AUTOMATED HEALTH OPERATIONS FOR THE SAPPHIRE SPACECRAFT

Abstract

Stanford’s Space Systems Development Laboratory is developing methods for automated spacecraft health operations. Such operations greatly reduce the need for ground-space communication links and full-time operators. However, new questions emerge about how to supply operators with the spacecraft information that is no longer available. One solution is to introduce a low-bandwidth health beacon and to develop new approaches in on-board summarization of health data for telemetering. This paper reviews the development of beacon operations and data summary, describes the implementation of beacon-based health management on board SAPPHIRE, and explains the mission operations response to health emergencies. Additional information is provided on the role of SSDL’s academic partners in developing a worldwide network of beacon receiving stations.