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COSMOS — An innovative nodal architecture for controlling large numbers of small satellites and other diverse assets
Abstract
The Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa developed the Comprehensive Open-architecture Solution for Mission Operations Systems (COSMOS) under a three-year NASA grant. This innovative suite of software and hardware was initially designed for supporting the operations of multiple small satellites, but during its development, it evolved into a comprehensive system of systems that is capable of providing nearly all operations functions to support an integrated system of objects to be monitored and controlled, called nodes. These nodes are not limited to spacecraft, but can be almost any type of vehicle or electronic entity that has communication connectivity with the distributed COSMOS system. Even the vehicles themselves can operate COSMOS as their onboard controlling software. HSFL built a 55-kg satellite called Hiakasat that is due to launch on the ORS-4 mission in 2015. This satellite uses COSMOS for its onboard flight software, which integrates seamlessly with the COSMOS system that is being used to operate the mission on the ground. COSMOS is currently being used to monitor research ship gathering data, and even controlling rovers on simulated lunar missions. This innovative nodal architecture will allow a fully integrated system that can combine satellites with UAVs, submersible, ships, and other robotic craft.
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The Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL) was established at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2007 and is developing a launch vehicle and satellites. The second HSFL launch, scheduled for 2012, is STU-2, which includes a spacecraft being designed and built by the HSFL. Control of the HSFL missions will be done in the HSFL Mission Operations Center located on the University of Hawaii campus at Manoa. HSFL, in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center and Santa Clara University, is developing a comprehensive open-architecture space mission operations system (COSMOS) to support this and future space missions. The major software tool of COSMOS, which is intended to provide real-time monitoring and control of spacecraft, is the Mission Operations Support Tool (MOST). This tool is based on the software tool LUNOPS which was designed for and used in support of science mission operations of the Clementine lunar mission in 1994. LUNOPS enabled the flight controllers to monitor the status of the spacecraft in accomplishing its science mission. MOST is building on this concept to allow not only monitoring of the spacecraft status, but also to provide a capability for issuing commands to the spacecraft and to be used in simulations, training and rehearsals, engineering data trending and archiving, and for anomaly resolution. The design goal for MOST is to create a single tool that can tie multiple data streams together with multiple end users. Toward this end, MOST is being designed to accept data inputs from multiple sources; while at the same time supporting multiple display configurations. On the data end, it can retrieve time stamped data records either from disk, or over established network protocols. These data can be archival, or real time; in the past, or in the future; real or simulated. MOST is capable of following data in real time, or tracking backwards and forwards in time. MOST supports one main overview screen, with summary data that is relevant to all users, plus multiple secondary screens designed for various support and subsystem tasks. The main display is always present, while the secondary screens can be displayed and dismissed at will. From the perspective of Mission Operations, this design allows each support specialty to hand tailor the display to their needs, while still maintaining access to all other information. From the perspective of monitoring and troubleshooting, the access to archival data allows studies of the interactions of different subsystems over time. MOST also provides a background monitoring mode that allows " lights-out " operation that will inform members of the operations team when an anomaly has been detected. Finally, the ability to work with simulated data allows the creation of virtual missions, for training, and support for forward looking for Mission Planning and testing.
The Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa under a NASA grant is developing a comprehensive open-architecture space mission operations system (COSMOS) designed particularly to provide operations support for multiple small spacecraft. HSFL was recently on a Canadian-led team to perform a conceptual study for the Canadian Space Agency on the feasibility of doing a micro-rover (30 kg) mission to the Moon for no more than $100 million (Canadian). This mission was called the Canadian American British Lunar Explorer (CABLE) mission. As part of the CABLE mission plan, the Inter-Stage Adapter that is used to provide support for the lander during launch and also propellant for following propulsive burns, after separation becomes a cis-lunar spacecraft called ISAS to provide measurements of the environment in cis-lunar space. This paper examines the adaption of the COSMOS system to provide operations support for the CABLE mission. It was determined during the study that not only is COSMOS suitable for supporting operations for the lander spacecraft and ISAS, it could also provide operations support for the lunar rover. For monitor and control of the two spacecraft and rover we are using the Mission Operations Support Tool (MOST) of COSMOS, This tool, which is based on the LUNOPS tool developed for the Clementine lunar mission in 1994, also provides monitoring of the mission trajectories, including the descent and landing on the Moon. Working prototypes of MOST to demonstrate these capabilities were completed for the CSA study. To further demonstrate the suitability of COSMOS and MOST to support lunar operations, MOST was used in a student project at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to provide operations for a simulated Mars lander and rover mission. It is planned to use a version of the CABLE MOST software to assist the second field deployment of the CSA Mars Methane Mission (MMM) in a terrestrial analogue environment. This will employ the Kapvik micro-rover to conduct field-investigations simulating a remote Mars mission in serpentinite geology relevant to Mars to verify the methodologies and instrumentation for the in-situ search for methane sources and relevant microbial bio signatures related to methanogens.
The Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), is developing COSMOS (Comprehensive Open-architecture Space Mission Operations System), a set of software tools and hardware that is designed to primarily support the development and operations of one or more small spacecraft. COSMOS will be particularly suited for organizations with limited development and operations budget, such as universities. COSMOS is a suite of software and hardware tools (including external modules) that enables the operations team to interface with the spacecraft, ground control network, payload and other customers in order to perform the mission operations functions including mission planning and scheduling; contact operations; data management and analysis; simulations (including the operational testbed); ground network control; payload operations; flight dynamics; and system management. COSMOS is being designed to easily be adapted for new spacecraft or installation in new mission operations centers (MOCs). Some of the basic elements of COSMOS have been developed at least to the prototype stage, while other elements are still in the conceptual stage. The COSMOS tools will initially be installed in the HSFL and ARC MOCs and used in support of three of their small satellites.
The Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is developing the capabilities to
design, build, and operate constellations of small satellites than can be tailored to efficiently execute a variety of remote
sensing missions. With the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office, HSFL is developing the Super Strypi launch
vehicle that on its initial mission in 2013 will launch the HSFL 55-kg HawaiiSat-1 into a near polar orbit, providing the
first deployment of these technologies. This satellite will be carrying a miniature hyperspectral thermal imager
developed by the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP). HSFL has also developed a method to
efficiently deploy a constellation of small satellites using a minimal number of launch vehicles.
Under a three-year NASA grant, HSFL is developing a Comprehensive Open-architecture Space Mission Operations
System (COSMOS) to support these types of missions. COSMOS is being designed as a System of Systems (SoS)
software integrator, tying together existing elements from different technological domains. This system should be easily
adaptable to new architectures and easily scalable. It will be provided as Open Source to qualified users, so will be
adoptable by even universities with very restricted budgets. In this paper we present the use of COSMOS as a System of
Systems integrator for satellite constellations of up to 100 satellites and numerous ground stations and/or contact nodes,
including a fully automated “lights out” satellite contact capability.
Ongoing and planned smallsat programs within NASA, the DoD, and academia have indicated a need to be able to routinely and efficiently operate multiple small spacecraft in support of science and technology missions. However, as the number of these missions is expected to grow rapidly, the associated costs to develop and operate unique ground control stations, tools, and networks may become prohibitive to the sponsoring organizations or universities. In order to inform and raise the awareness of the smallsat space operations community, the University of Hawai'i, NASA Ames Research Center, San Jose State University (SJSU) and American Institure of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) held a workshop entitled Plug ‘n’ Play Mission Operations (PPMO) which held May 16–17, 2011 at the SJSU campus in San Jose, California. The purpose of the workshop was to foster collaboration and leveraging of existing and developing capabilities that may be collectively utilized by the smallsat community for space operations. Although the emphasis of the workshop was on small satellites, many of the techniques discussed would be applicable to large spacecraft mission operations as well. The workshop explored the adoption of standards and existing capabilities as well as the creation of new technologies that will enable space mission developers to plan, design, and operate their spacecraft using a common architecture in order to reduce cost and overall mission risk. The PPMO workshop investigated the various needs of the smallsat communities (military, civil and educational space) and also touched on existing systems and capabilities (such as GSFC's GMSEC, JPL's AMMOS, and NRL's CGA used in the MC3 program) and those under development (such as HSFL's COSMOS and ESA's GENSO). The workshop also held facilitated discussions organized into categories along the lines of Approaches (programmatic and related issues), Implementation (technical solutions and architectures), and Applications (concept of operations, mission types and users). This paper presents the results of this workshop and the path forward.
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