Review on Acceptance Test Performance of Mass Properties Measurement for Satellite Testing Requirement

Abstract

This paper focuses on making some review and observation on the performance of equipment named Mass Properties Measurement System (MPMS) which capable to calculate the center of gravity (CG), moment of inertia (MOI) and Product of Inertia (POI) of a satellite. Before approving to receive such a huge machine/equipment consist of mechanical and electronic structure, National Space Agency (ANGKASA) which acts as a Malaysian Government Agency has to go through an Acceptance Test Procedure (ATP) to compare with the factory acceptance result on its performance review. The Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) for this machine has been done earlier in United States (USA) as the equipment is manufactured in Connecticut, USA. This ATP is responsible on determining the requirements of a specification or contract are met or not by conducting test which is commonly applied for engineering and its various subdisciplines and the test have been witnessed by a Malaysian Research Institute; SIRIM Berhad, local and international contractors as well as the principal or manufacturer of the equipment itself and took place in ANGKASA, Banting, Selangor. It may involve chemical tests, physical tests, or performance tests by comparing the results with FAT [1].POI-1000M Rotary table, a rotor, deadweights, a compressor and a beam are the main components to be used for the acceptance performance test assisted by a control system for operators to calculate the desired measurements. Results confirmed that the ATP and FAT results are finally been compared and the equipment is successfully approved.