🤖 AI Summary
This work addresses the simulation inconsistencies in Basilisk arising from heterogeneous development environments due to variations in dependencies, operating systems, and configurations. To resolve this, the authors propose and implement the first containerized workflow specifically designed for Basilisk. By leveraging Docker, the approach encapsulates the complete build environment, dependencies, and simulation infrastructure into a portable, self-contained package. Integrated with Basilisk’s BSKSim class hierarchy, modular dynamics modeling, and flight software integration, this framework enables reproducible end-to-end simulations—from orbital dynamics to complex Monte Carlo attitude control scenarios. The resulting environment significantly enhances the repeatability of multi-layered simulations and provides researchers with a standardized, ready-to-use Basilisk simulation platform.
📝 Abstract
Basilisk is an open-source astrodynamics simulation framework widely used for spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) research and development. Despite its flexibility and computational capabilities, configuring Basilisk consistently across heterogeneous development environments presents practical challenges due to dependency management, operating system compatibility, and software configuration requirements. This paper presents a Docker-based containerization workflow for Basilisk that encapsulates the complete build environment, dependencies, and simulation infrastructure within a portable container image. The workflow is demonstrated through a progression of simulation scenarios of increasing complexity, from standalone orbital dynamics scripts to BSKSim-based attitude dynamics and control simulations with Monte Carlo analysis. The BSKSim class hierarchy, dynamics model architecture, flight software implementation, and scenario execution patterns are described in detail. The presented workflow provides a self-contained implementation reference for GN&C engineers and researchers seeking reproducible and portable Basilisk simulation environments. This work expands upon a workshop presentation delivered at the 46th Rocky Mountain AAS GN&C Conference, February 2024, available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15008785.