IDP / Semester Thesis: Evaluating Mission Control Softwares

Institut

Lehrstuhl für Spacecraft Systems

Typ

Semesterarbeit /

Inhalt

 

Beschreibung

The EventSat mission is a 6U CubeSat technology demonstration mission sponsored by the Chair of Spacecraft Systems to apply event cameras to detect stars and other space objects.  Event cameras are a specialized type of camera that use changes in brightness on a pixel-by-pixel level to detect motion in view. Building upon existing work, which has demonstrated the effectiveness of these cameras on ground in conjunction with telescopes, our mission seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of this class of camera for space-based observation.

In complement to the satellite’s development, a mission control center for satellite operation is being developed. This mission control center serves as an interface to the ground station and will be used to monitor and command the satellite. One vital element of the mission control center is its associated software. Mission Control System (MCS) is a software stack that interfaces with the Ground Station, sends and receives data packages to a satellite (or multiple satellite) and allows further data analysis. This project will evaluate several Open Source MCS packages, e.g. YAMCS (Yet Another Mission Control Software) and adapt one of them for use in the Chairs mission control center.

Voraussetzungen

Accompanying Modules

The Modules that accompany this IDP can be chosen by the student(s) within the following selection, based on the focus direction they want to take the project:

• Systems Engineering – Fundamentals: Focus on gathering stakeholder needs, requirements from those needs and applying various systems engineering methods to the system under design
• Introduction to Spaceflight: Broad overview of all knowledge related to the physics of spaceflight (Orbits and Attitude), space engineering (Power, Communications, systems engineering) and space as an area of human activity (e.g. Space economy and economic actors)
• Space Mission Design: InDepth application of approaches learned during the student’s studies so far on a design study of a space mission based on fixed input parameters.

All modules have 5 ECTS and 4 SWS teaching (Lecture + Exercise)

Requirements

• Familiarity with deployment and configuration of server software in container environments (e.g., Docker, Docker Compose, Kubernetes)
• Familiarity in working with version control tools (Gitlab)
• Basic understanding of network protocols and distributed systems (e.g., client-server communication, REST APIs, WebSockets)
• Familiarity with scripting or programming for system integration (e.g., Python, Bash)
• Basic knowledge of telemetry and telecommand concepts in satellite or ground segment operations
• Basic knowledge of Java

Helpful and appreciated are also:

• Familiarity with ground segment and mission control concepts (e.g., data flows, operations monitoring, anomaly handling)
• Knowledge of database systems and their use in storing telemetry data
• Experience with GUI/dashboard development for data visualization (e.g., Grafana, Python frameworks)
• Understanding of information security principles (e.g., authentication, encryption, access control)
• Familiarity with CubeSat operations or space mission lifecycle is an asset
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop setups or simulated data sources is beneficial
• Note: This project is subject to export control regulations

Möglicher Beginn

sofort

Kontakt

Jaspar Sindermann
Tel.: +49 89 289 55753
jaspar.sindermanntum.de

Ausschreibung