Publications Journal article · Mega-constellations · 2020
Managing Fleets of LEO Satellites: Nonlinear, Optimal, Efficient, Scalable, Usable, and Robust
IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, vol. 39, no. 11, pp. 3762–3773, 2020
Abstract
Size and weight limitations of low-earth orbit (LEO) small satellites make their operation rest on a fine balance between solar power infeed and power demands of communication technologies on board, buffered by on-board battery storage. As a result, the problem of planning battery-powered payload utilization together with intersatellite communication is extremely intricate. Nevertheless, there is a growing trend toward constellations and megaconstellations that are to be managed using sophisticated software support. Earlier work has leveraged cost-optimal reachability in priced timed automata for deriving near-optimal finite-horizon schedules to operate a single LEO satellite in orbit. This article harvests that work and improves it in several dimensions, all needed for true in-orbit applicability: 1) the battery representation is no longer bound to be linear, but can be kinetic, which means that the optimization problem includes nonlinearities; 2) the management is perpetuated by a receding horizon scheduling strategy; 3) the model is continuously improved with the latest telemetry received from orbit; 4) a tandem of satellites equipped with state-of-the-art intersatellite link transponders is considered; 5) the core optimization problem is now solved using dynamic programming with antichain-based pruning, which is proven to be optimal and despite all the additional features outperforms the earlier approach by orders of magnitude; 6) the entire approach is grounded in the concrete requirements of the GOM X–4 LEO mission; 7) care is taken to make the approach usable by the space engineers, and robust against failures of parts of the toolchain; and 8) an extensive test campaign validates accuracy, efficiency, scalability, and robustness with respect to the operational requirements and constraints of LEO constellations.
Cite
BibTeX
@article{DBLP:journals/tcad/StockFMHBC20,
author = {Gregory Stock and Juan A. Fraire and Tobias M{\"{o}}mke and Holger Hermanns and Fakhri Babayev and Eduardo Cruz},
title = {Managing Fleets of {LEO} Satellites: Nonlinear, Optimal, Efficient, Scalable, Usable, and Robust},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems},
volume = {39},
number = {11},
pages = {3762--3773},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1109/tcad.2020.3012751}
}