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EDITORIAL INFORMATION

The author is of the opinion that cost-effectiveness is still not being adequately considered within the aerospace industry. Experience shows that there is much duplication of development, particularly in regard to control aspects of satellite operations both before and after launch. Here, the author considers there are possibilities for re-use of equipment and methodologies, precluding the need for unnecessary duplication to meet common requirements.

In Satellite Control: A Comprehensive Approach, the author outlines his strategy for a complete systems approach to aerospace system design and development. In this completely revised and updated second edition, he proposes changes to established methodologies for spacecraft control, giving practical examples of system re-use, automation of operations, efficient technical and financial solutions to spacecraft operations and pre- and post-launch control. This approach provides the opportunity for financial cost savings whilst maintaining technical reliability. The implementation of these proposals will necessitate changes to established working practices and therefore management policies.

(Extracted from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Table of Contents.

-Preface.

-Abbreviations.

-1- Aerospace Systems: Structure and Philosophy.

-2- The Space Segment: Composition and Construction.

-3- The Earth Segment: Comprehensive Requirements.

-4- System Control: Interfaces and Configurations.

-5- System Executive: Man and Machine.

-6- System Rationalisation: Development Appraisal.

-7- Evolving Systems: Retaining Control.

-8- Managing Operations: Comprehensive Control.

-Colour Synoptic Pictures.

-Appendix: ETOL Applications.

-Bibliography.

-Index.

OUR REVIEW

Garner, rather than a technical book, has presented us a whole philosophy of work aimed at optimizing as much as possible one of the most basic aspects in the space activities of our days: satellite control. According to the author, this control is done in a little effective way, which reduces the economical profitability of the systems. To alleviate it, he proposes a number of measures, both in the organization and in the technical orientation that help to decrease costs, while at the same time increasing the reliability of the systems and their ease of use.

This book is the second edition of a work published in 1990 called Satellite Operations: Systems Approach to Design and Control, then signed by M. Jones and Garner himself. Since then technology has advanced remarkably enough, given the great commercial incentive of the communications satellites, yet this has not been so with the management of the programs, which in a way appears to be stagnant and inefficient. According to Garner, an experienced expert of the european space agency, the satellites are in theory controlled during their construction, before, during and after their being launched, and above all, during their active life. This fact itself invites us to see in a global way the entire process, which actually is not really happening nowadays. The book intends to contribute some light into this question, so that it will surely interest those students who have graduated in engineering, the space sciences and astronautics, as well as scientists, system designers and other people involved in the aerospace sector.