Application of Concurrent Engineering in Satellite Design

China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) Shenzhou Institute (SZI) has developed and tested a facility dedicated to increasing efficiency in key mission design processes of a Communication Satellite, including payload design, mission planning, and implementation plan development, among others. The facility provides a concurrent design method which allows the scientists and engineers to produce project designs and mission plans in a real-time collaborative environment, using industry-standard physics-based development tools and the latest communication technology. As one of the successful programs derived from SZI concurrent design facility, X-SAT Virtual Satellite Design is introduced in this paper, which takes the objective to conduct the preliminary design of a virtual geostationary communication satellite independently by the interns.