Manufacture in space: the MINOS system

The manufacture in Space of products for use on Earth is a possibility for the 1990s. The MINOS project is based on the idea of a free-flyer station for the current medium-level production of either unique products (which cannot be made on Earth), or of economic yields of products which cannot be obtained in sufficient quantities on Earth.At present, only the main system may be defined from general specifications: electrical power (10 kW), residual acceleration (10^?5 g), processing cycle duration (10 hr).The launch vehicle is Ariane I and its improved versions (models II, III and IV).The outer structure of the spececraft is described with solar panels, energy storage (battery and inertial storage) and control systems.The definition of orbital parameters capable of accommodating the basis specifications, especially the high energy level and the re-entry conditions on the Guiana base, is a major problem. The re-entry vehicle is studied from a pure ballistic trajectory point of view. From the results of orbital performance, the mass of the spacecraft and also the mass of the ascent vehicle are evaluated. For this latter value, its determination is directly related to the cost of space-processed materials.A general overview is given of the other spacecraft sub-systems such as satellite tracking, communications, ground stations, resources requirements, telemetry, onboard computing system etc.