Abstract
Engineering Test Satellite-VIII (ETS-VIII) is a geostationary satellite which is scheduled to be launched in 2003 by H-II A launch vehicle^<[1], [2] , [3] , [4]> It is also intended to develop new technology for advanced satellite communications such as mobile communication system with hand-held terminals For this purpose, ETS-VIII is equipped with two Large Deployable Reflectors (LDR) for sending and receiving signals. Figure 1 shows the m-orbit configuration of ETS-VIII. The size of the LDR is 16 7m^* 19.2m in deployed configuration. This reflector is an assembly of 14 independent hexagonal modules composed of deployable truss backup structure and reflector surface The reflector surface is formed by metal mesh and quartz cables, which correct the shape of the surface.The mesh surface of each module is adjusted one by one into parabolic shape and connected using module connecting points on truss backup structure. The locations of connecting points are precisely measured prior to connection.The module connecting points data are installed to SPADE( Simple Partitioning Algorithm based Dynamics of finite Element)model and the surface shape of multi-connected modules in orbit is simulated.This simulations is verified by the measurement result of the surface accuracy of the three connected modules.
