Digital Commons Network^™

Automated Fault-Detection For Small Satellite Pointing Control Systems Using One-Sided Learning, Yujia Huang, Philip A. Ferguson

Small Satellite Conference

In this paper, we propose a ground-based automated novelty detection system for a small satellite attitude dynamics control system using a one-sided learning algorithm: One-Class Support Vector Machine (OC-SVM) method. This fault-detection system was designed to only learn from nominal behavior of the satellite during the commissioning phase and to identify and detect anomalies when there was a subtle behavioral failure in the attitude control system. The detection system was trained by only observing the nominal attitude dynamics behavior of a small satellite for a period of time. Training data was obtained from reaction wheel outputs in a healthy attitude …

Creating A Marketplace For A Constellation As A Service, Brent Horine

Small Satellite Conference

With the proliferation of diverse small satellites in orbit, many connected via mesh networks, an opportunity exists to exploit fallow capabilities in satellites for which the original mission is complete or in a sustaining phase that requires less than 100% capacity. We outline a marketplace to facilitate matching of needs and capabilities via a multi-agent negotiation framework. Agents have knowledge of the capabilities, constraints, configuration and load on their represented satellite. This knowledge can be imperfect at least temporarily due to communication constraints. Exchanges of information during the negotiation in the form of arguments can improve overall knowledge. Argumentation in …

Development Of An Operating Strategy For On-Demand Earth Observation Missions Of The Diwata-2 Microsatellite, Edgar Paolo Violan, Yuji Sato, Yuji Sakamoto, Shinya Fujita, Julie Ann Boanatao, Toshinori Kuwahara, Kazuya Yoshida

Small Satellite Conference

Diwata-2 is the Philippines’ 2nd microsatellite developed by Tohoku University, Hokkaido University, University of the Philippines, and the Philippine Department of Science and Technology. Its primary purpose is gathering remote sensing data through imaging areas of interest for the Philippines. This paper presents the study of Diwata-2’s initial Earth observation pointing performance, investigation of its Attitude Determination and Control System, the tuning of its Star Tracker sensor parameters, the in-flight target pointing calibration, and the sequential scheduling of its components forming an operation strategy for an effective on-demand earth observation mission. This operation strategy has managed to improve the satellite’s …

How Skywatch Uses Serverless Cloud Computing To Aggregate Eo Data For The Masses, Roland Sing

Small Satellite Conference

Problem

• Petabytes of data to process and distribute
• Pent up demand, bottlenecked by immature industry distribution vehicles and antiquated pricing structures

Goals

• no humans in the loop
• easy consumption of data by beginners and experts alike
• machine to machine focus
• low cost to purchase data
• low cost to operate
• timely processing and delivery (minutes not days)

Nasa Cubesat/Smallsat Reference Model, Evan Apostolou, Nancy Lindsey, Mahdi Alimardani, Chris Stecki, Ken Oister

Small Satellite Conference

Objectives

• Enabling Mission Success and effective design improvements
• Identify Risk (safety, performance, availability, failure) for mitigation
• Ensuring safety through hazard identification and control verification
• Preventing investments from becoming debris
• Optimizing monitoring for preventative action and fault prevention

Operations System Vs. Operating System: Towards A Ground System Supporting Satellite Application Programming, Kai Leidig, Steffen Gaißer, Susann Pätschke, Robin Schweigert, Sebastian Wenzel, Sabine Klinkner

Small Satellite Conference

The term operating system refers to a software component, which traditionally controls the resources and the processes of a computer, and by providing the appropriate interfaces allows for the implementation of custom user applications. This is a common definition, working very well for ordinary computer systems. Yet, what if the operating system and a corresponding application are physically separated, because the computer is within a satellite in space, while the user program is executed on ground? Then, capabilities must be created to connect both, which is of course complicated by the natural boundaries in satellite communication, for example the limited …

Proliferated Leo Constellation Modeling & Simulation With Information Assurance, Leigh Anderson, David Anderson, Jeremy Fix

Small Satellite Conference

Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) constellations allow for network, on-orbit processing, and battlefield management resiliency through disaggregation of the traditionally small number of high-value space assets. pLEO constellations present unique challenges. Developing a complex mesh network able to dynamically recover from active counterspace, cyber-security, and environmental threats, while providing uninterrupted data-center-like processing, requires advanced modeling capability throughout its buildout. Management of resource utilization, task migration, data fusion, software and firmware updates, and distribution of intelligence across the constellation requires complex integration and autonomy. Mission execution requires secure communication between the pLEO constellation and all consumers. The path to developing solutions …

Satellite Operations Simulator For Cyber Exercises (Satopsim), Silver Lodi, Aare Reintam, Martin Jüssi

Small Satellite Conference

INTRODUCTION

• SatOpSim is a virtual simulator for satellite operations deployed in a cyber range, an environment for cyber exercises, testing and validation
• It enables cyber exercise participants to simulate attacking and defending a satellite mission, expanding their cybersecurity skills into the space domain
• SatOpSim is designed to empower development, testing and validation of satellite communication systems in controlled environments

Operational Challenges And Experience Learnt From Operating A Satellite With High-Thrust Electric Propulsion, Paul Lascombes, Daniel Petitfils, Giovanni Pandolfi, Mikael Fillastre, Andrea Fiorentino, Arnoldas Pečiukevičius, Davide Melli, Stefan Tudor

Small Satellite Conference

THE MISSION

Launch date: 07 November 2021

Object name: R2

NORAD-ID: 46913

Platform: design based on the M6P platform

Size: 6U

Manufacturer: NanoAvionics

Payloads: from Exotrail - a high-thrust, electrical Hall Effect Thruster - and a RF payload

LAUNCH PARAMETERS

Altitude: 571 km - Inclination: 36.9° - Eccentricity: 0.001

GROUND STATION NETWORKS

• Due to the low inclination, NanoAvionics-owned stations do not have visibility
• Leaf Space provided communication through their Leaf Line GSaaS with stations in Italy and in New-Zealand

MISSION OBJECTIVES FOR THE THRUSTER PAYLOAD

• Main objective: configure the thruster for a firing and perform an ignition with nominal parameters. …

Regulus Cubesat Propulsion System: In-Orbit Operations, Nicolas Bellomo, Fabiana Milza, Elena Toson, Daniele Pavarin, Matteo Duzzi, Marco Manente, Fabio Trezzolani, Riccardo Mantellato, M. Minute, D. Scalzi

Small Satellite Conference

A robust, versatile, and cost-effective propulsion system to provide wide mobility to small satellite platforms and nanosatellite deployers. A Plug&Play propulsion system designed to be easily integrated into different satellite platforms and to match customer's requirements, with minimal customization efforts and costs.

Miura 5: The European And Reusable Microlauncher For Cubesats And Small Satellites, Pablo Gallego Sanmiguel

Small Satellite Conference

PLD Space is a European company with the goal of providing easy and frequent access to space. The company aims to provide launch services for suborbital applications such as scientific research or technology development as well as orbital launches for small satellites. For this, PLD Space is developing two dedicated, reusable launch vehicles named MIURA 1 and MIURA 5.

MIURA 1 was conceived as a one-stage suborbital sounding rocket which uses a liquid propulsion system fully designed and built by PLD Space. MIURA 5 –is a two-stages launch vehicle for small satellites with also fully in-house propulsion, structures and avionics …

An Exploration Of The Small Satellite Value Chain And The Future Of Space Access, Kishen Raghunath, Jin S. Kang

Small Satellite Conference

“Space is hard” is a saying that has been made popular in the last few years. It is not just the engineering that is challenging, but also applies to the business of space as well. From supply chain to regulation, the space industry’s infrastructure is not prepared to handle the influx of demand forecasted through the next decade, especially in the small satellite segment. Accordingly, space businesses are looking to cost effectively and quickly build and deploy space payloads while being able to refresh their technologies as advancements are made on Earth. In this paper, we will explore a small …

Test System Development For A Novel Plasma Propulsion Device, Charlie Clark, Thomas Clayson, Mark Stokes, James Bass, David Salmon, H. Eshbaugh, S. D. K. Theocharous, C. K. Stavrou

Small Satellite Conference

The Magdrive: A next generation in-space electric propulsion system based on the generation of super dense plasma and magnetic plume confinement. The system offers high levels of thrust, along with variable specific impulse that allows the user to achieve the high thrust required for responsive, rapid manoeuvres, or the efficient high specific impulse for long duration thrusts, all with one device.

Smallsat Booming Growth Realized With Cost-Effective Cots In Space, Pratish Shah, Anthony Lai

Small Satellite Conference

Space is one of the harshest environments that electronics need to operate in and is also one of the hardest to sustain repeating success. These reasons underscore the importance of testing and validation of mission critical systems used in space. Success in a space system is defined by its continued reliability, autonomous operation, and unwavering communication within its limited uplink and downlink network bandwidth for the missions.

A growing challenge among satellite and payload builders, from privately-funded organizations to government entities, is to meet aggressive development-to-deployment schedules with a tight budget. The industry pushes for designs with increased computing performance …

Cubesat Interface Standard Draft And Project Update, Mengu Cho

Small Satellite Conference

CubeSats are often built with emphasis on low-cost and fast-delivery. The low-cost can be achieved by extensive use of non-space-qualified commercial-off-the-shelf parts and units. The fast-delivery is, however, often difficult to achieve when the interface of different units, such as printed circuit board (PCB), do not match each other. The incompatibility can cause significant delay in the satellite project, leading to the loss of business opportunity or academic/technology competition.

There is also increasing trend that a CubeSat platform that contains all the satellite bus functionalities by a single vendor is combined with a mission payload. If there is a common …

Smallsat Bus Supporting Cislunar Operations For Advanced Dod, Nasa And Commercial Missions Chameleon Smart Bus 12u To Espa, Timothy Anderson, Edmund Burke, Alexander Anthougies

Small Satellite Conference

SIL has leveraged our experience and previously qualified Intelli-Avionics^® aerospace hardware to fill a technology gap within the CubeSat class platform. The popular open-frame CubeSat design is difficult to space qualify and provides minimal benefits when compared to traditional satellite bus systems. The OMSR CubeSat bus addresses these issues by providing a standard ruggedized CubeSat solution designed to improve functionality, reliability, and efficiency, while simultaneously reducing development time and recurring cost.

The OMSR CubeSat bus is composed of order-independent, stackable subsystem modules. Modules can be independently designed, tested, and qualified to negate redesign costs. Individual modules of the OMSR …

Model Based Systems Engineering For Cubesat Mission Reliability, Tatyana Rakalina, Michel Izygon, Lui Wang, Isabelle Conway, Silvana Radu, Naoki Ishihama, Martin Feather, Arthur Witulski, John Evans

Small Satellite Conference

Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is moving to the forefront of small spacecraft development. The benefits of SysML as a language for the elucidation of the system architecture for CubeSats is well understood and is implemented in standard model formats. Concurrently, the benefits of the evolving development of MBSE for assurance has been recognized and is emerging as Model Based Mission Assurance (MBMA), which promises the development of integral assurance stakeholder views into the model as well as the production of useful products from the model. In this regard, the assurance organizations of NASA, ESA, and JAXA are exploring jointly …

Raise-3 For Agile On-Orbit Demonstration Of Innovative Satellite Technologies: Mission Definition And Conceptual Design, Yutaka Komatsu, Yuki Tsutsui, Haruhi Katsumata, Atsushi Wada, Yuya Kakehashi, Keiichiro Fujimoto, Kengo Nakamura, Yutaka Kaneko, Takanori Iwata

Small Satellite Conference

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has selected on-orbit demonstration missions for the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-3 project in May 2020, as part of the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program. Seven on-orbit demonstration missions were selected in a category of " parts, components and subsystems" and those missions will be demonstrated onboard the RApid Innovative payload demonstration SatellitE-3 (RAISE-3). This 100kg-class satellite developed by JAXA is a flagship of the "Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-3" fleet. This paper describes an overview of the demonstration missions and system specifications of RAISE-3, as well as results of conceptual design of the satellite and …

Survival Analysis For Nanosatellites And Picosatellites, Dustin Hayhurst, Robert Bettinger, Christine Schubert Kabban

Small Satellite Conference

The nascent field of fractionated satellite architectures provides an opportunity to improve spacecraft modularity and afford greater flexibility, adaptability, and upgradeability to spacecraft constellations. Satellite modules within a coherent formation can be replaced without facing the challenges of manufacturing, assembly, or disassembly in the harsh space environment (e.g., satellite modules conducting electromagnetic formation flight (EMFF) are not physically connected such that one module may be replaced with potentially less risk of damaging or degrading the performance of the other modules). Conventionally, the depot for constellation replenishment is located on Earth, however, minor augmentations to spacecraft formations cannot be conducted economically …

Mata-Cloud: A Cloud Detection And Dynamic Attitude Correction Evaluation Software, Vanessa Tan, Julie Ann Banatao, John Leur Labrador, Lia Cristina Mabaquiao, Floyd Ferrant Fortes, Marc Caesar Talampas

Small Satellite Conference

With the increasing demand for high-resolution images from earth observation satellites, there is a need to optimize the usability of the images being downloaded in the ground stations. Most captured satellite images are not usable for certain applications due to high cloud cover percentage. To address this problem, this research demonstrates a cloud detection and dynamic attitude correction evaluation software. This software explores two key experiments. First is evaluating different image processing and machine learning-based approaches to detect cloud cover. The cloud detection algorithms were evaluated based on their accuracy, latency, and memory consumption. The second is exploring dynamic attitude …

Innovations In The Field Of On-Board Scheduling Technologies, Temenuzhka Avramova, Alessandro Benetton, Christian Cardenio, Riccardo Maderna

Small Satellite Conference

Space missions are characterized by long distances, difficult or unavailable communication and high operating costs. Moreover, complexity has been constantly increasing in recent years. For this reason, improving the autonomy of space operators is an attractive goal to increase the mission reward with lower costs. This paper proposes an onboard scheduler, that integrates inside an onboard software framework for mission autonomy. Given a set of activities, it is responsible for determining the starting time of each activity according to their priority, order constraints, and resource consumption. The presented scheduler is based on linear integer programming and relies on the use …

Raise-2 For Agile On-Orbit Demonstration Of Innovative Satellite Technologies: Program Strategy, Mission Definition, And Preliminary Design, Yuki Tsutsui, Kentaro Nishi, Yasuyuki Takahashi, Matsuaki Kato, Tsuyoshi Toriumi, Yutaka Kaneko, Takanori Iwata

Small Satellite Conference

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has provided the second demonstration opportunity of the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program. In this second mission, JAXA develops the Rapid Innovative Payload Demonstration Satellite-2 (RAISE-2) that carries six components and parts as on-orbit demonstration themes. This paper presents an overview of the RAISE-2’s demonstration themes, mission definition including standard platform specifications, results of Phase-A study and preliminary design.

Id, Gps Tracking, 24/7 Tag Link For Cubesats And Constellations: Flight Results, Matthew C. Voss, Jeff F. Dailey, Matthew B. Orvis, Hank D. Voss, Ken Kiers, Stefan Brandle, Andrew Glaze, Art White, Jeffrey Roberts, Mike Coletti, Mike Miller

Small Satellite Conference

The tiny 40-gram EyeStar-Tag processor, GPS, and radio link will ID its satellite with GPS and critical status data within a minute after turn-on. The autonomous low power EyeStar Tag GPS (20mW for 3D lock) is now at TRL-9 based on the successful release and operation of the Spaceflight Inc. ring on the 1/24/2021 rideshare launch. The orbit (530 km polar) was projected using GPS seven element arrays to generate, on the fly, the future ephemeris predictions while monitoring critical fight systems. The Tag continues to transmit over the Globalstar network of satellites and ground stations the GPS elements and …

Design And Development Of A Ps4-Op Payload For Solar Spectral Irradiance Measurements And Technology Demonstration Of Small-Satellite Subsystems, Anant Kandala, Priyadarshnam Hari, Harsha Simha, Mallikarjun Kompella, Amal Chandran, Spencer Boyajian, Bennet Schwab, Mayuresh Sarpotdar

Small Satellite Conference

This article describes the design and development of INSPIRE-0, a payload on the spent stage of the ISROs PSLV. Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) released an announcement of opportunity inviting proposals to develop payloads that can be tested on the PS4-Orbital Platform (PS4-OP). This platform is a novel idea formulated by ISRO to use the spent fourth/final stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), called the PS4, to conduct in-orbit scientific experiments and technology demonstration of small-satellite subsystems. INSPIRE-0 is a PS4-OP payload, jointly developed by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University …

Coastal Marine Debris Mapping Using Multi-Modal Feature Extraction Pipeline, Kenichi Sasaki, Tatsuyuki Sekine, Louis-Jerome Burtz

Small Satellite Conference

Marine debris in the ocean is becoming an increasing problem for the management of coastal oceans and seaside resort areas. This paper presents a method for coastal marine debris mapping using satellite images from multiple satellite platforms. We carry out a pilot project in association with a local government to collect in-situ measurements of debris deposited on beaches and download the coincident satellite images to identify the marine debris. We propose to study the detection of marine debris on land and in the coastal ocean with various sources of satellite imagery as a way to increase the revisit frequency. High …

Northern Spirit Consortium - Canadian Collaboration Through Student-Led Cubesat Constellation, Abigail Hoover, Thomas Ganley, Charles Nokes, Katelyn Ball, Joshua Lazaruk, Callie Lissinna, Michael Lipsett, Ian R. Mann, Steven Knudsen, Duncan Elliott, Patrick Gall, Matthew Dares, Francis Reid, Brian Horton

Small Satellite Conference

The Northern Space Program for Innovative Research and Integrated Training (Northern SPIRIT) is a unique collaboration of three Canadian post-secondary institutions that will design, build, and operate a constellation of three CubeSats. The consortium, beginning in 2017, comprises Yukon University, Aurora College, and the University of Alberta (U of A). The partnership will develop three CubeSats: YukonSat (2U), AuroraSat (2U) and Ex-Alta 2 (3U) which will be launched into Low Earth Orbit in 2022. Northern SPIRIT strives to use space technology development to inspire motivated youth across Canada to engage in student-led collaboration and hands-on education, research, training, and to …

Unisat-7: A Flexible Iod Platform With Orbital Maneuvering Capabilities, Riccardo Di Roberto, Nicola Sparvieri, Filippo Graziani, Nicolas Bellomo, Daniele Pavarin, Elena Toson, Fabiana Milza

Small Satellite Conference

New Space technology for Small Satellites has greatly advanced in the past five years. These progresses shall match with a swift integration and testing phase, to be readily marketable, therefore IOD missions are essential to expedite project outcomes.

GAUSS has started working on Small Satellites since 1990s, with its first satellite, UNISAT, launched in 2000. In 2013, UNISAT-5 was the first platform to accomplish in-orbit-release of third-party satellites, with UNISAT-6 following in less than one year.

UNISAT-7 is the latest addition to the UNISAT series: a 32kg microsatellite designed and manufactured by GAUSS Srl (a spin-off company of Scuola di …

Development And Launch Of The World's First Orbital Propellant Tanker, James Bultitude, Zach Burkhardt, Maya Harris, Mark Jelderda, Srinivasan A. Suresh, Logan Fettes, Daniel Faber, Jeremy Schiel, James Cho, David Levitt, Devin Kees, Sergio Gallucci

Small Satellite Conference

This paper describes the development of Orbit Fab’s Tanker-001 Tenzing mission, the world’s first orbital propellant tanker. The development of a robust orbital propellant supply chain is critical to accelerating the growth of government and commercial space activities. The widespread availability of spacecraft refueling has the potential to provide a number of revolutionary benefits. High-value space assets could have their operational lives extended, as they would no longer be constrained by the amount of propellant stored onboard for maneuvering. On-orbit servicing missions would become more efficient, as servicing vehicles could be refueled and repeatedly used. A large orbital propellant supply …

Results From Testing Low-Cost, High-Performance Terrestrial Processors For Use In Low-Cost High-Performance Space Missions, Anita Bernie, Paul Madle, Jamie Bayley, John Paffett, Keith Ryden, Benjamin Clewer, Alex Hands, Chris Bridges

Small Satellite Conference

There has been a significant and exciting increase in the use of microsatellites and cubesats in the past decade.

However, it has proved difficult to scale up current cubesat avionics systems to enable larger, longer, more complex missions, and challenging to scale down traditional microsatellites to an affordable price point. The need exists for a system that provides the capability of a microsatellite at a cubesat cost; KISPE Space (“KISPE”) is developing the Next Generation Microsatellite Platform (“NGMP”) to address this need and is releasing the design as an open source resource via the Open Source Satellite Programme (“OSSAT”)

A …

Low-Power Boards Enabling Ml-Based Approaches To Fdir In Space-Based Applications, James Murphy, John E. Ward, Brian Mac Namee

Small Satellite Conference

Modern satellite complexity is increasing, thus requiring bespoke and expensive on-board solutions to provide a Failure Detection, Isolation and Recovery (FDIR) function. Although FDIR is vital in ensuring the safety, autonomy, and availability of satellite systems in flight, there is a clear need in the space industry for a more adaptable, scalable, and cost-effective solution. This paper explores the current state of the art for Machine Learning error detection and prognostic algorithms utilized by both the space sector and the commercial sector. Although work has previously been done in the commercial sector on error detection and prognostics, most commercial applications …