Abstract: In order to reduce the launching cost of small satellites, small launch vehicles are used. To enhance the carrying ability of small launch vehicles, this article presents a design project of reusable electronic systems for satellite/launch vehicles based on reconfigurable computing. This reusable electronic system is designed in a mixed structure of controlled area network (CAN) bus and other independent interfaces, and onboard computer (OBC) is reconfigurable based on field programmable gate array (FPGA). Applying the system on programmable chip (SOPC) technique, the functions of OBC are achieved by the method of hardware/software codesign and hardware describing language (HDL) design. Through the fast dynamic reconfiguration of FPGA, the OBC could control the launch vehicle, and implement function switching, fault handling and upgrading when a small satellite is in orbit. A ground realtime simulation system is established. The experiments show that reconfiguration time is in the range of (500±40)ms, and the controlling cycle is as small as 10 ms. Through hardware reuse, the reconfigurable electronic system of a satellite and launch vehicle is able to improve effectively its carrying ability, reduce the launching cost, and address the issues of conflicts between system resources, multifunctions, and highperformance requirements.

Key words: satellites, launching, on-board electronic system, cost reduction, avionics, reconfigurable computing, hardware/software codesign, simulation