Agile Systems Engineering for sub-CubeSat scale spacecraft

in Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC22 (2022, October 14)

Space systems miniaturization has been increasingly popular for the past decades, with over 1600 CubeSats and 300 sub-CubeSat sized spacecraft estimated to have been launched since 1998. This trend ... [more ▼]

Space systems miniaturization has been increasingly popular for the past decades, with over 1600 CubeSats and 300 sub-CubeSat sized spacecraft estimated to have been launched since 1998. This trend towards decreasing size enables the execution of unprecedented missions in terms of quantity, cost and development time, allowing for massively distributed satellite networks, and rapid prototyping of space equipment. Pocket-sized spacecraft can be designed in-house in less than a year and can reach weights of less than 10g, reducing the considerable effort typically associated with orbital flight. However, while Systems Engineering methodologies have been proposed for missions down to CubeSat size, there is still a gap regarding design approaches for picosatellites and smaller spacecraft, which can exploit their potential for iterative and accelerated development. In this paper, we propose a Systems Engineering methodology that abstains from the classic waterfall-like approach in favor of agile practices, focusing on available capabilities, delivery of features and design "sprints". Our method, originating from the software engineering disciplines, allows quick adaptation to imposed constraints, changes to requirements and unexpected events (e.g. chip shortages or delays), by making the design flexible to well-defined modifications. Two femtosatellite missions, currently under development and due to be launched in 2023, are used as case studies for our approach, showing how miniature spacecraft can be designed, developed and qualified from scratch in 6 months or less. We claim that the proposed method can simultaneously increase confidence in the design and decrease turnaround time for extremely small satellites, allowing unprecedented missions to take shape without the overhead traditionally associated with sending cutting-edge hardware to space. [less ▲]

Space-as-a-Service: A Framework and Taxonomy of -as-a-Service Concepts for Space

in Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress 2022 (2022, September)

The servitization of space is introducing profound change, challenging established companies with new business models, and significantly lowering the entry barrier to space. New types of services such as ... [more ▼]

The servitization of space is introducing profound change, challenging established companies with new business models, and significantly lowering the entry barrier to space. New types of services such as Mission-as-a-Service, Satellite-as-a-Service, Constellation-as-a-Service, etc., are introduced. However, what these notions mean is not clear and in practice, they are often used with contradicting meanings. This paper aims to provide an initial survey of various new service concepts in the space domain and develops a taxonomy and framework for classifying these emerging services with their underlying systems. A particular emphasis is put on distinguishing novel, "New Space" services from traditional space services. We find that these new space services differ, compared to traditional space services in at least three aspects: New space services have their origin in a transition from a product-to a use-oriented business model and make reference to Cloud computing and its underlying techniques such as virtualization. We conclude that analogous to the terrestrial impact of Cloud computing on the emergence of numerous e-commerce start-ups, we might see a similar surge of in-space applications, building on a new space service backbone. Such a development is likely going to be enabled by the shift from traditionally high capital expenditures of developing space applications to operating expenses, thereby lowering the entry barrier. [less ▲]

Variability-Aware Design of Space Systems: Variability Modelling, Configuration Workflow and Research Directions

in Proceedings of VAMOS 22 (2022, February)

The Effect of an Applied Magnetic Field onto the Re-entry Radio Communication Blackout

in Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Flight Vehicles, Aerothermodynamics and Re-entry Missions Engineering (2022)