Most house mission techniques traditionally have used one spacecraft designed to finish a complete mission independently. Whether or not it was a climate satellite tv for pc or a human-crewed module like Apollo, almost each spacecraft was deployed and carried out its one-off mission utterly by itself.
However immediately, house business organizations are exploring missions with many satellites working collectively. For instance, SpaceX’s Starlink constellations embody 1000’s of satellites. And new spacecraft may quickly have the capabilities to hyperlink up or have interaction with different satellites in orbit for repairs or refueling.
A few of these spacecraft are already working and serving clients, reminiscent of Northrop Grumman’s mission extension car. This orbiting craft has prolonged the lives of a number of communications satellites.
Northrup Grumman’s mission extension car is one instance of a craft designed to service different satellites and spacecraft whereas in orbit.
These new design choices and in-orbit capabilities make house missions look extra like massive logistics operations on Earth.
We’re researchers who’ve studied the house business for years. We’ve studied how the house sector may study classes from firms like Amazon or FedEx about managing advanced fleets and coordinating operations.
Classes from the Floor Transportation Community
Area mission designers plan their routes to be able to ship their payloads to the Moon or Mars or orbit effectively inside a set of price, timeline, and capability constraints. However when they should coordinate a number of house automobiles working collectively, route planning can get difficult.
Logistics firms on the bottom resolve comparable issues daily and transport items and commodities throughout the globe. So, researchers can examine how these firms handle their logistics to assist house firms and businesses determine easy methods to efficiently plan their mission operations.
One NASA-funded examine within the early 2000s had an concept for simulating house logistics operations. These researchers considered orbits or planets as cities and the trajectories connecting them as routes. Additionally they considered the payload, consumables, gasoline and different gadgets to move as commodities.
This method helped them reframe the house mission downside as a commodity stream downside – a sort of query that floor logistics firms work on on a regular basis.
Classes from Floor Logistics Infrastructure
New capabilities for refuelingand repairing spacecraft in orbit create new alternatives in addition to challenges.
Specifically, house operators don’t normally know which satellite tv for pc would be the subsequent one to fail or when that can occur. For these new applied sciences to be helpful, house mission designers would want to give you an infrastructure system. That might appear like a fleet of service automobiles and depots in house that rapidly reply to any unpredictable occasions.
Fortuitously, house mission designers can study from operations on the bottom. Metropolis planners and emergency response organizations assume by means of these kinds of challenges whereas figuring out the place to find hospitals or hearth departments. Additionally they take into account these amenities’ capacities to answer unpredictable calls.
We are able to draw an analogy between a floor logistics system design and an in-space servicing system design. This manner, researchers can leverage theories developed for floor logistics to enhance the house mission design apply.
One examine revealed in November 2020 developed a framework for servicing spacecraft on orbit utilizing what logistics consultants name spatial queuing principle. Researchers mostly use this modeling principle to research the efficiency of a floor logistics system.
Classes from Floor Warehouse Administration
Prior to now, particular person spacecraft carried out their missions independently, so if a satellite tv for pc failed, its mission engineers needed to develop and ship a alternative.
Now, for missions with a number of satellites, such because the Iridium satellite tv for pc constellation, operators typically preserve a number of spares on orbit.
This turns into difficult for constellations made up of lots of or 1000’s of spacecraft. Mission designers need to guarantee they’ve sufficient spare satellites in orbit in order that they don’t must interrupt the mission if one breaks. However sending too many spare satellites will get costly.
When coping with these kinds of massive constellations, mission designers can study from the strategies Amazon and different floor firms use to handle their warehouses. Amazon places these warehouses in particular locations and shares them with sure gadgets to ensure the deliveries are dealt with effectively.
Provide chain managers on the bottom take care of a number of the similar questions that mission designers within the house business are beginning to deal with, like easy methods to handle their stock. Suriyapong Thongsawang/Second through Getty Photos
Stock administration theories on the bottom might help inform how house firms deal with these challenges.
A examine revealed in November 2019 developed an method that house firms may use to handle their spare methods. This method might help them resolve the place in orbit to allocate their spare satellites to fulfill their wants whereas minimizing any service interruptions.
Worldwide Dimensions
Spacecraft function in a posh and quickly altering atmosphere. Operators must know the place different missions are working and what guidelines they need to observe when refueling or repairing in house. In house, nevertheless, no person has outlined these guidelines but.
Ships, plane, and floor automobiles all have clear guidelines of the highway to observe when interacting with different automobiles. For instance, civilian ships and plane must share their location with different automobiles and officers to assist handle site visitors.
Some researchers are analyzing what comparable guidelines may appear like for house. One examine examined how creating guidelines primarily based on a spacecraft’s measurement, age, or different attributes would possibly assist future house operations run extra easily. For instance, one rule is likely to be that the spacecraft that launched most lately ought to take accountability for maneuvering when there’s one other craft in its path.
With extra satellites and spacecraft launching now than ever, firms and authorities businesses will want new applied sciences and insurance policies to coordinate them. As house exercise turns into extra advanced, researchers can proceed to use what they’ve realized on the bottom to new missions in house.
Koki Ho is an Affiliate Professor of Aerospace Engineering on the Georgia Institute of Expertise. Mariel Borowitz is an Affiliate Professor of Worldwide Affairs on the Georgia Institute of Expertise. This text is republished from The Dialog beneath a Inventive Commons license. Learn the unique article.
