PAGE CONTENTS
Objectives
As of today, the increasingly high number of flying satellites will make impracticable for Satellite Controllers (SCs) to monitor effectively the health status of satellites, especially in constellations. The goal of this project is to develop CASTeC (Context Aware Spacecraft Telemetry Checking) as a software tool to support SCs tasks by automatically detecting anomalies, predicting failures, understanding the causes of these events and assessing the Remaining Useful Life of satellite components, with a view on the entire satellites constellation.
The objective of the CASTeC project is to attain full validation in an operative scenario (TRL 8) of the following key product capabilities:
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Early identification of anomalies in the behaviour of the satellite considering the effect of different contexts, i.e. known operative conditions.
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Identification of correlated events, thus enabling early fault isolation and mitigation strategies definition;
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Identification of critical operative conditions that may affect satellites’ service performance;
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Automatic estimation of the Remaining Useful Life.
The CASTeC project includes a validation process in which alpha customers use the tool, supporting the demonstration of CASTeC capabilities in an operational scenario.
Challenges
he key challenges are the following:
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Validate on a variety of relevant scenarios CASTeC performance in the telemetry checking, in terms of rates of false and missed alarms and predictive capabilities, and in the identification of potential cause-effect relations among events;
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Conceive and develop innovative and effective ways to investigate telemetry data and algorithms results;
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Develop the product as a scalable and flexible multi-user and multi-mission tool that can be easily interfaced with different mission database;
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Improve the commercial attractiveness of CASTeC, differentiating the product from the competitive landscape.
System Architecture
CASTeC is characterised by a typical three tier architecture composed by:
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a Data Layer, responsible for accessing data from the mission database and storing internal results;
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a Business Logic Layer, responsible for the execution of manual or scheduled core algorithms analyses;
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a Front-end Layer, responsible for the visualisation of the information managed and produced by the core algorithms and providing configuration options to the users.
The product is intended to be a software module that can be easily interfaced with Ground Segment operations platforms.
The web-based implementation allows the installation of CASTeC on a shared (or external) machine and the investigation of the telemetry from any different location, through a web browser.
CASTeC can be used as standalone tool or integrated with other end users’ tools, through specific APIs, according to their needs.
The following figure represents an example of CASTeC integration with the Ground Segment.
Plan
The project comprises the following phases and milestone:
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Definition Phase: requirements, software architecture, KPIs and application scenarios definition (Requirement Review)
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Technology Phase: CASTeC enhanced and customised for constellation monitoring. Fine tuning of visualization tool and algorithms (Preliminary Design Review)
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Product Phase: CASTeC installed and verified in a non-operational environment. (Critical Design Review, Test Readiness Review, Factory Acceptance Test)
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Demonstration Phase: CASTeC installed and verified in an operational environment (Site Acceptance Test, Pilot Final Review).
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Definition Phase (CCN activity): assessment of CASTeC for large constellations (WPDF500 Review).
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Product Phase (CCN activity): Remaining Useful Life (RUL) estimate integration and validation (Final Review).
Current Status
The Final Review was deemed successful. The software reached TRL 8 thanks to the validation activity performed in an operational scenario with external end users. The software is ready for commercialization.
