Patent ID: 11962272
Assignee: MAXAR SPACE LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  B | IPC B  H

Claim 10:
11. A spacecraft, comprising:
a spacecraft body;
a solar array foldable in a first direction in an accordion manner to form a stowed pack when in a stowed configuration, comprising:
a plurality of panels, each panel comprising:
a pair of rigid frame members extending laterally relative to the first direction;
a corresponding flexible panel substrate connected between, and having a cylindrical curvature between, the pair of rigid frame members; and
a plurality of solar cells on a concave surface of the corresponding flexible panel substrate; and

one or more flexible array hinges each connected between one of the rigid frame member of a pair of the panels to form the panels into a structure foldable in the first direction; and
a deployable frame structure connected to the foldable solar array and configured to extend the foldable solar array away from the spacecraft body in the first direction from the stowed configuration to a deployed configuration in which the panels are flat and stretched to flatten the flexible panel substrates in the first direction; and

one or more hold-downs configured to hold the foldable solar array and the deployable frame structure in the stowed configuration and release to allow the foldable solar array and the deployable frame structure to extend into the deployed configuration.