Space hardware is qualified by test — vibration, thermal-vacuum, EMC, hot-fire. So why simulate? Because in space, iteration is brutally expensive. A shaker campaign, a TVAC cycle, or a launch is measured in months and millions. Simulation is how you show up to the test expecting to pass, not hoping to. It's also how you convince a NASA reviewer that your demonstration plan is real.
The launch is often the worst environment your hardware ever sees. Model the random-vibration and vibro-acoustic response and run a modal / coupled-loads analysis in Ansys Mechanical to prove your first mode clears the launch-vehicle requirement and nothing resonates itself apart. This is table stakes for a launch-readiness review.
In vacuum there's no convection — heat only radiates and conducts. Model hot and cold orbital cases and the swing from sunlight to eclipse, and correlate to your thermal-vacuum test, using Mechanical and Icepak. Electronics that would be fine on a bench can cook or freeze on orbit.
You don't need to buy Ansys to start. We can arrange an evaluation license, live engineering support, and free learning content through a channel partner.
See if you qualify for an Ansys eval The MVP playbook →If you have a thruster, model the combustion and nozzle flow and the heat into the chamber wall in Ansys Fluent so hot-fire confirms your numbers. If you're coming back through the atmosphere, aerothermal reentry CFD sizes your heatshield before a real capsule is on the line.
Simulate antennas and RF payloads in HFSS so your link budget closes and antennas don't blind each other, and model orbits, coverage, and link budgets in STK so your mission claims survive scrutiny. Together with a credible demonstration plan, this is what turns a concept into fundable, flyable hardware. Every application on our home page maps a specific physics problem to the right tool.
Official sources: NASA SBIR/STTR · Space Tech Industry Partnerships. Figures change; confirm on the official page before relying on them.
