Satellites can have several hundreds of components which degrade over time in the high radiation of space. The controller’s job is to monitor satellite health and keep it running, because every second of down time costs millions of dollars for their customers.

PIGI (Predictive Interactive Groundstation Interface) modernises satellite diagnostics. PIGI incorporates high fidelity artificial intelligence to estimate spacecraft behavior and detect pending failures. This augments conventional alert systems so operators can quickly and efficiently map causes and effects as problems occur.

PIGI early tests tracking the performance of a high-fidelity lunar base simulation. Each yellow circle is a metric, driven from simulation produced health and welfare telemetry. PIGI accurately tracked cause-and-effects paths from space weather events to electric power and thermal subsytems, finally to the effect on Astronaut life support and health.

We also replace the old, bulky, text based drop-down lists with easy to use 3D graphics. The GUI will display statistically meaningful data to assist controllers in inferring, diagnosing, and predicting spacecraft behavior. One of the most important benefits of the PIGI system lies in its ability to reveal nominal spacecraft conditions at a glance- greatly improving controller reaction time during error conditions.

An early screenshot of the “Satellite Systems” viewer featuring a conventional CubeSat. CAD files are converted to the PIGI engine allowing for 3D view of every component. Graphs show sensor telemetry values, while the object’s colour denotes overall state (red, amber, or green). Operators control the information they need.

We would like to thank the following groups for support with time and data. Data was used to test our AI algorithms, allowing us to iteratively improve from simple simulations to real-world data.

NASA Goddard - High fidelity ACE satellite TX data

CSIRO-CME - High fidelity sensor data from the Self-organised Sentient Structures project

University of Stuttguart Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme - High fidelity lunar base simulation data

University of New South Wales - Raw structural sensor data

NSW Rocketry Society - Raw launch data

Roll, pitch, and Yaw was estimated for a rocket launched by the NSW Rocketry group. We estimated positions errors as a function of environmental constraints, such as wind pressure and temperature. This can make launch control easier and safer.

PREFLIGHT PROTOTYPE AVAILABLE

DragEN is a very simple, highly versatile tether deployer used for responsible de-orbit of nanosatellites at the end of their mission life. Using a conductive tether also allows basic measurements of local magnetic fields.

Its compact size (24390 mm3) and mass (94.5 g) allows for many mounting options directly onto common Cubesat, Cansat, and Tubesat bus structures. Deployment of a mono-filament tether occurs by releasing a spring-loaded Bottom Ballast. The tether tension and gravity gradient cause the ballast to rotate 90 degrees into a yo-yo configuration for a natural roll-out of the tether.

This safe and uncomplicated approach reduces moving parts and aims for high reliability. DragEn is made with high-strength Al 6061 and is compatible with a wide range of commercial and military satellites. The system can be modified to produce up to 330mW of power using electrodynamic tether and an emitter. This will extend redundant power at the critical final two weeks of the spacecraft’s life.

UNDERGOING GROUND TESTING

As part of our work with the Vostok Space Beer project we are developing a bottle insert which allows natural drinking of any liquid in 0-g. "Natural" means a person can consume in space just like we would on Earth, by drinking directly from the bottle rather than a squeeze tube. The device takes advantage of surface tension to wick the liquid from the bottom of a drinking container to a bottle's neck.

The device can be inserted into most conventional PET bottles and is reusable after every flight. The inlet form fits to common industrial bottling fillers and is designed to meet NASA standards SP-2010-4307 and ST-3001.