Comment by alex_duf
8 years ago
>This also means that failure recovery will be quite tricky if possible at all
Nowadays it's probably cheaper to send a new one than doing a whole Hubble like hot fix with a space shuttle
8 years ago
>This also means that failure recovery will be quite tricky if possible at all
Nowadays it's probably cheaper to send a new one than doing a whole Hubble like hot fix with a space shuttle
I'm not talking about on-orbit servicing though. Failure recovery is done all the time with most satellites. The operator just needs some time to determine the nature of the problem, possibly doing some workaround. With a low flying satellite you don't have much time for that.
failure recovery in the context of spacecraft usually means software-commands sent via TT&C (tracking, telemetry and control) channel to switch to another piece of hardware, part of the N+1 or 1+1 configuration on the spacecraft. It is incredibly exceptionally rare for a human to ever visit a satellite once in orbit.
They did it a few times in the 1980s with the shuttle, including recovery of a satellite to prove it could be done, and there were the hubble servicing missions. But other than that no human has ever touched a satellite once it's in orbit.