The Space Operations Simulation Center (SOSC) provides an ultra-stable environment for developing, evaluating, and testing precision instruments and navigation systems for space vehicles. Sophisticated facilities enable full- and sub-scale simulations of ranging, rendezvous, docking, imaging, descent, and landing operations—all of which are necessary for the success of manned and robotic missions to Earth-orbiting platforms and celestial bodies. The 41,000-square-foot building includes a 16,000-square-foot high bay with a robot wing and an airlock, four mission operations centers, two control rooms, a two-story lobby, and support spaces.

RMH’s role for this fast-track project included electrical/lighting design, lighting modeling, energy modeling, and LEED consulting. RMH met the challenge of spearheading the LEED effort for a project with an accelerated schedule and complex technical spaces not typical for a LEED-targeted facility. The facility achieved LEED-NC Gold certification.

In a related project, our engineers designed a 50-foot-tall, six-degree-of-freedom robot system used to design and test autonomous spacecraft guidance systems within the SOSC facility. The high-precision robot maneuvers and docks full-scale spacecraft mock-ups with minimal deflection under load. The design included a unique 2,000-psi hydraulic counterbalance system that supports the vertical-axis platform’s 36,000-pound mass.

Photo credit: Lockheed Martin Space Systems