A knowledge-based design environment for spacecraft

A knowledge-based environment for configuration design studies is presented which assists in the conceptual stage design of spacecraft. During this stage, major decisions need to be taken on spacecraft design drivers such as spacecraft mass, power, size, launch vehicle, cost, reliability, etc. This requires a deep understanding of the interacting subsystems of the spacecraft and a thorough examination of the feasible design options and tradeoffs. The environment aids the effective integration of heterogenous data and methods from various disciplines. The dynamic sequencing and control of the design procedure is also highly flexible. The tool has been utilised satisfactorily at the ISRO Satellite Centre for the configuration design of a geosynchronous communications and multipurpose spacecraft.