Abstract
In spacecraft design, many specialized state-of-the-art design tools are employed to optimize the performance of various subsystems. However, there is no structured system-level concept-definition process. Consequently, designers usually compromise some mission goals to satisfy only one of the primary design objectives. The conceptual stage of the spacecraft design process is formulated into a multi-objective discrete optimization problem. The use of multi-objective design allows the designer to evaluate different design alternatives across the whole set of design objectives. This work addresses two key design objectives for the spacecraft design process: the minimization of total launch mass and the maximization of spacecraft overall reliability. To predict values for the objective and constraint functions, a satellite design tool, which includes a satellite sizing model and a deterministic reliability model, was built and integrated with a genetic algorithm that employs a two-branch tournament to address the dual objective problem. The multi-objective approach was successful in determining sets of discrete design parameters that would minimize the launch mass as well as maximize the reliability of a geostationary communication satellite, using specified payload requirements. The designs generated by this approach appear to fall into three regions of the tradeoff space between the satellite launch mass and the satellite reliability objectives.
Published Version
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