# Using Artificial Intelligence for Space Challenges: A Survey
## 3 Challenges in Space Applications
### Mission Design and Planning  
The design and plan of a mission require incredible knowledge and expertise from all the human and computer assets involved, and AI can help manage information, knowledge, procedures, and operations during a space mission.  
The first use of AI in mission design and planning regards the knowledge gathered by previous missions, which, in most cases, is not fully accessible. Therefore, researchers are working on designing an engineering assistant to gather and analyze relevant data and produce reliable answers to save many human work hours. Daphne is an example of an intelligent assistant that is used for designing Earth observation satellite systems [20; 21], which can assess the strengths and weaknesses of architectures proposed by engineers and answer specific design problems using natural language processing. This system relieson a historical database of all Earth-observing satellite missions, domain-specific expert knowledge associated with this field, and information extracted from data mining in the current design space.  
Another challenge regards the monitoring of satellite health. On-board AI functionalities can address this challenge. Indeed, the performance of equipment and sensors is continuously controlled by a system monitoring able to provide helpful information such as alerts. Scientists use AI systems that can notify ground control about any problems and solve them independently. An example is taken from SpaceX satellites [22], equipped with a system of sensors that can track the device's position and adjust it to keep them safe from colliding with other objects in space. Furthermore, the Italian start-up company AIKO developed an AI for mission autonomy with their MiRAGE library [23]. AIKO technology can detect events and allow satellites to perform autonomous replanning and react accordingly, avoiding the delays introduced by the decision-making loops on the ground. AI is also helping Perseverance, the Mars rover, for landing [24] and navigation on the planet, along with many other scientific tasks. The rover also uses Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry, or PIXL, an AI-powered device, to search for traces of microscopic materials [25].  
Moreover, the manufacturing process of satellites and spaceships can be improved by AI algorithms. Indeed, these operations involve many repetitive procedures requiring high precision and accuracy and should be performed in clean rooms to avoid biological contamination. In addition, the use of collaborative robots, cobots, can provide more reliable manufacturing steps that can be prone to human errors. Consequently, the exploitation of AI can significantly speed up production processes and minimize contact with humans, which is equally relevant to increasing production. Furthermore, a personal assistant in space can provide immediate help and support in everyday activities within astronauts' missions or in case of emergencies on-board, eliminating the communication delays with the ground control. For example, IBM, in partnership with the German space agency DLR and Airbus, created CIMON, the Crew Interactive Mobile Companion [26]. CIMON is an AI robot that is able to converse with astronauts at the International Space Station and answer astronauts' questions.