Reference architectures for autonomous on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing (OSAM) mission resilience

Abstract

On-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing (OSAM) missions promise to help reduce space debris and prolong the life of space vehicles. OSAM systems will require increasing degrees of autonomy given the complexity of servicing missions. This complexity exposes the system to a variety of failures that could be precipitated by mechanical faults, software bugs, environmental factors, or adversaries. These resource-intensive and risk-prone missions will require a high degree of assurance to be operationally feasible. This paper proposes a series of autonomous OSAM reference architectures that can be engaged to evaluate assurance challenges spanning faults to cyber resilience. The future success of these missions will require a high degree of mission resilience so that space vehicles can adapt to and mitigate consequences in a highly dynamic environment. Opportunities to address assurance challenges and enable mission resilience are also discussed as future work.