Space Company Research Articles

Innovation on the Reservation: Information Technology and Health Systems Research among the Papago Tribe of Arizona, 1965–1980

AbstractIn May 1973 a new collaboration between NASA, the Indian Health Service, and the Lockheed Missiles and Space Company promised to transform the way members of the Papago (now Tohono O’odham)...

Towards the automated operations of large distributed satellite systems. Part 2: Classifications and tools

Recent developments have seen a trend towards larger constellations of spacecraft, with some proposals featuring constellations of more than 10.000 satellites. While similar concepts for large constellations already existed in the past, traditional satellite deployments hardly ever feature groups of more than 100 satellites. This trend towards considerably larger satellite numbers originates from non-traditional design and operations of spacecraft by non-traditional space companies. The evolution in the space sector, precipitated by new players, is often referred to as “Space 4.0” or “New Space”. It necessitates a rethinking of the way satellites and satellite constellations are planned, designed, and operated. New operational paradigms are needed to enable automatic, optimal task definition, and scheduling in a holistic approach.This is the second of two companion papers that investigate the operations of distributed satellite systems. This second article investigates the classification of distributed satellite systems and evaluates commercial tools for automated spacecraft operations, whereas the first article performed a survey of conventional and “new space”operations of spacecraft constellations.Classification metrics for constellations are derived and evaluated with respect to their informative value concerning the operation, the automation, and the scalability of the constellation. The proposed classification system is applied to the Dove and RapidEye constellation and allows for a comparison between the presented automation approaches. Commercial tools for automated spacecraft operations are evaluated for several mission task elements, such as orbit control, orbit maintenance, and collision avoidance. Subsequently, the trends, benefits, and standardization needs for operational automation are identified.

International Legal Regulation of the Missile Technology Control Regime in the Aspect of Private Space Company Activities

International Legal Regulation of the Missile Technology Control Regime in the Aspect of Private Space Company Activities

Testing and Validation of an Image-Based, Pose and Shape Reconstruction Algorithm for Didymos Mission

The recent and continuously growing scientific interest for asteroids composition and its relation to solar system’s origins led the space industry to put high effort into asteroid missions during the last years. Nowadays, several space companies are investing resources into Hera mission (which has been proposed by the European Space Agency). In addition to visiting the Didymos asteroid binary system to acquire important scientific discoveries, Hera mission will also be the first mission to operate autonomously around an asteroid. The spacecraft will fuse data from its Asteroid Framing Camera (AFC), star-tracker, laser altimeter, thermal infrared camera and inertial sensors to build up a coherent model of its surroundings and be able to behave autonomously. Despite that, the AFC is considered to be the most crucial data source because of its dual science and navigation functionality. In fact, although images acquired by the camera are going to be used for scientific purposes, during the mission their main usage will be devoted to navigating autonomously around the main asteroid, Didymain. Because of this reason, several hardware-in-the-loop tests are being made in laboratories to analyze the accuracy of specific feature detection, extraction and tracking algorithms. Along with the computer vision part, navigation filters are being tested on the captured images to prove the feasibility of shape reconstruction and relative pose estimation (i.e., relative position, velocity, attitude and angular velocity). This paper presents an algorithm which has been built to use images acquired by a camera to reconstruct Didymain’s relative pose and shape and validates it with both computer simulations and experimental tests. First, the algorithm is going to be explained in all its parts: the computer vision block makes use of feature detection and extraction methods (e.g., KAZE, SIFT, etc.) and tracking algorithms (e.g., Kanade–Lucas–Tomasi Feature Tracker) to extract meaningful information from the captured images; the navigation filter, developed following an Unscented Kalman-like scheme, is going to use those data to reconstruct the asteroid’s pose and shape. Second, a simulator built in Matlab environment, which uses a 3D CAD of the asteroid to generate synthetic images in closed loop, is being used to prove the feasibility of this concept: several simulation scenario with different initial conditions will be analyzed to prove the robustness of this approach. Finally, the algorithm is going to be tested and validated through experimental tests performed at platform-art©, GMV’s Advanced Robotic Testbed in Madrid, where real images of a Didymain asteroid’s mock-up are going to be framed and used in the loop. The results obtained by the software testing and hardware-in-the-loop validation steps show that the proposed technique attains a good estimation accuracy as long as the relative configuration between spacecraft and asteroid is not singular (thus unobservable), meeting mission requirements and thus being suitable for an on-board implementation.

Electromagnetic-launch-based method for cost-efficient space debris removal

Abstract The increase in space debris orbiting Earth is a critical problem for future space missions. Space debris removal has thus become an area of interest, and significant research progress is being made in this field. However, the exorbitant cost of space debris removal missions is a major concern for commercial space companies. We therefore propose the debris removal using electromagnetic launcher (DREL) system, a ground-based electromagnetic launch system (railgun), for space debris removal missions. The DREL system has three components: a ground-based electromagnetic launcher (GEML), suborbital vehicle (SOV), and mass of micrometer-scale dust (MSD) particles. The average cost of removing a piece of low-earth orbit space debris using DREL was found to be approximately USD 160,000. The DREL method is thus shown to be economical; the total cost to remove more than 2,000 pieces of debris in a cluster was only approximately USD 400 million, compared to the millions of dollars required to remove just one or two pieces of debris using a conventional space debris removal mission. By using DREL, the cost of entering space is negligible, thereby enabling countries to remove their space debris in an affordable manner.

Space Medicine Training in Canada

INTRODUCTION: Aerospace medicine training is often difficult to obtain outside of military education streams. Undergraduate medical trainees and residents may undertake training opportunities, but often have trouble locating programs and/or receiving credit for their experiences and learning. In many countries, no formal aerospace medicine training program or pathway exists and trainees must search out opportunities on their own. Canada is used as an example of a country which, until recently, had no defined civilian aerospace medicine training program or credentialing pathway. Recent development of a Diploma in Aerospace Medicine certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons now outlines a series of competencies for trainees and medical professionals seeking advancement in aerospace medicine. Growth of the aviation and aerospace fields will require more training opportunities and more aerospace medicine professionals to support the increased number of aviators and the spacefaring population. This will be particularly important as commercial space companies develop the potential for civilian spaceflight. While few opportunities exist for training, we highlight the major aerospace medicine training opportunities that have been recently available to Canadians. It is our hope that highlighting previous and current opportunities may aid in the development of a formal training program leading to certification in aerospace medicine for Canadians and act as an example for other nations.Sirek A, Samoil K, Harrison MF. Space medicine training in Canada. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2019; 90(8):725-729.

МОЙ ПУТЬ В БОЛЬШУЮ НАУКУ

The article is a summary of Alexey Stakhov scientific way, who in 1961 graduated from Radio Engineering Faculty Kharkiv Aviation Institute with honors and became the first graduate of the faculty who in 1972, at the age of 32, defended his doctoral thesis on the specialty “computer engineering” and in 1974 received academic title of professor in the department of information-measuring systems (Taganrog Radio Engineering Institute).From 1961 to 1963 he worked as an engineer at the famous space company “Design Bureau of Electrical Instrument Engineering” (now the firm “Khartron”). From 1963 to 1966 he studied in the graduate school of the Technical Cybernetics Department of the Kharkiv Institute of Radio Electronics under the supervision of Professor Alexander A. Volkov.In 1971, in connection with the completion of his doctoral thesis, Alexey Stakhov was elected to the post of the Head of Information-Measuring Technology Department of Taganrog Radio Engineering Institute (1971-1977).Alexey Stakhov became the first Soviet professor who in early 1976 was selected by the USSR Ministry of Education for a 2-month work at Vienna Technical University.At the final stage of his stay in Austria, A. P. Stakhov delivered the extensive lecture “Algorithmic Measurement Theory and the Foundations of Computer Arithmetic” at the joint meeting of Computer and Cybernetic Societies of Austria. With this lecture, international recognition of the Stakhov’s scientific direction began.The USSR Ambassador to Austria, Mikhail Efremov, sent the extensive letter to the USSR State Committee on Science and Technology with a proposal to patent Prof. Stakhov’s inventions abroad. The results of the patenting exceeded all expectations. The 65 patents, granted by the patent offices of the USA, Japan, England, France, Germany, Canada, and other countries protect the priority of the scientific direction, created by A.P. Stakhov.In more detail with the scientific achievements of Prof. A.P. Stakhov can be found by reading his biographical article in English Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Stakhov and its page in google citation https://scholar.google.com.ua/citations?user=oDcIzrUAAAAJ&hl=uk.

A Framework to Predict Failures for Ground Tests on Aircrafts

Ground testing is an essential process in the manufacturing cycle of an aircraft. Testing requires a large investment of resources and time on the part of the engineers of the company. It is common for failures to occur during the different tests during this process. Our group at the Electronic Technology Department of the University of Seville (Spain) worked with the Airbus Defense and Space Company (Airbus DS) to develop a framework for the prediction of failures (known in the terminology of the company as “incidences”) generated in the ground testing of the A400M aircraft. The prediction models are generated through a data mining process with the simulated data registered by the company on its testing process of the previous aircraft. In addition, the framework not only predicts incidences but also suggests changes in the test parameters so that these incidences will not occur again in future aircraft. A battery of tests on real cases was carried out to validate the different models. The success rate of the models was 87.5%, which is considered a good result by the company. In addition, the changes suggested by the framework to ensure that the incidences did not reoccur were studied and executed by Airbus DS in the tests. Currently, based on the framework developed with simulated data, Airbus is using the framework with the actual data of its aircraft.

Value Co-creation Based on Customer Participation in Contributing (Case Study in Ngalup Co-Working Space Company, Malang City)

Value Co-creation Based on Customer Participation in Contributing (Case Study in Ngalup Co-Working Space Company, Malang City)

The Economic Impacts of the Commercial Space Industry

The market structure of government investment domination in the space industry is being disrupted as commercial companies began working in the commercial space sector. As the 1960s was known as a government-funded space race, the 21st century may be known as a private interest space race. U.S. policy intended to speed innovation and drive costs down by expanding the role of commercial space companies. Hence, the 2018 orbiting sports car, yet more importantly, reusable rockets, satellites, and associated services developed as a result of the deliberate shift in government policy starting with the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984.As growth is expected to accelerate, input-output analysis is useful to predict what industries will benefit and inform the government in their policy decisions. Using a benchmarked growth rate, this research constructed the projected economic impact of yearly growth in commercial space on the U.S. and Florida economies and industries. Growth in the sector not only spurs growth in higher labor income jobs but also causes growth in jobs in other sectors, some of which also have higher than average labor income. Furthermore, growing these types of jobs would have a positive influence on the U.S. and Florida's economy and tax revenues.

Optimization of Ground Control Point (GCP) and Independent Control Point (ICP) on Orthorectification of High Resolution Satellite Imagery

In the rapidly evolving technology era, various survey methods have been widely used one of them by remote sensing using satellite. It is known that the satellite image recording process is covered by rides (satellites) moving over the Earth's surface at hundreds of kilometers, causing satellite imagery to have geometric distortion. To reduce the effect of geometric distortion of objects on the image, geometric correction by orthorectification is done. Pleiades is a satellite of high resolution satellite image producer made by Airbus Defense & Space company. The resulting satellite imagery has a 0.5 meter spatial resolution. As a reference for the more detailed space utilization activities of space utilization arranged in the Regional Spatial Plans, Detailed Spatial Plans was created with the 1: 5000 scale map which has been governed by the Geospatial Information Agency. In the process of orthorectifying satellite imagery for this 1: 5000 scale map, ground control or Ground Control Point (GCP) is used for geometric correction and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data. In this research, the optimal number of GCP usage for orthorectification process in Rational Function method is 21 GCP using 2nd order polynomial

Thermal model development for a CubeSat

CubeSats provide a cost-effective means of several functions of satellites due to their small size, mass, relative simplicity and short development time. Therefore, CubeSat technologies have been widely studied and developed by space organizations, companies and educational institutions all over the world. These satellites have certain drawbacks. Small surface areas are a consequence of their small size which often imply thermal and power constraints. A novel development of CubeSats known as PW-Sat has been developed by Warsaw University of Technology. A control-oriented lumped thermal model of this satellite containing a fuel tank in the form of nonlinear ordinary differential equations is proposed in this paper. The model is able to simulate the thermal behavior of the surface and fuel tank of the satellite in its orbit. For the PW-Sat to operate reliably, the temperature of the fuel tank has to be maintained within given safety limits. Because of the limited power, passive thermal control is assumed in this case. Several simulation results are presented for different surface compositions to determine whether they are able to guarantee the prescribed temperature range throughout the entire orbit or not.

NASA to pay private space companies for moon rides

NASA to pay private space companies for moon rides

NewSpace: A Wave of Private Investment in Commercial Space Activities and Potential Issues Under International Investment Law

Abstract The space industry is witnessing a commercialization wave which is commonly circumscribed by the term NewSpace. Together with the increasing commercialization, legal issues in the space sector may require rethinking, laws and regulations form other sectors may become relevant, and new laws and regulations need to be developed. Overall, there are significant risks associated with the legal and regulatory framework under which NewSpace companies are operating. Some of these risks could generally be mitigated through the application of investment treaties. In this regard, it is not an obstacle that space activities are taking place beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. Administrative rights, such as a governmental license to undertake commercial space activities, are one of the most eminent and likely area where space companies may present claims against a foreign government. The level of protection in relation to these administrative rights may differ from one investment treaty to another.

The evolution of mission-oriented policies: Exploring changing market creating policies in the US and European space sector

Market creation is moving to the centre of mission-oriented innovation policy. This is particularly visible in the space sector. Agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are developing market-creating innovation policies in response to (a) the increasing emphasis on societal grand challenges, (b) the rise of a new wave of space companies (often referred to as “New Space”) and (c) the global trend towards interconnecting and interlinking of industries (a trend referred to as Industry 4.0). In this paper we explore the changing nature of mission-oriented innovation policies for market creation for two agencies, NASA and ESA. For these agencies, earlier mission-oriented policies focused on clear challenges with identifiable concrete problems and directed by a strong centralized agency. Contrast this with today, with broadly defined grand challenges, decentralized innovation systems with mixed top-down and bottom-up problem definition. We describe the current drivers and pressures that are creating a window for policy change, and we present examples of how NASA and ESA are responding to these pressures and use this exploration to dig deeper into the evolving frames of market-creating innovation policy in the space sector to identify the challenges for such policies and to further articulate a research agenda.

So You Want to Buy a Space Company?

So You Want to Buy a Space Company?

Blue Origin: Riding the Wave of Disruption in the Space Industry

This teaching case describes how Blue Origin evolved from a one entrepreneurs’ dream to explore space to a fully-fledged player in an industry dominated by household names like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Airbus. The Internet tycoons are the new breed of space entrepreneurs propelled by visionary dreams, deep pockets and business acumen the world has seldom seen. In the process the new space companies have disrupted an industry that enjoyed lucrative government contracts and large scale projects that were often initiated on the back of national pride more than commercial viability. The internet space entrepreneurs rewrote the business model for unmanned launch vehicles and have set their sights on manned flights as far as to Mars. Blue Origin has entered the lucrative rocket motors sector of the industry and works with legacy firms like Boeing and Lockheed Martin through the United Launch Alliance. The question on everyone’s mind is - can it work? Can Blue Origin keep the momentum going in an environment of rising competition from other space entrepreneurs and increased market adaptation by established players. Blue Origin has deep pockets, a brainchild of Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon, but is Blue Origin a sustainable and commercially viable business?

SPACE TOURISM AS REALITY OF THE 21<sup>ST</sup> CENTURY

[For the English abstract and full text of the article please see the attached PDF-File (English version follows Russian version)].ABSTRACT The author reviews and assesses the prospects for development of space tourism in the near future, analyzes the activities of both public and private companies and their cooperation. The advantages and disadvantages of the travels of «amateur cosmonauts», their place in the system of classification of the types of tourism are revealed. Based on the review, the conclusion was made about the reality of the emergence of a new tourism industry, the feasibility of investing additional financial resources in the development of space tourism in Russia and the outlooks of Russian private space companies are justified. Keywords: space tourism, new-generation missiles, extraterrestrial routes, private space companies, moon colonization, colonization of Mars.

Development Roadmap and Business Case for a Private Mars Settlement

Mars has long been considered the next target for human spaceflight after the Apollo missions. NASA has made this clear in the past, with their many architecture proposals for crewed Mars missions. All these proposals, from the Space Exploration Initiative to the current Journey to Mars, highlight the priorities and constraints of a government agency: extreme risk aversion, long development times, and risk mitigation and science maximization through high mission cost. The lack of a need for revenue and an expected financial security can also be seen in the architectures, which pay little attention to financial feasibility, and focus on technical aspects. Despite all this planning, government agencies have accomplished little beyond Low Earth Orbit since Apollo due to political interests and instability. A fully public mission to Mars seems always further away, and little progress seems to be done in that regard by the public agencies. In recent years, a new approach to space has appeared in the form of the New Space companies. These companies enjoy some advantages over government agencies: clear strategic goals, financial stability, and higher tolerance to risk. These are created by the private source of funding, which requires a source of revenue and a business plan, and is relatively independent of public opinion, which allows the companies to take higher risks without justifying their expenses to the public. Private companies have also shown in recent years that they have the technical abilities to produce space hardware of the same quality as government agencies, with a surge of a new generation of rockets and satellites, so it would seem that they are better posed than these agencies to undertake a mission to Mars. The only piece missing is the business plan that would allow a private company to fund itself during the process. This project studied the business case for a private Mars colony, considering technical and economic constraints. It defines a possible architecture and business plan, identifying sources of revenue and customers, and technical constraints. The project evaluates the feasibility of a short-term business case based on Mars resources. The author intends to show the other extreme of Mars architectures: fully private funding and very time constrained. This would add a new point of view to the field, and hopefully lead us to the much desired human landing on our red neighbor in the near future. This project was completed as the author's individual project on the Master of Space Studies at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France.

NAMES a multidisciplinary Conference series

The NAMES conferences traditionally aim at reviewing and discussing current developments in the field of Materials Science, Natural resources and environmental sciences by researchers from Russia and Lorraine Region of France. More specifically and as set up by the organizers of the Conferences (Université de Lorraine and National University of Sciences and Technology “MISIS”), the Seminar’s goals are the following:- development of scientific and academic contacts by giving a new impulse to bring together fundamental research and technology transfer;- development and consolidation of scientific, technical and business collaboration between regions of Russia and Lorraine through direct contacts between the universities, institutes and companies involved.The First Seminar took place on October 27-29, 2004 at the « Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine » (on the premises of the « Ecole Européenne d’Ingénieurs en Génie des Matériaux », Nancy, France). The first Seminar demonstrated a high quality and diversity of oral presentations and posters responding to highest international standards. Indeed, the first Seminar gathered 30 oral presentations and 72 posters, presented by:• 19 participants from 5 Universities and 3 Institutes of the Russian Academy of Science,• Participants from 11 laboratories of 3 Universities from the Lorraine region,• Three industrial companies, including European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company - EADS, and ANVAR (“Agence nationale de valorisation de la recherché”).The 75th Anniversary of Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys (MISIS) had been the occasion to set up the Second Seminar in Moscow, Russia, on November 10-12, 2005. The efficiency of scientific partnership between the groups of researchers from both Russia and France and initiated during the First Seminar had been brilliantly demonstrated during this Second Seminar. As a consequence of the presentations high standards and the Seminar widest organisation, the Second Seminar doubtlessly met the main standards of an international conference.Reviews of the state-of-the-art developments in Materials Science were given by leading scientists from Moscow and from the Lorraine region. The three days long seminar was structured around four main topics:- Functional Materials;- Coatings, Films and Surface Engineering,- Nanomaterials and Nanotechnologies,- Environment;and three Round Tables:- defining practical means of carrying out Franco-Russian collaborations in technology transfer and innovation;- Materials Science;- ARCUS: Lorraine-Russian collaboration in materials science and environment.The event totalised 32 oral and 25 poster reports spread between the four abovementioned topics and set out by 110 participants.NAMES 2007, the 3rd France-Russia Confrence on “New Achievements in Materials and Environmental Sciences” took place in Metz (France) on November 7-9, 2007. The conference emphasized fundamentals and development of the five main themes linked to the Lorraine –Russia ARCUS project with possible extension to other topics.The five mains subjects included in Arcus Project are the following:• Bulk-Surface-Interface material sciences,• Nanomaterials and nanotechnologies,• Environment and Natural resources,• Plasma physics —ITER Project, and• Vibrational dynamics.The 3rd conference totalised 46 oral and 52 poster presentations during 3 days with 154 participants.The First, the Second and Third NAMES Seminars were financially supported by the following organisations- Ambassade de France à Moscou and Région Lorraine,- Communauté Urbaine du Grand Nanc and Conseil Général de Meurthe et Moselle- Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, Université de Metz, Université Henry Poincaré- CNRS and ANVAR- Federal Agency on Science and Innovations of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation and Moscow Committee on Science and Technologies;- National university of sciences and technology “MISIS”.The 4th NAMES Conference was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France and the Lorraine Region Council.The Conferences set out new perspectives for further research and stimulated the opportunities for enhanced cooperation between scientists from Lorraine and Russia. The participants of the Conferences reviewed the remarkable worldwide progress with numerous breakthroughs in areas of basic research and industrial applications, particularly in the fields of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies, surface engineering, biomaterials and multifunctional coatings, functionally graded materials, new materials for microelectronics and optics, nanostructured thin films and nanodispersion strengthening coatings, combustion synthesis, new micro- and nanosystems and device, natural resources environmental sciences, clean technology, and recently, natural fibrous materials etc.Lev Filippov,Coordinator of NAMES conferences