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Completed TRL 3 (started at 1, targeting 3)
When using autonomous mission architectures comprised of multiple spacecraft, it is vital for the constellation to reach a consensus on the data used to make mission critical decisions. This project will investigate applying the Raft algorithm, a consensus algorithm commonly used in multi-agent systems, to distributed spacecraft missions. The Raft algorithm will be implemented as an application for the core Flight System (cFS) flight software framework, optimized to meet the unique constraints found on spacecraft missions, and tested in software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop scenarios. A use-case will be developed targeting the autonomous Navigation, Guidance and Control (autoNGC) flight software system to demonstrate how the system will perform in scenarios related to guidance, navigation and control.
This project will optimize and evaluate the Raft consensus algorithm for use on spacecraft, which has the potential to increase the reliability, fault tolerance, and resiliency of distributed spacecraft missions.
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