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An improved system and method of ejecting a spacecraft from a shuttle or orbiter type craft in space includes a momentum wheel on the spacecraft that has a spin axis parallel to the ejection direction, spinning-up this momentum wheel prior to ejection and after ejection de-spinning this wheel whereb

An improved system and method of ejecting a spacecraft from a shuttle or orbiter type craft in space includes a momentum wheel on the spacecraft that has a spin axis parallel to the ejection direction, spinning-up this momentum wheel prior to ejection and after ejection de-spinning this wheel whereby the whole spacecraft spins without the need of a spin table on the shuttle or orbiter craft.

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A method for placing a spacecraft in orbit from the cargo bay of the space shuttle or orbiter type craft where the satellite is mounted in an ejection direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shuttle craft and where said spacecraft and a perigee motor are fixed to each other to form a

A method for placing a spacecraft in orbit from the cargo bay of the space shuttle or orbiter type craft where the satellite is mounted in an ejection direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shuttle craft and where said spacecraft and a perigee motor are fixed to each other to form a spacecraft/perigee motor assembly comprising the steps of: providing said spacecraft from a momentum wheel that has a spin axis in the launch direction; spinning said momentum wheel so that the momentum vector is parallel to the ejection direction of the spacecraft\s/perigee motor assembly when said assembly is separated from the shuttle craft; ejecting the non-spinning spacecraft/perigee motor assembly from said shuttle craft imparting a linear velocity to the assembly in said ejection direction while the inertial stability of the momentum wheel assures the orientation of said satellite/perigee motor assembly; and after ejecting the spacecraft/perigee motor assembly from the shuttle craft reducing the spinning of said momentum wheel to zero whereby the resultant spacecraft/perigee assembly is spun up.