Micro/NanoSats/SpaceCubeMAPLD 2009

Dr. Steve SuddarthDirector

Miniaturization

Its now the turn of the satellites – think big design small

“Exponential Times”

Moore’s “Original” Law

Magnetic Storage Comm B/WCost

Time for another Moore’s Law

Processors Spacecraft

Moore does not Always Apply

Projected Wafer in 2000, circa 1975

USAF View of Air/Space Travel, circa 1953

But New Thinking MakesNew Alternatives

• Do you have to take the• airplane?

Take Electrons – They’re Faster

But if we did not try hard

Can one imagine using an ipod designed using 10um technology

versus

Government Technology Advancement

A Government Proposal

Another Proposal

Change that Matters to Us

•Reconfigurable Electronics target highest payoff directly

•Cut Launch Cost •Make Better Use of Launch Capacity

•Standardize & Optimize

•Miniaturize

•12

Why Now & How Now

•Range of electronics options• Low-power uP’s, FPGAs, rad-hard, uC’s

• Memory and other components

•Significant component evolution• ADACS (Attitude Determination and Control Systems)• Power• Drag systems for end-of-life• Telemetry, and C&DH

GeneSat-1

Out-of-the-box in a Related Industry

•Approved Solution:•Newest/cheapest type-certified jet

•Seats: 6•Cost: > 2M•Speed: ~400 mph•Efficiency: ~8 mpg•Business: FAILED (maybe restarted)

•Out-of-the-Box Solution:•Homebuilt (amateur) 4-place

•Seats: 4•Cost: ~200-400K•Speed: ~380 mph•Efficiency: ~25 mpg•Business: Bought by Cessna

•http://gulfstreamresale.com/p2index.php?id=77 •http://www.lancair.com/Main/secondary_page_images/ivp_lrg.jpg

CubeSats are a KeyExperimental “Playground”

• Proposed in 1999 by Stanford Prof. Bob Twiggs as a picosatellite standard:

– 10 x 10 x 10cm, ~ 1 kg maximum mass; can be combined to create multiple “U” cubes (e.g., double, triple, etc…)

• Broad acceptance, large active developer list:– 53 U.S. companies; 50 U.S. universities, several high schools– 41 foreign universities on six continents– 32% of papers at ‘08 SmallSat Conference were CubeSat related

QuakeSat-1 (Stanford University and

QuakeFinder, LLC)

CP4 (CalPoly) as seen from AeroCube-2 (Aerospace)

CUTE 1.7 + APD (Tokyo Tech. University)

CSTB1 (The Boeing Corporation)

“Containerization” and Standard Interfaces

A Revolution in World-Wide Transport A Revolution in Space Transport

CanX-2 (Canada)

P-POD

Can Cubesats be useful?

THRESHOLD OF UTILITY

SIZE (LOG)

UT

ILIT

Y 2008 – the year Cubesats pass the threshold of Utility

Courtesy NRO

Some Facts

• 24 CubeSats in LEO (40 Launched)• Over 100 Developers Worldwide• Dedicated Workshops/Meetings• CubeSat Industrial Suppliers• SmallSat Conference had over 900 registrants• This market and research area is growing quickly!

Three Broad Classes of FPGA Contribution

• Low-power, rad-hard, one-time programmable parts

• Low-power, small, reprogrammable parts

• Very large, SoC parts, embedded µP, DSP, etc.

As Technologies Change – Trends Change!

Competing Technologies

• FPGAs• Cell Processors /

Multicore• GPU / SIMD• FPOA• …

CubeSatCam brings Together an Agile Aerospace Community

• Goal: Make the highest resolution space-based camera in a 10cmx10cmx30cm package

• Partnerships– UNM / COSMIAC– Contrast Optical– Los Alamos Nat. Lab– AFRL, CHOP Shop– NM Optics Association– NASA Goddard

•Contrast Optical concept for CubeSat deployable telescope capable of sub-meter imaging

Space Plug-and-play “ NanoSPA” and CubeSats

• Break “Swiss watch” effect• Standard interfaces• Low cost

easily integrated as a personal computer.

“How Eli Whitney would build a Spacecraft”

SPA: The Key Concepts1. Push-button toolflow (PBTF)2. Self-describing components (XTEDS)3. Interface modules for SPA conversion (ASIM)4. Self-organizing/self-integrating networks (SPA-U,

SPA-S, SPA-10, SPA-W,…)5. Service-oriented software engineered for re-use –

the satellite data model (SDM)6. Improved testability (“test bypass”)

AFRL / USU-SDL CubeFlow

•Very rapid development

•Inexpensive hardware

•“Space grade” components available

•Fits in CubeSat

CubeFlow, SDM and ASIM

CameraThermometer

GNC CompCurrentMonitor

RF

Application#1

Application#2

Application#N

Mission Code / Scripts

Application#i

Sensor Manager (SM) SM SMSM

CPU

ProcessorManager

Task Manager Data Manager

Sa

tell

ite D

ata

Mo

de

l

•SDM – Satellite Data Module•ASIM – Applique Sensor Interface Module•XTED – eXtended Transducer Electronic Datasheets

CubeFlow Tools

SDM component software is supported by SDL CubeFlow Tools;– xTEDs writing, verification, and emulation– ASIM program development– Application skeleton development

SDM Operation (PnP Initialization)

•Software Application (i.e. compression algorithm)

•Software Application (i.e. DSP application)

•Software Application (i.e. control system)

•ASIM with XTED (xml)

•Hardware (i.e. Comms) •Hardware (i.e. FPGA

based Sensor package)

•Hardware (i.e. Power)

•Hardware (i.e. Ground Station)

•Hardware (i.e. Another Satellite)

•ASIM with XTED (xml)

•ASIM with XTED (xml)

•ASIM with XTED (xml)

•ASIM with XTED (xml)•SDM

SDM Operation (Normal Ops)

•Software Application (i.e. compression algorithm)

•Software Application (i.e. DSP application)

•Software Application (i.e. control system)

•ASIM with XTED (xml)

•Hardware (i.e. Comms) •Hardware (i.e. FPGA

based Sensor package)

•Hardware (i.e. Power)

•Hardware (i.e. Ground Station)

•ASIM with XTED (xml)

•ASIM with XTED (xml)

•ASIM with XTED (xml)

•SDM•SDM listens for requirement to add new PnP components

CubeFlow SPA-U Hub / C&DH

• New from Data Design– OMAP microprocessor – Essential SPA-U plus Pulse Per Second and

test bypass– Radio in a separate module– SPA-S (Spacewire) not far

behind

ASIM Overview

Common Sense Reliability Trades(Dr. Heather Quinn, Los Alamos)

• Small spacecraft & new orbits = change• Reliability requirements can vary• Many FPGA systems more than adequate in many cases

– Even if they weren’t originally rad-hard

• Proper design techniques may be critical

Moving to Next Level Reliability(NASA Goddard*)

• Dual Xilinx V4• All necessary memory/interfaces• Mitigation• Already tested on

MISSE7• Next generation

with rad-hardSIRF

* In conjunction with Gordonicus, LLC

Summary

• Exponential Trends Change the Landscape• New, large opportunities in smaller spacecraft• Enhanced by alternative architectures / orbits• Need to match electronic trends and

spacecraft realities