Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd scores UK first

Citation

(2001), "Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd scores UK first", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 73 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2001.12773aab.020

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd scores UK first

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd scores UK first

Keywords: Unigraphics Solutions, Surrey Space Technology, Satellites

Last year the UK's first nanosatellite, SNAP-1, was successfully launched into space on board a Cosmos rocket from the Plesetsk launch site in Northern Russia.

Designed and manufactured by the commercial satellite development company based at the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey in Guildford, Surrey Space Technology Ltd (SSTL), SNAP-1 weighs just 6.5kg and carries advanced micro-miniature GPS navigation, camera, onboard computing, propulsion and attitude control technologies, all of which have been developed at Guildford by SSTL. SNAP-1 will be used as a technology demonstrator in proving the use of nanosatellites (i.e. satellites which weigh up to 10kg) for the inspection of larger satellites and in formation flying for low-cost space science and earth observation experiments.

With the go-ahead for the project only being received in November 1999, a major contributing factor to the development team's ability to complete it in time for shipment to Russia for a June 28 launch date was the decision to design the UK's first nanosatellite using the Solid Edge 3D mechanical CAD software package from Unigraphics Solutions.

Guy Richardson, SNAP-1 lead mechanical engineer, says "In the past, we have used a 2D/2.5D drafting system to document our designs. However, we knew that there are clear benefits to be had from the use of 3D solid modelling. For example, it is more a design tool than a drafting tool. Any 2D detail drawings needed for manufacturing are produced directly from the 3D models. More importantly, though, in designing a nanosatellite, where space is extremely limited, being able to model assemblies to check component fit, clearance and interfaces, as the design develops, is a very powerful facility. After looking at all the mid-range solid modelling CAD systems available, we chose Solid Edge because of its ease-of-use and intuitive user interface. With its online tutorials, we were able to start using the software straight out of the box."

This ability to start using 3D component and assembly modelling techniques straight-away is thought to have enabled the development team to define 90 per cent of the satellite's configuration, in terms of space envelopes and which components go where, within the first two months of the project, starting from scratch. With the resulting "outline" assembly model available over a network to all the engineers working on the project, they were then able to complete the detailed design of individual components in the part modelling environment and then re-introduce these components into the assembly environment to define and refine the interfaces between them.

"The parametric modelling facilities in Solid Edge enabled us quickly to sketch out components and assemblies at the concept design stage and then go back and simply edit them to arrive at the final detailed design", Guy Richardson explained to AEAT. "This was an important factor in getting the project completed in the short time-scale we had at our disposal."

"Other benefits it gave us", he added, "were the ability to make mass and centre-of-gravity calculations on the 3D solid model, which are important for determining the attitude control algorithms and the links it gave us to finite element analysis (FEA) programs. Here the Parasolid kernel on which Solid Edge is based and the 'data pipeline' to other Parasolid-based software packages meant we could pass data easily and accurately back and forth between the CAD model and our FEA programs without any translation."

In addition, the visualisation facilities in Solid Edge are said to have enabled accurate and fully rendered images of assemblies and sub-assemblies to be produced. These could be spun round and viewed from all angles by the development team – which included electronics engineers as well as mechanical engineers – so that they could all get a clear impression of which component went where. This again is said to have saved time by ensuring that everyone on the team had the same view of the project as it developed.

Summing up the benefits, Guy Richardson said, "Without Solid Edge it is highly unlikely that we would have been able to design and manufacture the UK's first nanosatellite in the six months we had from starting work on it to its shipment to Russia. SNAP-1 is an important milestone in UK spacecraft engineering and helps to confirm SSTL as a major company in spacecraft technology."

Details available from: Unigraphics Solutions. Tel: +44 (0) 1276 702000; E-mail: millsk@ugsolutions.co.uk