Why the Aerospace and Defense Industries Are Fundamentally Changing the Role of Virtual Development
Europe is investing heavily in space and defense programs. New satellite constellations, mission-critical infrastructure, and rising defense budgets are opening up attractive market opportunities for companies in the mechanical engineering, automotive, and high-tech industries. At the same time, requirements are becoming more demanding: Issues that often only become apparent during test operations in traditional industrial projects must be understood in space and defense applications even before the first prototype is built. This is precisely why simulation is increasingly evolving from an analytical tool into a decision-making instrument.
Safety Starts Before the Test
The biggest challenge here lies not in individual components, but in the interplay of physical effects. Temperature changes, shock loads, vibrations, and dynamic loads often act on a system simultaneously. By the time these interactions are identified during testing, time, budget, and development flexibility have often already been lost.
“Many companies still use simulation primarily to validate existing designs,” says Dipl.-Ing. (TU) Stefan Merkle, managing partner of Merkle CAE Solutions GmbH. “In safety-critical industries, it is increasingly becoming the basis for technical decisions. The key question is no longer, ‘Does the system work?’ but rather, ‘Which solution offers the greatest robustness under real-world operating conditions?’”
Space Exploration: When Micrometers Make the Difference
One example of this is thermostructural effects in orbit. During an orbit, satellites repeatedly pass through phases of sunlight and shadow. The resulting temperature changes lead to stresses and deformations that can affect the performance of antennas, sensors, or optical systems. Even slight positional deviations can impair the performance of an entire system.
Using coupled multiphysics simulations, these effects can be analyzed at an early stage. This provides developers with insights not only into a design’s functionality but also into its behavior under realistic operating conditions.
Defense: More Than Just Presenting Evidence
Similar challenges exist in the defense sector. Electronic assemblies, sensor platforms, and mechanical components must function reliably under vibrations, shock events, and dynamic loads. Physical testing remains indispensable, but it reflects only a limited subset of possible operational scenarios.
The true added value of modern simulation often lies in an area that is still underestimated outside the world of simulation: it not only accelerates development but also improves the quality of decisions. While tests provide answers for solutions that have already been developed, virtual models enable the evaluation of concepts, materials, and design variants long before a prototype is built.
New Markets, New Requirements
For companies planning to enter the aerospace or defense sectors, simulation can be a decisive competitive advantage. The requirements of these markets differ significantly from those of traditional industrial applications. Verifiability, risk minimization, and system robustness take center stage.
For many companies, this means a shift in perspective: It is not testing that is being replaced, but rather the decision-making process that is changing.
