Photo credit: www.nasa.gov
Navigating the Future: NASA’s Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy
A collaborative approach among multiple satellites marks the latest advancement in space technology, encapsulated in NASA’s innovative Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA). This cutting-edge technology empowers individual spacecraft within a swarm to make autonomous decisions, allowing them to work cohesively towards shared objectives without human intervention.
Headquartered at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, the DSA project has achieved numerous groundbreaking milestones. The initiative focuses on creating essential software tools for future autonomous and intelligent spacecraft swarms, enabling these groups to communicate effectively and tackle complex mission goals.
“The power of Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy lies in its uniqueness,” noted Caleb Adams, the DSA project manager at NASA Ames. “This software equips satellite swarms with the scientific objective and the intelligence needed to achieve it.”
Understanding Distributed Space Missions
Distributed space missions depend on the collaborative efforts of multiple spacecraft to meet mission objectives. By utilizing a swarm of satellites, these missions can enhance data collection and ensure the uninterrupted functioning of critical satellite systems.
Traditionally, individual satellites are managed by ground operators, making it challenging to oversee larger groups as mission designs become more intricate. As the number of spacecraft increases, hands-on management of each unit becomes impractical.
By distributing autonomy among a network of satellites, each unit is empowered to make decisions independently, increasing the resilience of the swarm against potential failures of individual units.
The DSA team has progressed the technology through two main initiatives: developing software for small spacecraft demonstrated during NASA’s Starling mission, which involved four CubeSat satellites collaboratively operating with limited human oversight, and conducting a scalability study through simulated spacecraft operations in a virtual lunar orbit.
Field Testing DSA in Low Earth Orbit
In a demanding test, the Starling mission focused on studying Earth’s ionosphere, the interface between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. The experiment showcased the swarm’s autonomous decision-making capabilities, allowing them to determine their scientific actions without pre-defined directives from ground control.
“We allowed the spacecraft to autonomously determine their own scientific objectives,” explained Adams. “The DSA team only discerned the specific scientific actions taken after the mission’s conclusion, marking a first in autonomous space operations.”
The DSA’s achievements during Starling include the inaugural full autonomy in operations across multiple spacecraft, pioneering space-to-space communications for status sharing, demonstrating reactive operations among the swarm, and implementing a generalized automated reasoning system on board.
Conducted from August 2023 to May 2024, the Starling swarm utilized GPS signals traversing the ionosphere, allowing the spacecraft to focus on significant yet ephemeral features by exchanging information rapidly. Rapid positional changes relative to each other and the environment necessitated real-time communication for the satellites to maintain their objectives.
Each satellite independently generated and acted upon optimal strategies based on incoming data, facilitating quick adaptations to variable conditions.
“The realization of our goal to demonstrate a fully autonomous distributed mission was made achievable by the DSA team’s creation of software that enabled cohesive collaboration among the spacecraft,” added Adams.
Scaling Up with Virtual Lunar Orbit Simulations
A complementary ground-based study by the DSA team involved simulating small spacecraft and associated flight computers in a virtual lunar environment. This simulation aimed to evaluate the swarm’s capabilities for providing position, navigation, and timing services around the Moon. This approach could ultimately yield affordable navigation solutions for lunar missions, enhancing situational awareness of both equipment and personnel on the lunar surface.
Through approximately one hundred trials over two years, the scalability study confirmed that a swarm of up to 60 spacecraft could successfully coordinate operations in simulated lunar orbits.
The DSA initiative is now poised to expand capabilities, enabling mission operators to engage with even larger swarms, potentially comprising hundreds of spacecraft as a unified system.
The advancements achieved through Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy reflect a pivotal development in the progression of autonomous distributed space systems, paving the way for innovative scientific exploration and research opportunities in the cosmos.
The Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy and Starling projects are spearheaded by NASA Ames. Funding for the DSA experiment is provided by NASA’s Game Changing Development program within the Space Technology Mission Directorate, while the Small Spacecraft Technology program manages the Starling mission and the DSA project.
Source
www.nasa.gov