• About
  • Advanced Search
  • Browse Proceedings
  • Access Policy
  • Sponsor
  • Contact
  • Gallery Index
  • Informing Space Operations: A Broadcast Network for Cooperative Traffic Management and Zero-Gap Telemetry

    Paper ID

    81010

    author

    • Ralph Ewig

    company

    Outlyer.Space

    country

    United States

    year

    2024

    abstract

    {\it Problem Description:} The growing number of spacecraft on orbit necessitates a broadening scope of spaceflight operations. Beyond monitoring the spacecraft’s status, today’s objectives include the tracking of space traffic and environmental conditions and account for their impact on mission objectives. Existing space communication architectures, optimized for payload data transfer prioritizing total transfer volume, struggle to provide the required timely exchange of information between spacecraft in proximity of each other and between spacecraft and ground operators.\newline {\it Proposed Solution:} Leveraging lessons from successful solutions in marine and aviation industries, we propose a dedicated broadcast network for space operations. This network prioritizes near real-time delivery over total throughput by combining regular broadcasts from each spacecraft with the capability to store and relay the latest information received at each node. The architecture’s Concept of Operations (ConOps) thus mimics a contact tracing network, capable of carrying both public traffic data and private spacecraft telemetry.\newline {\it Development Status:} A physics-based, time-varying simulation (Digital Twin) has been developed leveraging Python, the Orekit space dynamics library, and CesiumJS for visualization. To assess the proposed network's performance, two primary Figures of Merit are defined: Link Time (fraction a transmitting node can establish a working connection) and Message Age (time elapsed at a receiving node since the last observed message was sent). Results indicate that even with a modest number of participants, the network achieves high Link Times ($>$90\%) and low average Message Age ($<$10 min). Performance scales rapidly, with continuous access (Link Time of 100\%) and average Message Age below 1 minute observed with 15 or more participating spacecraft.\newline {\it Potential Applications:} The proposed architecture exhibits organic coverage growth, expanding seamlessly from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and beyond into cis-lunar space. Its data transfer capacity scales dynamically with participant numbers, serving single operators with multiple spacecraft or as a collaborative network across multiple operators. The network's utility spans launch vehicle upper stages, satellites, spacecraft, and space stations, both onboard and ground-controlled, with aggregate data warehousing / processing possible at any terrestrial location. The ability to join the network from any surface location makes pre-flight test and integration validation possible in a completely flight-like configuration. The fully formed network enables near real-time telemetry ("zero-gap" information flow) which supports self-organized traffic management and facilitates direct sharing of environmental data among participating spacecraft with a potentially transformative impact on space operations.