CONCEPT OF A LOW-COST SATELLITE ATTITUDE CONTROL SIMULATOR BASED ON AN ANTENNA TURNTABLE

Abstract

In this paper we present a test environment to test preflight high-fidelity intersatellite communication links on ground. The basic requirements are given by the research project “Telepresence for Space Missions” which is part of a collaborative research centre (SFB 453 – Sonderforschungsbereich) funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). The goal of this project is to analyze and test the possibility of establishing a communication link via a geostationary relay satellite having a signal roundtrip time smaller than 0.8 seconds. To establish a link between a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite and a geostationary relay satellite, an Inter Satellite Link (ISL) tracking mechanism to steer the antenna is needed. To verify the functionality of the tracking mechanism, a test bed similar to attitude control system test beds had to be developed at the Institute of Astronautics. Start-ing from the requirements of the attitude control system for an on-orbit servicing mission, a selection of existing attitude control simulators and their qualities as a simulator for this project will be layed out. In this paper the concept of a more use-ful low-cost satellite attitude control simulator will be presented. Finally, the paper describes all modifications needed to convert an existing antenna turntable at the Institute of Astronautics into the required testbed.