Autonomous satellites: The autonomous fleet of space explorers

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  Quantumrun Foresight
• December 23, 2022

Insight summary

Small satellites have made tremendous achievements, ranging from asteroid monitoring to data gathering. However, increasing budget restraints have led to scientists to look for alternative, cost-efficient solutions for satellites, including self-steering and energy saving. The long-term implications of developing autonomous satellites could include better exploratory missions to other planets and efficient management of space junk.

Autonomous satellites context

According to a study by the Netherlands-based Delft University of Technology, small satellites are typically defined as spacecraft with a mass of 500 kilograms (kg) or less. These models include minisatellites (100-500kg), microsatellites (10-100kg), nanosatellites (1-10 kg), picosatellites (0.1-1 kg), and femtosatellites (0.01-0.1 kg). The success rate of satellite missions has increased due to advances in miniaturization technology. As a result, more university groups, companies, and space agencies are proposing small satellite missions for scientific research.

However, several issues can make managing small satellite operations from a ground station difficult. These challenges include tracking multiple spacecraft simultaneously with limited resources, increasing missions with even fewer tracking sources available, and power and operational costs for these mission teams. 

With these challenges in mind, scientists are focusing on autonomous systems. Navigation systems would benefit the most from autonomy since these systems are established on ground-based tracking of radiometric observables (essentially estimating a spacecraft’s position and velocity through radio signals). Additionally, controlling a spacecraft is usually done through commands sent from ground stations, often subject to delays; autonomous systems could avoid such limitations and respond to obstacles more rapidly.

Disruptive impact

Autonomy has the potential to reduce mission costs or increase performance through minimal use of ground operations or hardware. Alternatively, the spacecraft can perform a specific task faster than a ground-based system if it can independently navigate space and collect information. Also, tasks such as collecting specimens can only be accomplished with autonomy, particularly in deep-space research. 

Autonomous navigation has been used on several deep space missions, including Deep Space 1, STARDUST, and Deep Impact. These explorations were supported by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Autonomous Optical System (AutoNAV) and SMART-1, developed by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). These missions primarily used optical navigation, which uses sensors to calculate a spacecraft’s position, velocity, and other states in relation to target bodies.

Several experiments are underway to make self-steering satellites more independent and versatile. For example, in 2022, the US Naval Research Laboratory began developing a plan to enable decommissioned satellites to steer back down to Earth and clear space clutter. The proposal suggests that new satellites be equipped with thin “umbilical cords,” about one kilometer long. By running an electric current through the cord, the satellite could then utilize its electric field and Earth’s magnetic field to guide itself back down instead of crashing haphazardly.

Meanwhile, in 2019, SpaceX’s Starlink satellites were the first models to launch that can autonomously avoid collisions with other orbiting objects. Upon receiving an alert for one of its Starlinks, SpaceX will immediately send the information to the satellite so it can appropriately evade through electric thrusters.

Implications of autonomous satellites

Wider implications of autonomous satellites may include: 

• Exploratory missions to nearby planets and the Moon being semi- or fully autonomous, driving down operational costs.
• Space Internet satellites being able to avoid collisions, which is crucial for the increasingly crowded low-Earth orbit (LEO).
• Universities and other public research organizations being able to conduct their space minisatellite explorations at ncreasingly lower costs.
• Space agencies developing more autonomous systems to support long-term explorations and colony establishment.
• Driving down the amount of space debris from satellite collisions. This trend may minimize space contamination and waste.
• Increased efficiency in satellite-based Earth observation, enhancing real-time monitoring and management of environmental and urban changes.
• Enhanced reliability and reduced latency in global communication networks, particularly benefiting remote and underserved regions.
• Governments adopting new regulatory frameworks to manage the traffic of autonomous satellites, ensuring safe and sustainable space operations.

Questions to consider

• What are the other potential benefits of self-driving satellites and spacecraft?
• How do you think this technology is going to fast-track space discoveries?