AUTUNOMOUS PLANNING OF OBSERVATION TASKS IN SATELLITE CONSTELLATION
Abstract
The use of autonomous planning is one of the main conditions for maximizing the potential of satellite constellation. Autonomous planning in this case implies the need for information inter-action between satellites and performing local calculations on satellites in accordance with the interaction schemes used. The paper deals with an approach in which autonomous planning in-volves the use of the results of ground-based computing. As a result of these calculations, a formal description of the execution scenario is developed for each incoming order. Scenarios can involve both single and multiple observations. In the case of many observations, form of scenario descrip-tion includes a possibility for specifying the logical conditions that determine the order of observa-tion execution. As a result of ground-based computing all time windows when observation can be performed by any of the satellites of the group are calculated. Lists of these time windows are considered as input data for the implementation of the information interaction scheme. According-ly, the autonomous planning of each observation is reduced to the following scenario. In a certain sequence, the possibility of local observation planning is transferred to the respective satellites. The order of local planning is determined according to the order of time windows in the list. The time window considered in the local planning process is an additional constraint in the planning. If an observation is not planned, the local planning capability is transferred to the next satellite. The effectiveness of information interaction in the group of satellites, and as a consequence – the effectiveness of autonomous planning, critically depend on the capabilities of the network layer, in particular on the time of data transmission between the nodes of the network. In this regard, the paper also discusses a possible approach to the organization of a communication network in a group of satellites. This approach is based on the DTN (Delay and Disruption Tolerant Network-ing) technology and CGR (Contact Graph Routing) approach to routing messages in the network.
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