ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,362,823, issued on July 15, was assigned to Viasat Inc. (Carlsbad, Calif.).
"Fractionated satellite constellation" was invented by David D. Greenidge (Longmont, Colo.) and Craig A. Miller (Carlsbad, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Systems and method for supporting a fractionated satellite constellation are disclosed. A gateway satellite may route communications to and from auxiliary satellites using a first communication protocol. The auxiliary satellites may be orbitally-coupled with the gateway satellite and may be equipped with respective payload types that provide respective functionalities. The auxiliary satellites may also us...