Model-Based Real Time Assessment of Capability Left for Spacecraft Under Failure Mode, Phase I

The proposed project is aimed at developing a model based diagnostics system for spacecraft that will allow real time assessment of its state, while it is impacted by a failure mode, and provide to the crew the possible reconfiguration strategies to continue the mission. While a lot of research is being done on the development of Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) system, very little effort is made to provide the spacecraft with the capability to use IVHM information in order to assess the possible strategies possible when a failure event has impacted the vehicle. A model based system can use its understanding of the system state to deduce the potential reconfiguration commands and optimize the outcome in order to preserve the mission goals. Our proposed project is targeted at supporting the spacecraft fault tolerance capability by searching the system states space and selecting the most appropriate sequence of actions to execute in order to optimize the possibility of mission success, by reconfiguring the spacecraft to a desired new state.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.