A Global Spacecraft Control Network for Spacecraft Autonomy Research

The Stanford Space Systems Development Laboratory (SSDL) has initiated the development and integration of a worldwide space control network. This network will serve as a command and control architecture for scholastic and amateur spacecraft. In addition, it will offer a unique real world testbed for the application and validation of advanced autonomous spacecraft operations strategies. The proposed network will initially consist of globally distributed amateur radio ground stations at locations throughout North America and Europe. These stations will be linked via the Internet to Stanford and alternate control centers. The Stanford control center will be capable of both human and computer based decision making for the purposes of coordinating user experiments, performing satellite and network resource scheduling, and conducting spacecraft and network fault management. The flexible nature of this project promises to promote validation of high risk autonomy strategies that are too extreme for many operational networks. This paper describes the project's system architecture, its proposed use as a command and control system, its value as a testbed for spacecraft autonomy research, and its current implementation.