Model

The Model tab is where you design the physical 3D model of your satellite. This model drives power generation calculations and provides visual context in the 3D viewer.

Bus design

Define the satellite bus as a rectangular CubeSat with dimensions in U (1 U = 0.1 m). Each of the six faces can be configured independently:

• Material — Solar Panel (generates power) or Aluminum (structural only).
• Cell efficiency — fraction of incident solar flux converted to electricity (e.g. 28%).
• Packing factor — fraction of the face area covered by solar cells (e.g. 60%).

Deployable panels

Add deployable solar panels to any face. Each panel wing is defined by:

• Hinge face — which bus face the panel deploys from.
• Deployment angle — the angle between the panel and the bus face (90° = perpendicular).
• Trackable — whether the panel can rotate to track the sun.
• Flip flag — mirrors the panel orientation.
• Deployable area — the panel surface area.
• Efficiency and packing — separate from the body face values.

Attitude faces

Configure which body face points toward nadir (Earth/Moon) and which points along the velocity vector (ram). These define the default LVLH attitude used in power and access computations.

Using the model

The 3D model is used by:

• Power — solar panel geometry drives power generation. See Power.
• 3D viewer — the model is rendered with sun vector and body axis annotations during power analysis.

Next steps

• Power — how the model’s solar panels drive power generation