An End-To-End CubeSat Data-Processing Chain for Module Development and Validation

This paper proposes an end-to-end data-processing chain for CubeSats, specifically for module development and validation. The proposed chain covers data acquisition, machine-learning-enabled on-board processing, storage, and data down-link. The authors demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed chain by implementing a prototype in a commercial-off-the-shelf CubeSat testbed. The data processing chain is designed to be easily extendable and uses open-source software where possible to increase the accessibility of the solution and aid low-cost integration with future modules. Together with the CubeSat testbed, it offers a complete testing and validation environment for internal and external module developments. Therefore, it has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of work needed to integrate and test newly developed modules in a full CubeSat. Future work could include integrating high-speed, file-based downlink capabilities and extending the operational scenario in which the data-processing chain is operated to simulate a real-world scenario better and extend possible validation capabilities.