Engineering Approach
Engineering decisions backed by verification.
We connect requirements, hardware, software, manufacturing and testing in one development process. Each subsystem architecture and verification approach is selected for its mission and spacecraft interfaces.
Mission-tailored design
| Design input | Engineering consequence |
|---|---|
| Orbit and lifetime | Radiation exposure, drag assumptions, thermal cases and component selection |
| Operating modes | Peak and average power, data load, timing and recovery behavior |
| Function criticality | Fault containment, supervision, redundancy and verification depth |
| Mechanical environment | Structural margins, mounting, retention and test levels |
| Interfaces | Electrical protection, timing, protocol behavior and integration tests |
| Production quantity | Configuration control, manufacturing repeatability and automated acceptance |
Components and radiation strategy
Commercial, radiation-tolerant and radiation-hardened components are selected using performance, available evidence, mission exposure and function criticality. Radiation assessment addresses total ionizing dose, displacement damage and single-event effects separately.
Architecture-level responses include current limiting, latch-up isolation, independent watchdogs, protected boot, memory-error handling and recovery. These mechanisms address defined failure modes; they do not make an unevaluated component radiation hardened.
Electrical, mechanical and thermal margins
- Component derating and operating-point review.
- Worst-case circuit analysis and power-up sequencing.
- Signal integrity, power integrity and interface timing.
- Grounding, shielding, bonding and EMC planning.
- Thermal paths, temperature margins and transient operating cases.
- Materials, contamination, tolerances and mechanical retention.
Product assurance and configuration
Requirements are linked to verification activities and delivered evidence. Hardware revisions, software builds, assembly records and parameter sets identify the configuration under test and the configuration delivered.
Part traceability, controlled manufacturing files, workmanship inspection and nonconformance handling support the build. Design changes and test anomalies are reviewed against their effect on interfaces, performance and prior verification evidence.
Model and verification approach
| Stage | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Breadboard / prototype | Investigate circuits, interfaces and uncertain design choices |
| Engineering model | Exercise representative hardware and software in an integration environment |
| Qualification or protoflight article | Address the selected environmental and design-verification strategy |
| Flight unit | Build and accept the delivered configuration against its defined requirements |
| FlatSat / hardware in the loop | Verify interfaces, timing, workload, operating sequences and recovery |
Model selection and test levels are established for each project. An engineering prototype is not presented as qualified flight hardware.
Integrated verification
Code review, automated tests, representative electrical loads, simulation and real hardware are used together. Fault injection exercises abnormal commands, interrupted power, communication loss and recovery. Environmental campaigns include functional checks before and after exposure and a controlled path through anomaly resolution.
Delivery baseline
Hardware and software arrive with their interface information, configuration identification and verification records. The baseline connects what was designed, what was built, what was tested and what the customer will integrate.