Configurable spacecraft control architectures for on-orbit servicing and upgrading of long life orbital platforms

Large orbital platforms provide unique and essential space-based capabilities for science, intelligence, and defense missions potentially supporting very large aperture imagers, antenna farms, SARs, radiometers and other systems. In order to provide maximum return on the investment required, it is essential to have a significant autonomous on-orbit servicing, upgrade and repair capability such that the platform can operate successfully for decades and have new capabilities added to it. The dependence on human upgrades on-orbit must diminish as we go farther in space to minimize the risk to life. In order for such autonomous operations to be practical, current technologies from robotics, distributed computing, and spacecraft operation need to be integrated and demonstrated. We are exploring the application of collaborative control strategies designed for multi-agent critical systems, as well as network and distributed agent computing to demonstrate some of the basic functionality needed to coordinate tasks autonomously in a dynamic environment.