ATOS — An AI-based space mission operations system

Artificial Intelligence is generally recognised as one of the key technologies for future spaceflight, and a number of ambitious applications for on-board use have been proposed already. Such applications still require a good deal of basic research and development, but on-ground applications could make an impact already in the medium term, and will for some time represent the major part of AI use for space missions.

ESA has started the development of a future integrated and mission-independent spacecraft control data processing system called the Advanced Technology Operations System (ATOS) at the European Space Operations Centre, which will employ artificial intelligence techniques in supporting the operations staff during all mission preparation and implementation phases, in order to cope reliably with complex mission operations and to achieve optimal efficiency in the use of human resources.

ATOS will consist of a number of knowledge based software modules, such as

• Automated mission planning

• Automated operations preparation

• Computer assisted operations

• Advanced operator training,

centred around a Mission Information Base configured for the particular satellite mission, the common data repository for all information required to conduct the mission and operate the spacecraft.

The Mission Information Base will, in addition to numerical data presently found in conventional spacecraft control systems, contain a large amount of ‘knowledge’ about the spacecraft and its mission, which is currently available only in paper documents or embedded in software. It will be implemented as a physically and logically distributed set of databases each representing a particular field of mission information, such that the knowledge can be dynamically shared between different intelligent spacecraft control applications.