High-Fidelity Acoustic Excitation, Vibration Control & Analysis for Spacecraft Launch Qualification

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Launch Qualification exposes spacecraft, payloads and satellite structures to some of the most demanding dynamic environments in engineering. These include high-level acoustic excitation, broadband random vibration, shock, SRS profiles, sine burst, sine beat and combined load cases. The two primary methods for acoustic qualification are Direct Field Acoustic Testing (DFAT), conducted using powerful loudspeaker arrays, and Reverberant Field Acoustic Testing (RFAT), performed inside dedicated reverberation chambers.

In m+p products, these methods are implemented through our acoustic control solutions DFAN (Direct Field Acoustic Noise) and RFAN (Reverberant Field Acoustic Noise), which provide precise spectral shaping, multi-microphone control and stable OASPL regulation for both direct-field and reverberant-field environments.

Our integrated m+p platform delivers precise acoustic control, high-throughput data acquisition, multi-microphone monitoring and advanced analysis capabilities for DFAT and RFAT alike. With octave band analysis, sound intensity evaluation, real-time safety mechanisms, synchronized vibration control and powerful FFT and time-domain tools in the Analyzer, engineers obtain the insight required to qualify spacecraft, payloads and aerospace structures for the extreme acoustic and vibration conditions of launch.

Reproducing Real Launch Acoustic Environments (DFAT vs. RFAT)

Launch vehicles generate extreme broadband acoustic fields that must be reproduced accurately for qualification. DFAT provides flexible and mobile loudspeaker-based excitation, while RFAT produces highly uniform acoustic fields inside reverberant chambers. Controlling both methods consistently across multiple octave bands is challenging, especially when large spacecraft absorb energy and distort the acoustic field.

Our platform ensures precise acoustic regulation in both DFAT and RFAT setups. DFAN provides direct-field control with frequency-dependent equalisation and real-time microphone feedback, while RFAN stabilises reverberant-field acoustic profiles using multi-microphone averaging and advanced field distribution algorithms. Engineers can switch between DFAT and RFAT methods without changing their analysis workflow, enabling consistent comparison across the two qualification environments.

Protecting Prototypes While Still Exploring Their Limits

R&D teams frequently work with fragile engineering prototypes. These must be protected during early design validation tests, yet in other cases intentionally driven to failure to evaluate product reliability. Balancing safety and exploration requires intelligent control strategies.

Our platform offers robust safety testing capabilities, including notching, vector-notching, and frequency or phase-based abort conditions. During Sine Dwell or stepped sine, engineers can specify abort limits based on frequency shift, phase changes, or amplitude increases—ensuring that the prototype is protected or allowed to fail intentionally under controlled conditions. Every abort event is logged automatically for full traceability and product safety testing documentation.

Supporting Complex Engineering Test Workflows

Engineering testing often involves sequences of different test methods—vibration, shock, climatic testing, SRS, random, sine dwell, mechanical testing, and materials testing. Coordinating these workflows manually is time-consuming and error-prone.

VibUtil allows engineers to define sequences of engineering tests easily, such as sine → random → shock → sine dwell → custom steps. The system manages transitions automatically while preserving parameters across each stage. This supports engineering prototype verification, development verification test procedures, and full product development testing workflows.

Parallel Recording & High Throughput for Deep Engineering Insight

R&D teams rely on deep data insight during development. They must record multiple channels at high sampling rates during vibration stimulation, capturing the full dynamic behaviour of prototypes for detailed analysis.

Our solutions enable high-throughput parallel recording in real time. During vibration, shock, or environmental simulation, all relevant channels are written to disk continuously without impacting control performance. Engineers can later perform frequency-domain analysis, orbit plots, time-domain analysis, and transfer functions in the Analyzer. This capability is essential for prototypes undergoing design validation testing, engineering verification tests, and structural refinement.

Integrating Third-Party Hardware Such as National Instruments

Engineering departments often have existing NI-based data acquisition setups or want to expand their measurement capability with additional channels or sensors.

The m+p Analyzer directly supports National Instruments hardware, allowing engineers to combine NI systems with m+p solutions in one unified workflow. This makes mixed hardware test benches easy to integrate and provides a seamless data analysis environment for materials testing, impact testing of materials, vibration test for packaging, and compliance testing.

Modal Analysis for Simulation Correlation & Redesign

Engineering tests frequently support redesign, FEA updates, and simulation validation. Engineers need damping values, mode shapes, natural frequencies and modal parameters to improve finite element models and validate engineering prototypes.

Our integrated engineering testing environment includes full modal analysis capability. Engineers can perform impact or shaker-based modal tests, extract mode shapes, natural frequencies and damping values, and use these results for simulation updates or design validation. This makes development verification tests more meaningful and accelerates product performance testing.

Combining Vibration Control, Data Acquisition & Numerical Simulation

Prototypes and engineering prototypes require iterative testing, redesign and simulation. Exporting high-quality test data for correlation is essential for product reliability analysis and design verification.

All signals, FFT results, transfer functions, shock responses, and processed data can be exported easily into common formats for numerical simulation tools. Engineers can create thorough reports, update FEA models, and combine experimental results with virtual models. This directly supports design validation and testing, product reliability testing, and engineering verification test workflows.

Supporting Reliability-Oriented Engineering Workflows

As products move towards release, R&D teams need to evaluate reliability through vibration stimulation, temperature variation, mechanical loading and often even HASS testing conditions.

Our engineering testing platform supports reliability testing workflows by offering precise control, notching, data recording, environmental control integration and deep analysis. This enables engineering departments to correlate test behaviour with product reliability analysis and accelerate development cycles.



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“Life safety and security selected m+p as our preferred vibration controller supplier for the intuitive software and competitive pricing. As a UKAS accredited test house, we expect the highest levels of system reliability, stability and support which m+p have successfully delivered with every system.”

Andrew Lawson
Laboratory Manager at Intertek
Leatherhead/United Kingdom

“Life safety and security selected m+p as our preferred vibration controller supplier for the intuitive software and competitive pricing. As a UKAS accredited test house, we expect the highest levels of system reliability, stability and support which m+p have successfully delivered with every system.”


Andrew Lawson
Laboratory Manager at Intertek
Leatherhead/United Kingdom

“Life safety and security selected m+p as our preferred vibration controller supplier for the intuitive software and competitive pricing. As a UKAS accredited test house, we expect the highest levels of system reliability, stability and support which m+p have successfully delivered with every system.”


Andrew Lawson
Laboratory Manager at Intertek
Leatherhead/United Kingdom

Case studies

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Element laboratory | UK

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Acousting Testing resources 

Acousting Testing – FAQ

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