Development of a tip-tilt air-bearing testbed for physically emulating proximity-flight orbital mechanics

This paper presents the design and development of a new granite hardware-in-the-loop air-bearing testbed that can emulate the relative dynamics of orbiting spacecraft. The air-bearing testbed’s granite slab is supported via a fixed post and two mechanically adjustable screw actuators that allow the table’s surface to change in orientation. The surface can actuate in two axes: pitch and roll. As the table tilts, the Earth’s gravitational acceleration affects the acceleration experienced by a floating test vehicle operating on its surface without the need to activate the vehicle’s on-board thrusters. Thus, the testbed emulates the relative orbital dynamics between two orbiting spacecraft, instead of the planar zero-g conditions provided by most granite table facilities. Proof-of-concept experimental results are presented.