Exploring the F6 Fractionated Spacecraft Trade Space with GT-FAST

Lafleur, Jarret M.; Saleh, Joseph H.

doi:10.2514/6.2009-6802

Cited by 19 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…This poses no problem to the current architecture of the GT-FAST point design tool, although it does present challenges in evaluating the resultant very large fractionated architecture trade space, as addressed in Ref. 5.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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GT-FAST: A Point Design Tool for Rapid Fractionated Spacecraft Sizing and Synthesis

Lafleur

Saleh

2009

AIAA SPACE 2009 Conference &Amp; Exposition

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In July 2007, DARPA issued a Broad Agency Announcement for the development of System F6, a flight demonstration of an architecture in which the functionality of a traditional monolithic satellite is fulfilled with a fractionated cluster of free-flying, wirelessly interconnected modules. Given the large number of possible architectural options, two challenges facing systems analysis of F6 are (1) the ability to enumerate the many potential candidate fractionated architectures and (2) the ability to analyze and quantify the cost and benefits of each architecture. One element necessary in enabling a probabilistic, valuecentric analysis of such fractionated architectures is a systematic method for sizing and costing the many candidate architectures that arise. The Georgia Tech F6 Architecture Synthesis Tool (GT-FAST) is a point design tool designed to fulfill this need by allowing rapid, automated sizing and synthesis of candidate F6 architectures. This paper presents the internal mechanics and some illustrative applications of GT-FAST. Discussed are the manner in which GT-FAST fractionated designs are specified, including discrete and continuous-variable inputs, as well as the methods, models, and assumptions used in estimating elements of mass, power, and cost. Finally, the paper concludes with sample outputs from GT-FAST for a notional fractionated architecture, an example of GT-FAST's trade study capability, and a partial validation of GT-FAST against the Jason-2 and TIMED satellites. The ease with which GT-FAST can be adapted to new fractionated spacecraft applications is highlighted, and avenues for potential future expansion of GT-FAST are discussed. NomenclatureC add/replace = average cost of adding or replacing component P = total power requirement C i,existing = cost of adding component via an existing module t = time on-orbit C i,separate = cost of adding component via a dedicated module V = average orbital velocity f 100 = smoothing function near 100 W power boundary β = average ballistic coefficient f 500 = smoothing function near 500 W power boundary ∆V = velocity change requirement n = number of fractionatable components in architecture ρ = average atmospheric density

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A discussion of the selection of some of these metrics (and how they are traded against each other) is provided in Ref. 5.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GT-FAST: A Point Design Tool for Rapid Fractionated Spacecraft Sizing and Synthesis

Lafleur

Saleh

2009

AIAA SPACE 2009 Conference &Amp; Exposition

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“…To explore the trade space of fractionated spacecraft the software named GT-FAST was developed not only to enumerate all possible architectures but also to analyze and quantify the cost and benefit of each architecture [12,13]. However, both methods are based on value-centric analysis, emphasizing that the nontraditional attributes of fractionated spacecraft outweigh mass and cost in the new space era.…”

Section: Chu Guo and Gillmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional, physical, and organizational architectures of a fractionated space infrastructure for long-term earth observation missions

Jing

Guo

Gill

2014

IEEE Aerosp. Electron. Syst. Mag.

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“…De Weck et al also used real options to analyze architectures for constellations of communications satellites [9]. In the context of the DARPA F6 project for fractionated spacecraft, several DST were developed by partnerships between industry and academia [10], [11], [12], [13], [14].…”

Section: System Architecting and Decision Support Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A rule-based decision support tool for architecting Earth observing missions

Selva

Crawley

2012

2012 IEEE Aerospace Conference

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A decision support tool is presented that is especially tailored for architecting Earth observing missions and programs. The tool features both a cost model and a performance model. This paper focuses on the description of the performance model. Indeed, while considerable effort has been put into the development of cost estimating models, comparably much less effort has been put into the development of quantitative methods to assess how well Earth Observing Mission satisfy scientific and societal needs. A literature review revealed that existing methods include a commercial approach, a value-of-information approach, end-to-end simulation, assimilation in Observing System Simulation Experiments, and simple expert judgment. Limitations of these methods include limited applicability, computational complexity, low modeling fidelity (e.g. abstraction of synergies between measurements), and subjectivity. Our method uses a knowledge-based system to store and manage large quantities of expert knowledge in the form of rules-of-thumb that replace expensive computations.Scientific and societal measurement requirements and instrument capabilities are expressed in the form of logical rules and data structures. An efficient pattern matching algorithm performs the comparison of the measurement requirements and the measurement capabilities on the basis of 64 different measurement attributes. The system is demonstrated on the Earth Science Decadal Survey. While the system is still under development, it shows great potential to enhance traceability in the modeling of scientific and societal value of Earth observing missions. Furthermore, the recursive nature of rule-based systems shows potential to model synergies between instruments and measurements, at a sufficient level of fidelity for architectural trade studies, especially for the ones conducted in committees with experts such as Decadal Surveys.

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Exploring the F6 Fractionated Spacecraft Trade Space with GT-FAST

Cited by 19 publications

References 2 publications

GT-FAST: A Point Design Tool for Rapid Fractionated Spacecraft Sizing and Synthesis

GT-FAST: A Point Design Tool for Rapid Fractionated Spacecraft Sizing and Synthesis

Functional, physical, and organizational architectures of a fractionated space infrastructure for long-term earth observation missions

A rule-based decision support tool for architecting Earth observing missions

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