Talk:Hosted payload

Article name

Shouldn't the name of this article be "secondary payload" rather than "hosted payload"? I've seen both terms used, but the term secondary payload appears to be much more common. N2e (talk) 16:11, 3 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

On further reflection, I'm modifying my position stated above. I see that a Hosted payload is a shared payload that is part of a specific satellite, sharing the same bus, etc. A Secondary payload is a widely used term that describes a shared ride on a launch vehicle, but not a shared single satellite bus on that launch. Rather, a secondary payload is released from the launch vehicle upper stage—and generally only powered up/allowed to operate at all—after the primary payload has separated from the launcher upper stage. Variations are possible, of course. But the secondary payload market standard business model seems to be the "power up and then release only after the primary payload has separated".

So I no longer think that it would be wise to change the name of this article. However, this article does need a large amount of work. Cheers. N2e (talk) 01:24, 28 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]