ABSTRACT. In 2021, the European Space Agency launched the "Parastronaut – Fly! Feasibility Study" to determine ways that astronauts with disabilities would be able to work in space, and hired the world's first para-astronaut. This panel will discuss how technology can enable people with disabilities and different abilities to participate in space exploration.

ABSTRACT. Avionics technology advances are needed to enable NASA's future crewed exploration and science missions. The NASA Advanced Avionics Envisioned Future provides the context of avionics technology with NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and relevance to needs with the NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SDM) and Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD). Specific technology gaps are presented, along with gap closure approaches, and priorities.

ABSTRACT. In space applications, the demand for high-performance computing systems capable of withstandingextreme conditions is paramount. Those systems built aroundprocessors and/or FPGAs require highly reliable and high-performancecomponents. Boot/configuration memory andprocessing memory are essential to the mission success.

ABSTRACT. The development of the SpaceVPX (ANSI/VITA 78-2022) as a baseline document to provide standard guidance for a variety of space systems. There is a large drawback with this standard, as seen with other options in the VITA Standards Organization (VSO) portfolio, where flexibility is the standard measure of goodness. The past year has seen a massive number of detailed standards work within the Sensor Open System Architecture (SOSA) effort to minimize flexibility and maximize interchangeability and portability of the basic building blocks necessary to ensure the tenets of both SOSA and the SOSA Space Subcommittee (S3C) tasked with the creation of this content. This presentation will provide an explanation in painful detail with respect to those topics the S3C completed. These topics cover hardware (PIC development), new RESET schemes, updates to Power Management, and new Utility Switch.

ABSTRACT. F Prime is a free, open-source and flight-proven flight software development ecosystem developed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory that is tailored for small-scale systems such as CubeSats, SmallSats, and instruments. F Prime comprises several elements: (1) an architectural approach that decomposes flight software into discrete components with well-defined interfaces that communicate over ports; (2) a C++ framework providing core capabilities such as message queues and an OS abstraction layer; (3) a growing collection of generic components for basic features such as command dispatch, event logging, and memory management that can be incorporated without modification into new flight software projects; and (4) a suite of tools that streamline key phases of flight software development from design through integrated testing.

• Software Modeling using the F Prime Prime (FPP) Domain Specific Language
• Component Implementation
• Deploying to hardware and using the F Prime ground system

Advance enrollment is requested to confirm a seat at the tutorial. If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please email fprime@jpl.nasa.gov.

ABSTRACT. In modern satellites, telemetry data is collected from the multiple instruments and subsystems on board. Parameters such as voltage, current, temperature, pressure, flow rate, magnetic field strength, electrical field strength, and mechanical strain are measured. Small satellites may have dozens or hundreds of telemetry channels, while a large, Class-A government satellite may have as many as 4,000 channels of telemetry data. This data is collected at each instrument and passed to the Telemetry Tracking and Control system on board the satellite, for transmission to the satellite’s mission control center on the ground. Analysts review the telemetry data, looking for out-of-character or out-of-specification data which could indicate a potential or developing fault condition, possibly requiring a change in operation mode of the satellite or even the preparation of another satellite to take over duties of a satellite which will imminently fail. The human analysis activities are time consuming, repetitive and error-prone, and hinder the goal of timely preparation for imminent fault conditions. Creating AI-based telemetry anomaly detection systems to fly in space would enable real-time detection of possible or developing fault conditions, and would buy valuable time for satellite operators to prepare alternative resources, minimizing loss of mission data. In this presentation we show the development of an AI-based telemetry processing and analysis system which uses long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural networks (RNN), implemented on an AMD Versal Edge adaptive SoC to monitor 64 channels of telemetry data. System performance and device utilization is shown. The implementation of the anomaly detection system can be viably integrated into AMD’s Versal Edge VE2302 adaptive SoC, which will be offered in a radiation-tolerant version qualified for space flight, allowing for autonomous detection of telemetry anomalies in real time on orbit.

ABSTRACT. An overview of current and next generation processing solutions from Frontgrade Technologies and Frontgrade Gaisler.

ABSTRACT. Autonomous cyber-physical systems (CPS) are on the rise for safety- critical applications. While formal verification approaches may work on simple systems, these approaches need more scalability. When systems are sufficiently complex, testing is often the only practical way to gain confidence the system works as expected. How can we generate high- quality tests for CPS? This work proposes an approach to improve test coverage for autonomus cyber- physical systems. We achieve this by proposing a new model-based seed generation algorithm in the fuzz testing pipeline. We first use Koopman operator approaches to construct a predictor for the effect of time-varying inputs on the cyber-physical system’s behavior. Then, we use these inside a model predictive control (MPC) optimization loop, generating control inputs that drive the system to desired states. We evaluate the strategy’s effectiveness through extensive experiments on the well-known neural network air-to-air collision avoidance benchmark based on the ACAS Xu system. The proposed Koopman MPC approach achieves better test coverage than other fuzz testing and falsification tools.

ABSTRACT. As the applications for autonomous systems in space missions grow, there is a great deal of interest in assuring ethical behaviour. If humans are to cooperate with autonomous systems, there must be assurance that they are trustworthy in making ethical decisions. In particular, this applies to situations in which there is uncertainty over the outcomes of decisions.

Our poster presents an explainable, expressive framework designed for this type of decision making. Based on Sven-Ove Hansson's Hypothetical Retrospection, we present a procedure which fairly evaluates actions comparatively though morally relevant information. We demonstrate the procedure in a Mars mission scenario, in which a rover chooses whether to investigate the status of a crew, or continue acting as a communication relay. The procedure selects different explainable actions dependent on a predetermined configuration of moral principles.

ABSTRACT. Human spaceflight is extremely dangerous. The failure of a critical spacecraft system in flight can readily result in the loss of the crew or mission. Other serious consequences of system failures include significant financial losses (the unit cost of one spacecraft can exceed $1B), widespread environmental damage, national embarrassment, and the cancellation of future spaceflight missions. As missions increasingly target deep space destinations that cannot be easily supported from Earth, the risk to crew is only increasing.

To mitigate these risks, program managers require that crewed spacecraft meet stringent failure tolerance and reliability requirements. These requirements flow to every critical subsystem on the spacecraft. Chief among them is the avionic system, which includes, among other things, all the flight computers, onboard data networks, sensors, and actuators. Spaceflight programs use formal reviews, such as the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and Critical Design Review (CDR), to assess whether the avionic architecture meets the program’s failure tolerance and reliability requirements. These reviews must be completed successfully before fabrication and implementation of the avionics system can begin.

While participating in these reviews, the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) has observed a concerning trend in which the artifacts provided for review do not provide sufficient evidence the architecture satisfies NASA’s requirements. For example, designers may attempt to reuse the avionics approach from an uncrewed vehicle in a crewed vehicle without performing a hazard analysis demonstrating that adequate hazard controls are still in place. Similarly, designers may propose a method for containing faults without describing the fault containment regions within which faults may propagate – essential information for assessing the design. It is our goal to prevent this trend from continuing in future programs.

This presentation outlines the artifacts NASA needs to assess whether a failure-tolerant avionic architecture for crewed vehicles meets its failure tolerance and reliability requirements. We split these artifacts into three categories: Requirements, Design, and Analysis. Requirements artifacts ensure the designer’s intentions align with NASA’s goals. These artifacts include derived functional and safety requirements for the avionic system, as well as a hazard analysis documenting the impact that general functional failure modes (i.e., loss or malfunction) have on the system’s ability to meet those requirements. Design artifacts describe the architectural approach and its limitations. These artifacts include an overview of the redundancy scheme, redundancy management strategy, failure masking and recovery capabilities, and any assumed limitations on fault propagation or the failure modes of system components. Finally, analysis artifacts provide evidence of the system’s performance and correctness. These artifacts include component failure mode and effects analysis, independence analysis, and reliability analysis.

We emphasize that our goal is not to advocate for a particular architecture. A great variety of avionics architectures have been used successfully in crewed spacecraft. Rather, our focus is on describing what evidence is needed to justify the choice of architecture.

This presentation is intended for avionics, software, and safety personnel working on NASA crewed spaceflight projects. It also contains important considerations for program managers trying to determine what artifacts to require at program reviews, as well as the expected maturity of those artifacts.

ABSTRACT. Krste will talk about why RISC-V vector-based processors are the right solution for space applications requiring high performance, low power consumption and long-life. 

ABSTRACT. Introduction: Modern space missions are requiring increased processing reliability while providing increased security with higher autonomy and on-board processing capabilities. To accomplish this, high performance computers that can operate in harsh space environments (vibration, thermal, and radiation) are required. The presentation will discuss board development for the High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) processor single board computer (SBC) architecture design and trades made during the development of a HPSC SBC for space applications.

Topics of Interest: Space Avionics Solutions, in orbit and spacecraft networking, ML and AI

ABSTRACT. Electrical, Electronic, Electromechanical, and Electro-optical (EEEE) parts with Military Specifications (Mil-SPEC) and specific manufacturer radiation guarantees have been the foundation of space avionics for decades. Driven by cost, schedule, and/or performance, more space-system developers are utilizing COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) parts in today’s spacecraft. COTS can be used effectively but a comprehensive COTS approach that ensures reliability, and thus mission success, has been lacking. This presentation describes the NASA activities to close this gap through efforts to ensure reliability through leveraging Industry Leading Parts Manufacturers (ILPMs) and a well-defined Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) approach.

This new method departs from the traditional approach of subjecting non-standard commercial parts to screening and lot acceptance testing specified in military specifications. NASA recognizes that significant manufacturing improvements have evolved in the commercial industry, with the incorporation of statistical control and a multitude of technological improvements in the fabrication process. Parts manufactured in large volumes and with automated production and testing processes have demonstrated reliability equal to or higher than their MIL-SPEC counterparts and can likely be utilized with little to no additional reliability testing or screening where evidence of sufficient quality and reliability exists.

Along with part engineering guidance, to facilitate this goal, two new terminologies were defined in the NESC study: “Industry Leading Parts Manufacturer” and “Established COTS parts.” An ILPM is a COTS manufacturer with high volume automated production facilities that produces high quality and reliable parts. Some parts produced by ILPMs, defined as Established COTS parts, do not need any additional MIL-SPEC or NASA screening and lot acceptance testing based on their tightly controlled process and product qualification. The one caveat to the this is radiation performance.

Most COTS parts are not characterized for space radiation environment by parts manufacturers. Since a part’s radiation performance depends on its fabrication technology, subtle process changes that may not impact parametric and reliability performance of the part can impact radiation performance. NASA and ILPMs must have a relationship that allows for lot traceability associated with change of wafer mask set and doping levels as the critical information to assess the appropriate part- and system-level radiation characterization and mitigation strategies.

NASA is currently developing an Agency-level Radiation Hardness Assurance (RHA) Standard that encompassed both commercial and MIL-SPEC part assurance requirements. Rather than establishing a rigid set of procedures to be followed, the standard establishes a taxonomy of RHA programs that can be applied to achieve varying degrees of RHA based on the demands of the mission, along with activities and deliverables to be complete at various stages of mission development. The emphasis on mission performance means that the approach focuses not just on part-level performance. Factors such as mission risk tolerance, environment (e.g., low radiation exposure), lifetime (e.g., short life) and application (low criticality, tolerant design, or other mitigations) are taken into consideration.

NASA recognizes that the amount of insight into COTS manufacturers, radiation characterization, and required verification evidence will differ by mission and will likely be driven by the mission's resources and associated risk posture. This new holistic approach NASA is developing addresses the rapid changing landscape of EEEE parts and how to leverage new technologies to meet NASA mission needs.

ABSTRACT. F Prime is a free, open-source and flight-proven flight software development ecosystem developed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory that is tailored for small-scale systems such as CubeSats, SmallSats, and instruments. F Prime comprises several elements: (1) an architectural approach that decomposes flight software into discrete components with well-defined interfaces that communicate over ports; (2) a C++ framework providing core capabilities such as message queues and an OS abstraction layer; (3) a growing collection of generic components for basic features such as command dispatch, event logging, and memory management that can be incorporated without modification into new flight software projects; and (4) a suite of tools that streamline key phases of flight software development from design through integrated testing.

• Software Modeling using the F Prime Prime (FPP) Domain Specific Language
• Component Implementation
• Deploying to hardware and using the F Prime ground system

Advance enrollment is requested to confirm a seat at the tutorial. If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please email fprime@jpl.nasa.gov.

ABSTRACT. In response to a growing demand for autonomous in-orbit operations, the pressing need for these operations to take place in an ever-widening set of environmental conditions, and the growing interest in small spacecraft, significant advancements have been made in the miniaturization and improvement of space-qualified sensing instrumentation. Yet, the effectiveness of vision-driven autonomous operations relies heavily on smaller cameras with superior low-light performance and dynamic range, for which an optimal solution is yet to be found. Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) sensors emerge as a potential solution, offering high light sensitivity and dynamic range even with diminutive pixel sizes. However, their efficient integration with single-board computers requires bespoke interfaces and real-time processing power, typically enabled by Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). This paper presents a dynamically reconfigurable onboard computer designed for seamless integration into the first space-qualified camera leveraging a 1-megapixel SPAD sensor. Future endeavors entail developing a demonstrator capable of acquiring exceptionally sharp and high dynamic range imagery under some of the most complex illumination conditions found in space. This paper outlines the technological advancements and a roadmap toward revolutionizing imaging capabilities in small spacecraft, paving the way for enhanced image acquisition and data processing in time-sensitive, autonomous space operations.

ABSTRACT. When deploying a system in Space, safety and reliability are key factors in determining if a system is safe for real-world deployment and if there are sufficient contingency plans for worst case scenarios.   This is no different for the designs targeted for FPGAs based platform for Space deployments. Today, FPGA based designs are utilized in many safety-critical systems in the mil aero, medical, industrial, robotics, and automotive industries as well as Space. These systems require meeting stringent safety regulations such as defined by ISO 26262 standard for automotive and the IEC 61508 standard for industrial applications.   To address this need, Synopsys provides a comprehensive family of integrated FPGA verification products including (VCS, Verdi, SpyGlass, Euclid, Z01X and HAPS FPGA Prototyping & Zebu Emulation Platform flows). For FPGA synthesis, Synplify provides the state of the art and most ease-of-use automated features for high reliability for Space bound FPGA devices, Synplify Synthesis tool can automate design logic insertion at module to register level and as well as provide full features for functional testing and debugging. This includes features such as logic duplication, triplication, error flag insertion and fault injection.    In this presentation, we will demonstrate, how to apply high reliability features using Synplify and to make use of fault injection debug feature to verify proper operation of high reliability features for FPGA based designs.     

ABSTRACT. Modern Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) offer a solution to several issues related to real-time on-board systems, such as guaranteed execution time. They are currently considered as target platforms for space applications. However, the complexity of producing circuits on these components poses a challenge to their widespread adoption. To address this issue, high-level synthesis tools provide another layer of abstraction above the logic circuit design process, for example compiling C code into Hardware Description Languages such as VHDL or Verilog. However, high-level synthesis results are poorly predictable and do not guarantee the efficient use of recent FPGA capabilities provided by new primitives like digital signal processor or random access memory. In this paper we propose a compilation chain dedicated to reactive systems, ie. controllers, providing a more predictable synthesis process for critical embedded control applications. The implemented solution demonstrates timing performance equivalent to the traditional synthesis process with a more predictable result.

ABSTRACT. The rapid growth of the commercial satellite market and the public/private collaboration, or New Space, as many refer to it, has accelerated the deployment of edge processing workloads, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), image processing and advanced networking, typically found in the commercial sectors.  Please join VORAGO to learn about how we are expanding our product roadmap to meet the evolving market needs, complementing our industry leading radiation hardened MCUs.

ABSTRACT. IDEAS-TEK provides cutting-edge and cost-effective computing and embedded solutions for mission-critical applications particularly within the space industry. Central to IDEAS-TEK’s mission is the ability to develop and deploy electronics with the optimal blend of reliability, performance, cost-effectiveness, and time-to-launch, effectively addressing the wide array of challenges prevalent in today’s space sector. IDEAS-TEK’s strategy to achieve this objective is grounded in the utilization of modular standard-based systems that enable the fine-tuning of the performance/reliability trade-off by combining diverse hardware platforms within a framework that maximizes component reuse and minimizes engineering efforts.

IDEAS-TEK’s space computing ecosystem encompasses a variety of platforms, form-factors, and radiation tolerance levels that are intended to cater to a myriad of requirements ranging from critical supervisory functions, through mission control and on-board data processing, to real-time vision processing and artificial intelligence functions. These solutions, whether integrated as subcomponents such as VPX modules or complete systems like SpaceVNX+ small-form-factor systems, offer adjustable radiation tolerance levels to meet the specific demands of each mission.

IDEAS-TEK envisions the new High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) chip-set as the cornerstone of future highly reliable heterogeneous computing systems in space. To realize this vision, IDEAS-TEK has initiated the development of a small-form-factor, SpaceVNX+ HPSC module that will leverage the full computing capacity of the HPSC chip-set along with a significant portion of its computing and networking interfaces. This approach will enable integrators to use a unique building block for configuring SWAP-C mission computers and payloads, while retaining scalability to larger systems that incorporate one or more HPSC chip-sets alongside application specific processing units like GPUs and Neuromorphic hardware.

IDEAS-TEK’s ongoing efforts to develop its SpaceVNX+ HPSC module are currently in the requirement generation stage. A feasibility study has been successfully completed, affirming the feasibility of developing and fabricating a SpaceVNX+ module based on the HPSC chip-set. IDEAS-TEK is committed to closely following Microchip’s HPSC development schedule, aiming to complete the module design in 2024, enabling the fabrication and testing of the first prototypes in early 2025.

ABSTRACT. This research effort examines the challenges, benefits, and opportunities of creating a university CubeSat program. Guidance on initial steps, funding, faculty expertise, supporting curriculum, and designing and building CubeSat components will be provided. Using a developing program at a large university as a case study, collaboration with partners in higher education will also be discussed as an invaluable part of the process.

ABSTRACT. Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) System-on-Chips (SoC) are flexible platforms combining a Processing System featuring high-performance embedded-class processors with a configurable FPGA subsystem for the deployment of hardware accelerators and ad-hoc custom peripherals. Flexibility combined with demonstrated high performance and high energy efficiency make COTS FPGA SoCs particularly attractive for space applications. One of the main challenges in using COTS FPGA SoCs in space applications is the susceptibility of the FPGA technology to Single Event Upsets (SEU) caused by ionizing particles. This paper presents Open-CFR, an Open-source Co-design Framework for redundant execution of hardware accelerators on COTS FPGA SoC platforms. Open-CFR provides: (i) an automatically generated, hardware shell supporting voting and detection, specifically tailored for the interface of a target hardware accelerator (ii) a full Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration flow for fast recovery, and (iii) a generated software runtime executable for the setup and runtime management of the whole redundant system. Open-CFR automates the creation of the design, providing as output the bitstreams and software executable for the target FPGA SoC platform. We evaluate the performance of Open-CFR and compare them with state-of-the-art solutions on realistic experimental scenarios and on a use-case scenario deploying the HLS4ML framework on popular COTS FPGA SoCs from the ZYNQ family from AMD-Xilinx.

ABSTRACT. Time critical networking has been used for space flights and aerospace applications in general. Multiple standards emerged. This talk discusses the standards and technologies (rad-hard chips, eFPGA device, IP cores) that enabling them and other aerospace usage.

ABSTRACT. Moog Broad Reach’s Motor Control Electronics (MCE) uses the Microchip Technology SAMRH707 Rad-Hard Microcontroller to provide motor control for multiple space applications. This technical presentation will discuss the advantages and challenges of using the SAMRH707 microcontroller compared to Moog’s heritage FPGA based solutions for motor control. Lessons learned during the development of the MCE product for a human-rated space applications will also be discussed. Additional topics will include the microcontroller architecture feature set overview for motor control and the associated software development platform.

ABSTRACT. F Prime is a free, open-source and flight-proven flight software development ecosystem developed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory that is tailored for small-scale systems such as CubeSats, SmallSats, and instruments. F Prime comprises several elements: (1) an architectural approach that decomposes flight software into discrete components with well-defined interfaces that communicate over ports; (2) a C++ framework providing core capabilities such as message queues and an OS abstraction layer; (3) a growing collection of generic components for basic features such as command dispatch, event logging, and memory management that can be incorporated without modification into new flight software projects; and (4) a suite of tools that streamline key phases of flight software development from design through integrated testing.

• Software Modeling using the F Prime Prime (FPP) Domain Specific Language
• Component Implementation
• Deploying to hardware and using the F Prime ground system

Advance enrollment is requested to confirm a seat at the tutorial. If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please email fprime@jpl.nasa.gov.

ABSTRACT. Anomalous behavior can pose serious risks in the operation of complex, high-consequence systems. Detection is complicated and challenging, especially with high-dimensional data and varying data types, such as with satellite state-of-health (SOH) telemetry. Existing detection methods tend to perform poorly in such situations or suffer from satellite constraints on computational power and data availability. Current operational approaches rely on manual, retrospective analysis of system failures, which can result in lengthy response times, risking degraded capabilities and delays in satellite operations. We leverage streaming machine learning capabilities to develop a performant and scalable method for anomaly detection in multi- modal satellite SOH telemetry data. By building on a k-means clustering approach, our approach demonstrates anomaly detection capabilities that (1) update their joint, multivariate estimation of the current SOH variables in an online and continuous fashion, (2) operate in near real-time with reduced computational and data requirements, and (3) provide meaningful detections with an interpretable feature space mapping to relevant variables to support further operator diagnosis and response. Using real satellite SOH data as a case study, we demonstrate how our method can provide automated and adaptive diagnostic information, which can increase robustness in space operations through more rapid detection of satellite anomalies.

ABSTRACT. Successful missions start with Avalanche’s game changing MRAM. With sufficient density, radiation resilience, endurance and high reliability to enable SW-defined hardware platforms for robust Boot & Storage, and is at the heart of next gen AI Multiprocessing Architectures.

ABSTRACT. Traditional space computing relies on older, space proven hardware and software technologies with significantly lower performance compared to COTS processors. Recently a trend towards the use of COTS processors in New Space, raised the potential of Space Cloud solutions, in which multiple users share the satellite. These solutions rely on the same software stacks used in conventional cloud deployments, namely Linux which is not qualifiable for space use. In this paper, we describe the hardware solution developed in the METASAT project, which provides an alternative space cloud infrastructure, which is fully qualifiable for institutional missions.

In addition, we provide more details on the traditional space computing as well as new space and the implementation details of cloud space solutions. We demonstrate their deficiencies on institutional missions where qualification is required, and we describe in more detail the approach followed in the Horizon Europe METASAT project, showing its benefits in terms of space qualification.