Method and apparatus for simulating multiple ground station ranging for spacecraft

A method of simulating the operation of a simulated spacecraft associated with a satellite orbit simulation comprising the steps of:

• generating range, attitude and elevation data for a plurality of simulated ground stations;
• identifying a desired simulated ground station from the plurality of simulated ground stations utilizing a common IP address, said desired simulated ground stations being associated with a unique port address;
• and,
• providing the simulated range data generated for the desired simulated ground station to a real time client in response to the unique port address.

A spacecraft emulation system for a simulated spacecraft comprising:

• a spacecraft status and control client;
• an interface coupled to the spacecraft status and control client for generating identification information for a desired simulated ground station;
• a tracking data server;
• a range data generator for generating simulated range data for a plurality of simulated ground stations;
• and,
• a range server coupled to the range data generator and spacecraft status and control unit, said range server having the simulated range data for said plurality of simulated ground stations therein and said range server providing the simulated range data to said spacecraft status and control client;
• wherein said interface, range data generator, range server and tracking data server are coupled within a single unit.