# Presentation: 416916

## Needs for an Intelligent Distributed Spacecraft Infrastructure

**Carol A. Raymond**
- NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
**John O. Bristow and Mark R. Schoeberl**
- NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

- June 25, 2002

## Intelligent Distributed Spacecraft Infrastructure:

What is it?
Why is it needed?
Is it feasible?
What benefits will result?

- What is it?
- Why is it needed?
- Is it feasible?
- What benefits will result?

- June 25, 2002

## What is it?

- Multiple spacecraft working collaboratively
- Confederation
- Constellation
- Virtual Instrument
- Sensorweb

- June 25, 2002

## Confederation: heterogeneous, non-interacting satellites observing similar phenomena in near real-time

- Confederation: heterogeneous, non-interacting satellites observing similar phenomena in near real-time

- Morning Constellation

- Multiple spacecraft working collaboratively

- June 25, 2002

## Multiple spacecraft working collaboratively

- GPS LEO Constellation for atmospheric T & H2O

- Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar

- June 25, 2002

## Multiple spacecraft working collaboratively

- Virtual Instrument: coordinated observations by interacting satellites

- Co-boresighting, collective pointing

- Interaction and cooperation

- Formation flying

- Leonardo

- GRACE

- June 25, 2002

## Sensorweb: networked spacecraft and sensors operating autonomously and collectively

**Information Synthesis**
**Access to Knowledge**

**Value Added Providers**
**User**
** ****Community**

**Advanced Sensors**

**Information**

**Public**

- Sensorweb: networked spacecraft and sensors operating autonomously and collectively

- June 25, 2002

## Why is it Needed?

- Distributed sensors suites:
- Improve spatial and temporal resolution
- Avoid conflicting observing requirements
- Allow operational flexibility and evolution
- Spacecraft Autonomy:
- Allows response to emerging phenomena
- Simplifies multi-spacecraft operations
- Enables direct-to-user data products

- June 25, 2002

## Distributed Sensor Suites

- High spatial and temporal resolution:
- Surface hydrology & precipitation
- Surface deformation
- Land imaging & vegetation monitoring
- Ocean salinity
- Radiative flux
- Atmospheric chemistry

- Observational and operational flexibility:
- Data fusion to identify emergent phenomena
- Add and upgrade sensors efficiently and cost-effectively
- All observations optimized

- June 25, 2002

## Spacecraft Autonomy

- Streamlines and reduces cost of managing fleets of spacecraft
- Allows rapid response to events and evolving systems

- Achieves onboard data processing to deliver information direct to the users from space

- June 25, 2002

## The Challenge

- Launch many spacecraft instead of large buses
- Must reduce size, weight and cost per bus
- Small, low-power multi-spacecraft systems must be capable and return large-bus science to be cost-effective
- Need modularity and reuseability to minimize recurring costs, but also need highly integrated sensorcraft to minimize resource use.
- Must optimize meeting the science requirements and building cheap buses

- June 25, 2002

## Technology Drivers

- Communications
- Autonomy
- Microspacecraft
- Minaturized, low power sensors

- June 25, 2002

## Key Technologies Needed

**Interspacecraft Communications**
**Crosslinks & Protocols**

**Data Management,**
**Analysis & Fusion**

**Nano Technologies &**
**Miniature Electronics**

**Autonomy**

**Low-Cost Microspacecraft Mass Production**

**Compact Sensors **
**& Instruments**

- June 25, 2002

## Communications

- Standards and protocols
- Example is Mars UHF comms network
- Low-power, variable bandwidth interspacecraft links
- Data compression
- Discussed in next talk

*“**Operating Mission as Nodes on the Internet”*

- June 25, 2002

## Microspacecraft

- Modularity and reuseability
- Must serve multiple science users with flexible spacecraft structures and systems
- Example is GPS flight receiver with embedded star camera heads, running closed-loop autonomous control software commanding microthrusters, and providing command and data handling and storage for plug-in sensors, as well as a communications scheduler/interface
- Quality-controlled mass production
- Low-power microelectronics
- Low-impulse-bit propulsion systems

- June 25, 2002

## Compact low-power sensorsand instruments

- Lightweight optics
- Uncooled focal plane arrays
- Master/drone architectures
- Composite materials
- Deployed apertures/structures
-  ...........

- June 25, 2002

## Autonomy

- Closed-loop formation control
- High level planning and scheduling
- Fault diagnosis and recovery
- Collective pointing and data acquisition
- Event detection and response
- Data processing, direct-to-user products and onboard storage of useful bits
- High bandwidth comms link s/c to ground

- June 25, 2002

## Benefits

- Provide requisite spatial and temporal resolution to tackle the future vision
- Seamless integration of space systems and end-users
- Operational flexibility and evolvability
- Risks can be better managed
- Higher science value

- June 25, 2002

## Conclusions

- Specific science requirements of future distributed spacecraft architectures need better development
- Sensor/instrument accommodation rules!
- Need focused development of modular and scaleable systems:
- Core spacecraft systems (microelectronics)
- Communications standards and protocols
- Autonomous operations and event detection
- Migrating today’s technologies to space will revolutionize the observing power of future space based systems

- June 25, 2002