Abstract
SUMMARY An advanced primary deployment mechanism (PDM) has been designed for a major earth observation satellite called Envisat which is due to be launched in 1998. The Envisat PDM performs the first stage of deployment of the solar array and supports it for 4 years of operation in low earth orbit. The PDM is the largest ever designed in Europe and contains advanced mechanism and structural technology in order to meet very demanding requirements. A highly iterative design process was necessary to produce the required performance with correlation between test and analysis playing a crucial role in the final stages of the design process. This paper presents the overall design methodology used for the Envisat PDM and describes some of the key design and analysis activities at each stage of the design process.
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