Design problems of spacecraft for communication missions

The process of designing a spacecraft for geosynchronous communications is described from the point where the mission and key payload performance requirements have been defined. Following a description of the launch and injection process, the constraints which this and the communications requirements impose on the satellite platform are described together with their potential design implications. Types of stabilization are compared with emphasis on selection between the dual spin and body stabilized classes. Typical guidelines are given for the design of each major spacecraft subsystem. The paper concludes with more general considerations such as mass and reliability optimization as well as configuration synthesis.