The research work in this paper is oriented to establish a real hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation system to reappear the on-orbit docking process on the ground. The docking frequency is discussed based on the analyzing the characteristics of docking mechanism. The time delay and time lag problems in the HIL simulation for on-orbit docking are quantitatively discussed. Furthermore, the compensation scheme to each of them is discussed and a compensator to all above time problems of them is presented. To verify the effectiveness of the compensator or to check the dynamic characteristics of the HIL simulation system, a verification idea and a validation model are presented. To do prophase research, a prototype of the HIL simulation system is established. Finally simulation was made on the virtual prototype of HIL simulation system with the validation model.