Creating Standards for the Small Satellite Industry

Presented by Linda Herrell

For Milind Pimprikar*, John Hines** and Andrew Quintero***

*CANEUS **NASA Ames ***Aerospace Corp

• Overview of CANEUS

• Introduction to SSSC sub-group

• Goals of standards development

CANEUS: Who are we and what value do we add?

• CANEUS is an international organization based in Montreal, Canada, with affiliates: CANEUS USA based in California, CANEUS Europe Based in France, CANEUS Asia and CANEUS Brazil.

• CANEUS Mission: Transition Micro and Nano Technologies to Aerospace applications rapidly and cost-effectively through international collaborations by bringing together complementary core-competencies from participating organizations

• CANEUS Mission implementation is achieved via the creation of several technology sector consortia to ultimately spawn new aerospace industries

CANEUS is of, by, and for the aerospace industry!

• The aerospace sector has become mature and conservative

• The technology S-curve has reached a plateau• New thinking and new technological capabilities

are needed to re-vitalize the industry and put it on a new growth curve

• Cost of acquiring and implementing new technology has become prohibitive

• “Re-invention of the wheel” is common across countries and organizations

Why CANEUS: For solving the “Tip of the Iceberg” Problem for emerging Aerospace technologies

Emerging Technologies at Proof-of-Concept level

Technology Valley of Death: System Development

Why CANEUS: Focus on overcoming the Mid TRL “Valley of Death”

TRL* Description1 Basic principles observed and

reported.

2 Technology concept and/or application formulated.

3 Analytical and experimental critical function and/or characteristic proof of concept.

4 Component and/or breadboard. Validation in laboratory environment.

5 Component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment.

6 System/subsystem model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment.

7 System prototype demonstration in an operational environment.

8 Actual system completed and "flight qualified" through test and demonstration.

9 Actual system "flight proven" through successful mission operations.

Va l

ue

- T

RL

Investment

Low TRL

Mid

TR

L

High TRL

Emerging Aerospace Technologies CANEUS

Challenge: Bridge the Gap Rapidly and Cost-Effectively

• CANEUS offers a very dynamic environment for international networking, linkages and collaborations through consortia, workshops, biennial world conferences* aimed at the implementation of new technologies and capabilities into the aerospace sector

• CANEUS Sector Consortia spearhead the creation of new break-through aerospace products and services

* March 1-6, 2009 NASA Ames Research Center

CANEUS takes on a global perspective with regard to aerospace technology development

• USA: – DoD agencies (USA, USAF, USN)– NASA (HQ & Centers)– Boeing, LMCO, Aerospace Corp., Honeywell, etc.

• Canada: – NRC– Industry Canada

• Europe:– EADS/Airbus

• Brazil– Brazilian MOD, ABDI, Embraer

• Israel– Israel Space Research Commission, Israel Aircraft

Industries

• Others

CANEUS membership extends worldwide to major aerospace agencies and corporations

The SSS Consortia

• Sector Consortia are modeled along the lines of SEMATECH for the Semiconductor Industry

• Small Satellite Sector Consortium (SSSC) Members collaborate to establish how the small satellite industry can respond to mission or product requirements

• Objective is to expand the small satellite market by facilitating dialog and establishing cooperative relationships

• The ultimate goal is to grow business and investment opportunities

• Today, the SSSC comprises agency and industry representatives from the US, Canada, Europe, Brazil, Japan and other nations

CANEUS implements its technology transition strategy by setting up Aerospace Sector Consortia

SSSC projects will benefit the greater Space Industry by:• Ensuring greater mission assurance through improved reliability;• Providing an alternate means to rapidly qualify new technologies;• Lowering cost to demonstrate new technologies in space; • Expanding launch opportunities;• Supporting standardization and plug-and-play developmental efforts; • Advancing concepts in modular design methods; • Accelerating technology maturity up the TRL curve - Facilitate moving to TRL

6 and beyond;• Helping with efforts to shorten the acquisition timelines; • Improving the alignment with emerging technology development cycle; • Enhancing the space industrial base;• Supporting educational outreach and human capital for future jobs in the

space industry.

SSSC destroys the prevalent Catch-22: “You cannot fly if you haven’t flown before!”

Near-term objectives of CANEUS’ Small Satellite Sector Consortium (SSSC)

• Set up and oversee projects and initiatives dedicated to a. Developing standards so as to ensure international

interoperabilityb. Identifying launch opportunities and servicesc. Providing stakeholder liaison and strategic developmentd. Addressing Intellectual Property and export control (ITAR)

issues in accordance with CANEUS International’s broader mission, and

e. Space technology validation and certification services.

• SSSC Participants can expect to:– Decrease manufacturing costs– Increase reliability and productivity– Enjoy increased access to customers, end-users, and the global

market

CANEUS Small Satellite Sector Consortium (SSSC) Mission

• The CANEUS Small Satellite International Consortium is dedicated to the micro and nano technology implementation, coordination, and standardization of the small (1 – 100 kg) satellite industry.

• The SSSC focuses on providing opportunities for Government, Industry and University representatives worldwide to participate in cutting-edge technical discussions and high risk/high cost developments while establishing the future direction for the micro, nano and pico satellite industry.

CANEUS Small Satellite Sector Consortium (SSSC) Mission

• The CANEUS SSSC emphasizes the identification of end-users of small satellite missions and their specific needs.

• Members collaborate to establish how the small satellite industry can respond to these mission or product requirements. This has the effect of opening up the small satellite market and providing business and investment opportunities by facilitating dialogue and the establishment of cooperative relationships.

CANEUS Small Satellite Sector Consortium (SSSC) Mission

• The mission of CANEUS SSSC has three elements:– To provide advocacy for its members and foster the

advancement and increased use of MEMES and nano technology toward the expansion of the small satellite market;

– To be the world’s catalyst for the small satellite industry to bring breakthrough (“disruptive”) technologies to the space sector by ensuring space qualification, reliability, lower cost and added-value, and

– By setting a global direction, to create opportunities for the flexible collaboration and conduct of strategic research and development (R&D) so as to yield a significant return on investment (ROI) to the small satellite industry partners.

Goals of standards development

SSSC Standards Development Strategy

• This SSSC Standards initiative aims to define form factors for nano and micro platforms, develop a standards tree, develop a collection of existing and emerging standards relevant to the sector, establish onboard data interface requirements, and ensure interoperability for international operations.

• Tactical goals include identifying task-groups around technology/platform areas, such as electrical interfaces, physical form factors, plug and play formats, data formats, and systems engineering; defining technical requirements for each technology/platform area; surveying the existing standards for use or for tailoring within other subgroups, and performing gap analysis.

CANEUS SSSC sub-architecture

• Level 0: General Space Industry Architecture: spacecraft systems, launch systems, ground systems to execute nominal missions  

LaunchArchitecture Space Platform

Architecture

Ground ComponentArchitecture

ISO, CCSDS, ECSS, other Standards

Key Interfaces

CANEUS SSSC sub-architecture • Level 1: General Space Architecture: spacecraft

systems, launch systems, ground systems to execute nominal missions – Adaptation for CANEUS

CANEUS LaunchArchitecture CANEUS SSSC

(1 – 100 Kg spacecraft) Architecture

Ground ComponentArchitecture

Key Interfaces

ISO, CCSDS, ECSS, other Standards

that apply to CANEUS

CANEUS Small Satellite Standards Group Focus

• Standards would be commonly accepted, not imposed.

• By presenting a list of the current standards to the community CANEUS might eventually help to develop a consensus for what the common standard should be.

• At this stage, Spacecraft developers simply go out, choose what they are going to launch on, and adapt to that standard. .

CANEUS Small Satellite Standards Group Focus

CANEUS Small Satellite Standards Group Focus:• Survey the current standards activities worldwide,

launch providers and other stakeholders to understand their needs

• By presenting a list of the current standards to the community CANEUS might eventually help to develop a consensus for what the common standard should be.

• In order to do this, we need to talk to end users and providers. CANEUS expects to help decide what standards are right for and what the challenges may be to migrate between these standards.

Contact

Thank you!

Milind PimprikarFounder & ChairmanCANEUSTel: 514-499-3959Cell: 514-267-2434E-mail: mp@caneus.org