Software and projects
The tools my students, colleagues and I have built to plan, simulate and run networks in space, and the funded projects they came from. Most of the code is open source.
In orbit and in use
Flight and operations
- My contact-graph routing modules run in NASA's DTN stacks, ION and HDTN, including the routing-experiment payload on the International Space Station and Deep Space Network stations.
- Battery-aware routing and autonomous scheduling of inter-satellite links were demonstrated on GomSpace's GomX-4 satellites in low Earth orbit.
- The Bundle Protocol version 7 and Ring Road networks were validated on ESA's OPS-SAT mission.
Companies
- µD3TN, the lightweight DTN protocol stack of D3TN for constrained spacecraft, used in space and underwater. I took part in its development.
- Technology transfer to Skyloom (an all-optical geostationary relay), D3TN (the ColdSun, Orbitare and DARKSOL projects) and Cloud&Heat (Aocloud).
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IPN-V
The Interplanetary Network Visualiser: a 3D view of orbiters, landers and ground stations across the Solar System, with their contacts and light-time delays. The Mars network on the home page comes from one of its scenarios. Demo on request.
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Contact Plan Designer
Works out when spacecraft and ground stations can talk to each other and turns it into the contact plans that DTN routing needs. Runs in the browser and as a plug-in for STK.
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DtnSim
A simulator for studying delay-tolerant networks: routing, forwarding, scheduling and contact planning.
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pyCGR
Contact graph routing in Python, adopted in NASA's HDTN.
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A-SABR
An adaptive library for schedule-aware bundle routing, the family of algorithms behind contact graph routing.
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MISSION
Models in Space Systems: formal models and uncertainty-aware routing for space networks, with U. Twente, RWTH Aachen, Saarland University, UNC, UNRC, D3TN, Ascentio and INVAP.
Responsible researcher
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VISTA
Viable and Scalable Interplanetary and Terrestrial Architectures, coordinated by Olivier De Jonckère at LIRMM.
Collaborator
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A digital twin for the Solar System Internet
A doctoral project co-funded by ESA, on a digital twin to optimise and operate networks across the Solar System, building on IPN-V.
Co-supervisor, with Pierre François
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FLoRaSat
An OMNeT++ simulator for end-to-end satellite IoT, with LoRa and LoRaWAN adapted to links with satellites. Now in its second version.
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STEREO
Space-Terrestrial Integrated IoT: protocols that let low-cost devices reach satellites directly, with Inria, IRIT, LAAS, LIG and Kinéis.
Coordinator
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DORSAL-IoT
Downlink optimisation for robust direct-to-satellite IoT, with Universidad de Chile, UDP, UTEM and UFSC in Brazil.
Coordinating group member
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D3-CONNECT
Direct-to-device satellite connectivity for everyone, with Sylvia Ratnasamy's NetSys Lab at UC Berkeley.
Principal investigator
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ConOpsCon
Constellation operations with continuous communication, with Saarland University as prime contractor and VisionSpace Technologies.
Coordinator
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DONUTS
Design of multiscale, multitechnology networks: a seamless continuum of space, air and ground networks for 5G and 6G.
Contributor
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ESpaS
Open-source estimator of the carbon footprint of computing in orbit, from manufacturing through launch to re-entry, built at Saarland University.
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MeteorNet
A continuous-time emulator for edge computing on low-Earth-orbit constellations, used to test where servers should sit and how tasks should move between orbit and ground.
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FOUNDATION
Computing without repair: what it takes to keep hardware dependable for years when no one can reach it. A 30-second teaser.
Concluded projects
- AI4LFNM, ESA, 2023–2025. Lead researcher. AI for managing large satellite fleets, with GMV, Saarland University, Thales Alenia Space, Eutelsat and Planet Labs.
- ML4OISL, ESA, 2024–2025. Contributor. Machine learning for optical inter-satellite links, with GMV, Saarland University and Eutelsat.
- HANDING-OVER, ESA, 2023–2025. Contributor. Handover, routing and resource management in very low Earth orbit, with Thales Alenia Space and Politecnico di Torino.
- LEOPowVer, ERC Proof of Concept, 2021–2022. Adjunct PI, with Holger Hermanns as PI. In-orbit validation on GomX-4.
- STARS, STIC-AmSud, 2021–2023. Responsible researcher. Protocols for satellite networks.
- NEON, Erasmus+, 2021–2024. Collaborator. A network of competences on the Internet of Things.
- i2CAT contract, 2023. Optical inter-satellite links and network management.
- MAPS-Net, ANPCyT, 2019–2021. Director. Segmented satellite networks.
- ContactAR, ANPCyT, 2020–2021. Responsible researcher. Digital contact tracing.
Also active: MOBIDEC, a targeted project of the PEPR programme (France 2030), as a contributor. In all, more than 15 funded projects worth over €7M.