehicle. From the standpoint of a company wishing to send a communications satellite into space, the most important technical characteristics of a launch vehicle are its capacity; the number of kilograms it can place into various orbits; the physical size of the satellite it can accommodate, typically described by the maximum diameter and length; and its reliability. The satellite is referred to as the payload for the launcher.