High-Fidelity Simulation of a Pico Satellite Link

Abstract

In this work, we demonstrate how to use a framework of computer simulation tools to establish a digital twin of a pico-satellite link. With high-fidelity, we emphasize that any change of parameters on the mission level, e.g., orbital parameters or the antennas used on satellite or ground station, is automatically reflected down to the radio frequency (RF) link model and finally evaluated on the digital symbol level, including end-to-end performance on the bit level. We evaluate this approach by simulating the link of the UWE-4 mission [1] and comparing the simulation results with raw-data recorded from the Telemetry, Tracking and Control (TT&C) link.