Generic Diagnostic Framework for Anomaly Detection—Application in Satellite and Spacecraft Systems

Spacecraft systems collect health-related data continuously, which can give an indication of the systems’ health status. While they rarely occur, the repercussions of such system anomalies, faults, or failures can be severe, safety-critical and costly. Therefore, the data are used to anticipate any kind of anomalous behaviour. Typically this is...

Direct Trajectory Optimization of Free-Floating Space Manipulator for Reducing Spacecraft Variation

This letter investigates the direct trajectory optimization of the free-floating space manipulator (FFSM). The main purpose is to plan the joint space trajectories to reduce the spacecraft motion due to the joint rotation during the FFSM performing tasks. To improve the calculation efficiency, the adaptive Radau pseudospectral method (A-RPM)...

Parameter Uncertainty Analysis in Precise Pointing Control of Flexible Spacecraft

This article focuses on the validation of a classical PID controller scheme for flexible spacecraft with regards to the effect of parameter uncertainty on system stability and pointing precision. A high-fidelity simulation environment with external disturbances was built in Simulink using a control-oriented model of an Earth-observing...

High spectral resolution multi-tone Spacecraft Doppler tracking software: Algorithms and implementations

We present a software package for single-dish data processing of spacecraft signals observed with VLBI-equipped radio telescopes. The Spacecraft Doppler tracking (SDtracker) software allows one to obtain topocentric frequency detections with a sub-Hz precision and reconstructed and residual phases of the carrier signal of any spacecraft or...

Flights are ten a sail - Re-use and commonality in the design and system engineering of small spacecraft solar sail missions with modular hardware for responsive and adaptive exploration

The exploration of small solar system bodies started with fast fly-bys of opportunity on the sidelines of missions to the planets. The tiny new worlds seen turned out to be so intriguing and different from all else (and each other) that dedicated sample-return and in-situ analysis missions were developed and launched. Through these, highly...

A Comprehensive Model for Control of Vaporizing Liquid Microthrusters

This brief presents a comprehensive approach for the modeling of micropropulsion systems based on the vaporization of a liquid. The model combines the analytical and empirical relations derived from extensive experimental analysis and fundamental physical laws. This allows modeling of key parameters, such as mass flow rate, for the entire...

A Fractionated Spacecraft System Assessment Tool Based on Lifecycle Simulation Under Uncertainty

To comprehensively assess fractionated spacecraft, an assessment tool is developed based on lifecycle simulation under uncertainty driven by modular evolutionary stochastic models. First, fractionated spacecraft nomenclature and architecture are clarified, and assessment criteria are analyzed. The mean and standard deviation of risk adjusted...