Satellite and Launch Platforms
Connector Systems for Space Launch Systems
A launch vehicle is an interconnect problem with a very short and very violent operating life. Telemetry has to keep reporting through maximum dynamic pressure, flight termination has to stay armed and reliable, and the umbilicals have to release cleanly at exactly the right moment.
Pyroshock
Umbilical
Telemetry
Flight Termination
1,500 g
1,500 g
Pyroshock Peak
20 g RMS
Random Vibration
-65 to +165 °C
Temperature
Design Notes
What Launch Hardware Has to Take
Five environments a launch-vehicle interface has to survive, mostly within the first few minutes.
01
Acoustic and Vibration
At lift-off the acoustic field alone drives structural vibration across the whole vehicle. Connector retention is a mechanical problem before it is an electrical one.
02
Pyroshock
Stage separation and fairing jettison are explosive events. The shock travels through structure as a very high, very short transient that finds any marginal joint.
03
Clean Separation
Umbilicals have to disconnect reliably at the commanded instant, without snagging and without damaging the flight side of the interface.
04
Telemetry Continuity
Data is the only thing recovered from an expendable stage. A telemetry interface that drops out during the event you most needed to measure has failed completely.
05
Ground Handling
Vehicles are stacked, transported, tested and de-stacked. Much of the wear an interface sees happens on the ground, long before flight.
Reference Data
Typical Launch Requirements
Programme and range specifications govern. These are representative conditions.
| Parameter | Typical Requirement | Relevant Series | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical shock | 1,500 g, 0.5 ms half-sine | Qualified assemblies | Stage separation events |
| Random vibration | 20 g RMS, 3 axes | Qualified assemblies | Lift-off and transonic |
| Retention | Full detent or threaded | SMP full detent, SMA | Chosen by shock level |
| Temperature | -65 °C to +165 °C | All flight series | Aero-heating and cryogenic proximity |
| Outgassing | TML ≤ 1.0 %, CVCM ≤ 0.1 % | ASTM E595 screened | Upper stage and payload bay |
| Ground cycles | Repeated mate / de-mate | Ruggedised series | Stacking and checkout |
Our Role
What We Supply for Launch Vehicles
01
Shock-Rated Retention
Full-detent SMP and threaded interfaces selected for the separation environment, so the joint is still made after the event.
02
Harnesses for the Airframe
Semi-rigid and ruggedised assemblies routed to the vehicle structure, built to survive handling as well as flight.
03
Traceable to the Lot
Material certificates and full lot traceability, which is what range safety and flight-termination documentation require.
Selected Products
Interfaces for Launch Hardware
Typical starting points for launch-vehicle interconnect. Send us the shock spectrum and the routing and we will propose the configuration.
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0.086″ Semi-Rigid Low-Loss RF Coaxial Cable, 40 GHz Rated
$20.00 Add to cartQuick View -
SMA Female 4-Hole Flange Mount RF Connector – Field Replaceable, 8.64mm Hole Spacing, 0.23mm Pin Diameter
$22.00 Add to cartQuick View -
SMA Male to SMA Male RF Adapter
$22.00 Add to cartQuick View -
SMP Male Full Detent RF Connector – Stub Terminal, Thread-In, Solder
$22.00 Add to cartQuick View
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Launch Engineering Support
Building a Launch Harness?
Send us the shock and vibration environment, the routing and the interfaces, and our engineers will come back with a proposal.