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Satnews Daily
January 26th, 2017

Dynamic Testing For AsiaSat 9


The AsiaSat 9 spacecraft has successfully completed the dynamics test phase which simulates environment exposures that will be experienced by the spacecraft during launch.


AsiaSat 9 undergoing acoustical testing. Photo is courtesy of AsiaSat.

The first environmental test exposure is a high power acoustics field (a very large sound pressure wave). This simulates the rocket fairing environment during liftoff.

The second environmental is a 3 axis vibration test that simulates the vibration caused by the rocket engines during liftoff and other flight phases of the mission through separation of the spacecraft in orbit.

The AsiaSat 9 spacecraft is rolled into the stacked speakers circle in preparation for acoustics testing. The circle is closed off with additional speaker stacks for the actual acoustic test exposure. Dynamics testing is performed to confirm that the spacecraft can withstand the launch environments that will be imposed by the rocket carrying the spacecraft into orbit.

Highly specialized test facilities are used to expose the spacecraft to sound pressure waves and vibration levels created by the rocket. The levels used during test are higher than actual launch exposure to demonstrate the robustness of the spacecraft workmanship and design.

asiasat.com