Structural analysis - a case study of the rømer satellite

Abstract Spacecraft systems increase in functionality and complexity. At the same time, requirements increase to autonomy in order to cut expensive ground station support. Complexity and autonomy combine to a problem that is very difficult to analyze by traditional means. Structural analysis is a tool that in theory has the potential to cope with this complexity, but the technique is not yet in widespread use. This paper shows how structural analysis can be used in practice to aid in the design of the autonomy related parts of an entire spacecraft subsystem