Development of the Mission Operations Plan of the Nanosatellite ’AISat’ (CLAVIS-1)

Abstract

The German Aerospace Center and the University of Applied Sciences Bremen are developing the nanosatellite ’AISat’ for in-orbit ship tracking. It is scheduled for launch in autumn 2012 as secondary payload on an Indian ’PSLV’ launcher system. The thesis deals with the development of the mission operations plan of the satellite for the early mission phases as well as for the future scientific use of the satellite. The main challenge is the dynamic of the satellite system due to the high orbital velocity of the spacecraft, which leads to strongly changing power conditions as well as strong reduction of the duration of possible communication opportunities. An approach for mission scheduling, which is based on two mathematical models, is used. Both models are developed to predict all properties of the satellite, which are relevant for mission scheduling: An analytic model for easy mission scheduling and a non-linear simulation model, which allows more accurate prediction of the satellite behaviour and is used to verify the operation schedule. The main achievements of the thesis are the command list for autonomous satellite operations during early mission phases, the operation plan to perform the commissioning phase as well as a scientific guideline for the routine mission operations, which will directly influence the mission operations manual for the actual operations starting in autumn 2012. A secondary achievement is the development of a simulation model of the satellite, which will support the operator during critical mission phases. Additionally an approach for providing information concerning the capabilities and constraints of the spacecraft was developed. The results are tables, which allow analysing the power and data handling capabilities in respect to certain mission schedules very fast and intuitive, hence allowing much more efficient mission operations planning.