Passive control and layout optimization of Mesbah small satellite

For finding the optimum layout of spacecraft subsystems, important factors such as the center of gravity, moments of inertia, thermal distribution, natural frequencies, etc. should be taken into account. This large number of effective parameters makes the optimum layout process of spacecraft subsystems complex and time consuming. In this paper, an automatic tool, based on multi-objective optimization methods, is proposed for a three dimensional layout of spacecraft subsystems. In this regard, an efficient Spacecraft Component Adaptive Layout Environment (SCALE) is produced by integration of some modeling, FEM, and optimization software. SCALE automatically provides optimal solutions for a three dimensional layout of spacecraft subsystems with considering important constraints such as center of gravity, moment of inertia, thermal distribution, natural frequencies and structural strength. In order to show the superiority and efficiency of SCALE, layout of a telecommunication spacecraft and a remote sensing spacecraft are performed. The results show that, the objective functions values for obtained layouts by using SCALE are in a much better condition than traditional one i.e. Reference Baseline Solution (RBS) which is proposed by the engineering system team. This indicates the good performance and ability of SCALE for finding the optimal layout of spacecraft subsystems.