Spacecraft design using a genetic algorithm optimization approach

Spacecraft design is a highly coupled problem. The design of the spacecraft must balance payload objectives and orbital design against cost and schedule guidelines. Currently spacecraft are `optimized´ manually through a tool-assisted evaluation of a limited set of design alternatives. With this approach there is no guarantee that a system-level focus will be taken and `feasibility´ rather than `optimality´ is commonly all that is achieved. With support from NASA, the author has investigated better methods for performing the earliest stage of spacecraft design (including cost analysis) to ensure that a systems perspective is taken. This paper describes a tool for conceptual spacecraft design, SCOUT (Spacecraft Concept Optimization and Utility Tool), that uses a set of design estimating relationships (DERs) and cost relationships (CERs) coupled with genetic optimization. A retrospective comparison between SCOUT results and the actual design of the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft is made