A Systems Engineering Tool for Satellite Simulator Design

Simulation is one of the best methods for education and understanding events and used in many fields of science, for example: space researches. For this reason, creating of a frictionless environment that can simulate the operations of satellites will be very usable and appropriate. Spherical air bearings, that we call them TESTBEDs in this paper, are one of the most common devices used in satellite attitude dynamics simulation, because they provide three degrees of freedom rotational motion. They are employed to develop, improve and carry out operational tests of sensors, actuators and attitude control algorithms in experimental framework. An explanation about system engineering tool for testbed design that used by our team in Space Research Lab will be presented in this paper. This systems engineering tool utilizes a testbed-based approach to efficiently track information regarding the mass, cost, operation and volume of simulator subsystems. This subsystem information is derived through a variety of means, including analytical relationships, iterative solvers, and databases of components appropriate for satellite simulators. Finally, a description of 3-DoF satellite simulator and it’s subsystems (manufactured in Space Research Lab) by means of this system engineering tool will be demonstrated as a sample for validating results.