Mission Operation Concepts For Robotic Missions

Abstract

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is presently involved in the preparation of the robotic mission DEOS. The objective of DEOS is to demonstrate the capture of a tumbling non-supportive client satellite. This mission has been preceded by several robotic experiments in space, ROTEX on the Shuttle flight STS 55 in 1993, GETEX on ETS VII in 1999 and ROKVISS from 2005 to 2010 on the ISS. Experience regarding the approach navigation was gained by operating the close formation of TanDEM-X (< 200m) and the technology demonstration PRISMA (<1m). In order to consolidate the experience gained during the past decades, a study of Mission Control Concepts for Robotic Operations (MICCRO) is currently being conducted by VCS and DLR. The study shall reveal the commonalities in the operations of past and current robotic space missions in order to find a representative mission control concept for robotic missions. The existing operational concepts, responsibilities and information flows during the different mission phases are taken into account. A particular emphasis is put on the possible interaction between different autonomous components (on-board and on-ground), their synchronization and the possible shift of autonomy borders during different mission phases. Additionally, communication constraints are investigated including the impact of telepresence on the communication architecture. Finally, we also investigate the consequence on roles and responsibilities, since telepresence introduces a new time scale in decision making.