Patents by Inventor James E. Pollard

James E. Pollard has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6725012
    Abstract: A deployment method maintains a cluster of subsatellites within a rigid formation relative to and orbiting about a real or fictitious center satellite that in turn orbits the earth in a frozen inclined eccentric reference orbit by determining the subsatellite reference orbits of the each of the subsatellites based upon position and velocity vectors of the center satellite. The determined subsatellite reference orbits can then be maintained through fuel efficient microthrusting so as to maintain the rigid formation for coherently combining communication signals within a very large sparse antenna array formed by the cluster having improved beam directionality for improved signal communications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2004
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: Siegfried W. Janson, James E. Pollard, Chia-Chun Chao