Opportunistic Software Experiments for Spacecraft Autonomy Test-beds (OSE-SAT)

The Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA) project at NASA’s Ames Research Center developed the Opportunistic Software Experiments for Spacecraft Autonomy Testbeds (OSE-SAT) architecture to demonstrate low technology readiness level (TRL) software in flight, building heritage and experience for follow-on projects which require flight heritage. OSE-SAT utilizes a hybrid-trust model where complex, low-TRL components can run without risk to the host spacecraft by leveraging containerization to isolate lower-trust software under traditionally verified heritage flight software for demonstration in orbit.

The motivation for OSE-SAT is the rapid growth in a new class of, small, low-cost technology pathfinder missions in which to field test and mature low-TRL capabilities for larger, more complex missions. However, bottlenecks remain, especially in software verification and validation, which must keep pace with the complexity of autonomy and distributed control required for next-generation space missions. Software engineering and ground testing advancements can raise confidence in new, low-TRL software; however, there is no substitute for flight heritage to assuage the risk aversion common to spaceflight projects.

Containerization is the process of virtualizing an application’s environment so it can be consistently deployed and executed on a host system. The container is executed as a process on the host. Within the container, the application maintains a significant degree of isolation from the host. From the point of view of the application, it appears to be running on its own system. This is similar to running an application on a virtual machine (VM). However, the overhead involved with containers is much smaller than that of a VM because containers do not include the virtualization of physical hardware. Containers can be configured using management software that allows them some amount of interaction with the outside world. Docker is a very common software used for managing containers. Docker provides tools that can create virtual networks between containers and volumes to which containers can write data. More importantly Docker can utilize Linux kernel features to place limits on a container’s memory and CPU usage. This prevents a container from monopolizing the host system’s resources and causing instability. Additionally, it can prevent the errant container from interfering with other experiments running on the host. OSE-SAT intends to be the first to demonstrate the use of SpaceROS (Space Robotic Operating System) on orbit.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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