Design and analysis of the closed-loop pointing system of a scientific satellite

A spacecraft is required to perform on-orbit closed-loop pointing at various objects such as other spacecraft, stars, auroral surges, and cloud structures. Simulations of algorithms of the three onboard pointing subsystems and a scene generator run concurrently on four networked PCs (plus a fifth as a file server) allowing analysis of the end-to-end closed loop pointing system. The four areas of simulations plus the networked system are discussed.