Case Study: Planet achieves launch-qualified, low-vibration SkySat performance with Quartus Engineering

Planet launches 11 SkySat satellites with Quartus Engineering

The customer, Planet, faced the challenge of developing a robust structural architecture for its second-generation SkySat small satellite constellation. This architecture needed to withstand the demanding random vibration environments from multiple potential launch vehicles while also accommodating a new propulsion system without adding significant mass or negatively impacting sensitive optical payloads. Quartus Engineering was engaged to provide comprehensive structural analysis support to meet these goals.

Quartus Engineering delivered extensive structural analysis over several years, including finite element modeling, dynamics analysis, and test support. Their solutions optimized the bus structure, generated accurate environmental test specifications, and achieved very good model-test correlation up to high frequencies. As a result, 11 satellites have been successfully launched on three different launch vehicles and are currently operating in orbit for Planet.

Planet