Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine February 2018 - 36

Remote Sensing Satellites Conceptual Design
ally choose the BLD point in a (two-dimensional) 2D space while considering
the design constraints and requirements.
The BLD point is the best combination
of the DPs. The best combination of
the DPs identifies the equilibrium point
which the balance between desirability,
affordability and availability will occur
there. The importance of this point is
that the design procedure will continues
based on its coordinate in the design
plane.
Although Sadraey states that the principles of the technique were originally
introduced in a National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) technical
report and later developed by Roskam
[11] but according to the studied sources,
this idea has been raised before Loftin by
Figure 3.
Torenbeek and after him used with some The airplane designers and their publications by year.
modifications by other designers.
Given the similarities between design features of aerial sysairplane performance, so the MDPs of airplane are wing reference
tems and space ones, the design plane technique in airplane sizing
area (S) and thrust of jet engines (T) or output power of propeller
can be generalized to satellite sizing.
engine (P). The third parameter is the airplane maximum take-off
The fundamental elements of the airplane design plane can be
weight (WTO). These parameters have direct effect on airplane
overall divided into three categories:
performance and also these are the output of sizing phase and input
of the next phase of airplane design.
C Mission requirements and mission specifications: Derived
In order to simultaneously solve the equations in the framefrom investors' objectives and end users' needs;
work of the design plane and enable the designer to observe the
equation solving process, determination of allowable design area
C PRs and performance criteria: derived from the standards,
and specifying the design points, these three parameters must conrules and regulations, as well as scientific theories in technivert into two parameters. Therefore, the three DPs WTO, S, and
cal fields related to airplane such as flight mechanics, aeroT, or P has been merged to form the two parameters W/S and T/W
dynamics, and structures;
or W/P. These two parameters are called the airplane design drivC MDPs with three key features:
ers (DDs) and the axes of the design plane are labeled with their
symbols.
Direct and great impact on airplane performance;
Output of the sizing phase: weight, size, thrust of jet engines (output power of propeller engines), and designing,
manufacturing, and operations cost of the airplane must
be calculable using these parameters;
Input of the next phase: the airplane design procedure
must be continued based on the values of these parameters.

Torenbeek has selected WTO, S, and T or P as the airplane MDPs.
Therefore, two fundamental questions are addressed in this section:
1. Why only three parameters (and not more or less) are selected
as the MDPs?
2. Why these parameters (and not another) are selected as the
MDPs?

PAST APPLICATIONS OF THE DESIGN PLANE
The results of a literature survey indicate that no attempt has
been made to use the design plane other than airplane design.
The airplane designers and their publications in which the design
plane technique has been used in airplane sizing are illustrated in
Figure 3.
The purpose of this section is to extract the general pattern of
"airplane sizing using design plane technique". The method implementation flow graph is depicted in Figure 4. Generally, wings and
engines are the two segments that have the strongest impact on the
36

THE AIRPLANE MDPS AND DDS

The literature has been reviewed to answer the questions above.
The physical structure of an engineering system, in order to fulfil
the desired functions designed for that, should be constituent of
three major categories of elements [13], [14]:
C

Elements that process on Information;

Elements that process on Energy;

Elements that process on Matter;

IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE

FEBRUARY 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine February 2018