Nose cone of a rocket used to protect spacecraft during launch
Artist's rendering of a payload fairing being jettisonedAn example of clamshell fairing of Falcon 9 during testing, 27 May 2013
A payload fairing is a nose cone used to protect a spacecraft payload against the impact of dynamic pressure and aerodynamic heating during launch through an atmosphere. An additional function on some flights is to maintain the cleanroom environment for precision instruments.[1] Once outside the atmosphere the fairing is jettisoned, exposing the payload to outer space.
The standard payload fairing is typically a cone-cylinder combination, due to aerodynamic considerations, although other specialized fairings are in use. The type of fairing which separates into two halves upon jettisoning is called a clamshell fairing by way of analogy to the bifurcating shell of a clam. In some cases the fairing may enclose both the payload and the upper stage of the rocket, such as on Atlas V[2] and Proton M.[3]
If the payload is attached both to the booster's core structures and to the fairing, the payload may still be affected by the fairing's bending loads, as well as inertia loads due to vibrations caused by gusts and buffeting.[4]
In the aerospace industry, a frustum is the fairing between two stages of a multistage rocket (such as the Saturn V), which is shaped like a truncated cone (in geometry, a kind of frustum).
^Arianespace, 2016, Ariane 6 User Manual, page 3-11
^"Atlas V cutaway" (PDF). United Launch Alliance. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-10. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
^A Conceptual Design for the Space Launch capability of the peacekeeper ICBM [1] Archived 2017-08-12 at the Wayback Machine
^Thomas P. Sarafin, Wiley J. (1995) "Spacecraft Structures and Mechanisms--from Concept to Launch", ISBN 0-7923-3476-0 p. 47 Archived 2013-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
Once outside the atmosphere the fairing is jettisoned, exposing the payload to outer space. The standard payloadfairing is typically a cone-cylinder combination...
performed a controlled landing of the payloadfairing into the ocean for the first time. SpaceX was able to recover the fairing half from the water after it landed...
rocket and built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Contraves built the fairing and payload adapters based on designs it used on the Ariane 4. The first Delta...
meters) of the payloadfairing and has a value of "4" or "5" for fairing launches and "N" for crew capsule launches (as no payloadfairing is used). The...
"punishment" on the way to its destination. Most rocket payloads are fitted within a payloadfairing to protect them against dynamic pressure of high-velocity...
Extended payloadfairing would reduce the payload capacity by around 45 kg (99 lb) compared to flying with the Large payloadfairing. Both fairing options...
Large fairing. If a vehicle flew using a Medium fairing, the lower mass of the fairing would enable an approximately 135 kg (298 lb) increase in payload capacity...
appearance Bicycle fairing, a type of fairing coverage for bicycles Motorcycle fairing, a type of fairing applied to motorcycles Payloadfairing, an aerodynamic...
500 series, and for ULA's forthcoming Vulcan launcher. A payloadfairing protects the payload from the environment during the ascent, ensuring cleanliness...
as the RLV would not required the excess thrust created by the CUS. Payloadfairing of PSLV, also referred as its "Heatshield" consists of a conical upper...
4-meter Atlas fairing last flew in 2022. Atlas II rockets flying with a Medium fairing could move the most payload to orbit, as that fairing was the lightest...
and cylinder apart and thereby pushing the payloadfairing halves laterally away from the launcher. The fairing is made of Aluminum alloy featuring acoustic...
vibration caused the collapse of the payloadfairing, destroying the Optus B2 and Apstar 2 satellites. After the payloadfairing was redesigned, excessive vibration...
fuselage, or into the propeller on a pusher craft. Bicycle fairing Motorcycle fairingPayloadfairing Crane, Dale: Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition...
satellite payload, a variety of different payloadfairings were available. A stretched Delta III 4-meter diameter composite payloadfairing was used on...
7 m (12 ft) payloadfairing and US$35 million with a 5.2 m (17 ft) fairing. SpaceX also announced a heavy version of Falcon 9 with a payload capacity of...
reusability profile. Instead of a conventional payloadfairing that is jettisoned and recovered at sea, the fairing is integrated into the vehicle, and opens...
2009, when the payloadfairing of the Taurus rocket which was carrying it failed to separate during ascent. The added mass of the fairing prevented the...
vehicle with solid, liquid and cryogenic stages respectively. The payloadfairing, which is 7.8 m (26 ft) long and 3.4 m (11 ft) in diameter, protects...
IV M+(4,2) two SRBs, and a 4 m diameter DCSS and payloadfairing, the final use of the 4 m fairing. The Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle used three Common...
including an expanded fairing (1.2x standard), a normal expanded fairing, an extended fairing and a dual stack fairing. The standard fairing has a usable diameter...
Crewed Flight Test. OFT-2 was the second flight of an Atlas V without a payloadfairing and with a dual-engine Centaur upper stage. The dual-engine Centaur...
separating from the final stage of the rocket, or it may be used as a payloadfairing to shield the satellite until out of the atmosphere, then separating...
[citation needed] OFT is the first flight of an Atlas V without a payloadfairing and its first flight with a dual-engine Centaur upper stage. The dual-engine...
different payloadfairing at its top. This accounts. for the larger dimensions of the Tiangong laboratory, which wouldn't fit inside the standard payload fairing...
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