IOT, Machine learning and Natural Language Processing for launch system exploitation
Creators: name:  M. FERLIN 
name:   M. KURELA 
Publisher: name: Proceedings of  the 9th European Conference for Aerospace Sciences. Lille, France, 27 June - 1 July, 2022
Year: 2022
Subjects: SYSTEM INTEGRATION
SYSTEM APPROACH

description: With the arrival of Newspace actors and new missions, many Launch Bases are becoming or are already spaceports with a complex organization and multi launcher services. Despite of that, the costs must remain low maintaining the necessary reliability for the exploitation service. In order to reach this objective, the technologies coming from the Industry 4.0 based on IoT and Artificial Intelligence could be used. The launch system is characterized by three important pillars: - The Product (the launcher operations with payloads) - The Industry that produces the launcher (the production) - The Launch base or Spaceport (the Ground exploitation service) These three factors are strongly related each other, if we want to satisfy the customers (the satellites) et maintain the low costs. Each pillar contributes to the efficiency of the space transportation service. This article concerns the application examples of those technologies for Guiana Space Center (GSC) in the French Guiana, where they have been introduced and tested in order to demonstrate the gains in terms of value for the space transportation in terms of efficiency, quality, safety, security and cost reduction. Some of them had been specifically treated in [1] and [2]. This study goes beyond those tests in the same logic. An analytical expertise in different domains of the activities in the GSC allowed identifying a value chain with those new technologies including IOT, smart monitoring, geolocalisation, machine learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) with specific state of art algorithms. The sensors, and communication architectures were defined for a certain number of tests. The main technologies are SigFox, Lora, in the LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) and BLE in short range. Each identified case had very distinct specifications, including transmission latency, geographical penetration and range, power consumption, costs, speed (uplink/downlink), etc. Among performed tests the SigFox and LORA technologies were implemented for a monitoring of a Radar station that is far from the GSC but still in French Guiana, close to the border with Republic of Surinam. The distance from the Launch Base is relevant and it takes about 3 hours by car with important logistic and related costs. Another test was to instrument with specific sensors a pump of an iced water center responsible of air conditioning production necessary for the refrigerating circuit of one of the launch complex area. The main objective is not only to identify the best IOT and architecture solution but start with a machine learning study in order to identify the preventive decision for the main pump maintenance and to predict the anomalies and the life duration. Other tests concerned notably geolocalisation of ground equipments and use of NLP in conjunction with quantitative data in launchers campaigns. After the description of above mentioned application tests performed at GSC, the comparative results will be evaluated in terms of their adaptation for the operational environment and their impact on the costs and other performances. In perspective a necessary evolution from the technology point of view for a future smart Launch Base will be proposed to respond to the competitive environment. References [1] M.Ferlin, M. Kurela, O.Monge, Ch.Castagnet, Smart Operations in ATEX RLV Environment, 8TH European Conference for Aeronautics and Space Sciences (EUCASS), 2019 [2] M.Kurela, R.Laurent, M.Bacque, Automatic classification of technical events for space launchers conformity, 22e Congres de Maitrises des Risques et Surete de Fonctionnement ?22, 2020