A Virtual Instrument for the Testing and Performance Evaluation of a Microsatellite Power Supply System

A multimission microsatellite is currently being built by the Satellite Engineering Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in collaboration with the DSO National Laboratories, Singapore. Among the various subsystems, the power supply is one of the most critical parts of the satellite. Its primary and secondary power sources, i.e., the solar array and the battery, and the various power converters are responsible for supplying power with well-regulated voltages to the satellite throughout the whole mission. To test and evaluate the performance of the system, with the satellite operating in different simulated space scenarios, a virtual-instrument-based test and measurement system has been developed. Experimental results that were obtained from the setup have shown that the system is a valuable tool that provides data that are difficult to obtain from analysis and software simulation.