A new on-board data handling system for spacecraft flight control simulator

The spacecraft flight dynamics simulator for control is a laboratory system designed for the purpose of developing and testing orbit and attitude control algorithms in a low-risk, low-cost environment. This paper presents the details for the design and construction of a new spacecraft flight dynamics control simulator, including hardware and software architecture. The distinguished feature of the simulator different from other simulators is that on-board data handling is based on wireless ad hoc network, which breaks through the traditional conception. The major issues encountered during the realization of the simulator and the approaches developed to remedy these difficulties are discussed in detail (such as modeling and simulating sensors measurements and actuators control commands, the data communication on the wireless ad hoc network, the process synchronization of the wireless node, the real-time visualization animation by driving STK). Finally, based on the established simulator, the paper presents some experimental results from the application of large angle attitude maneuver. The test results demonstrate the validity and correctness of the simulator.