The Challenges of Intra-spacecraft Wireless Data Interfacing

The onboard computer, various subsystems and the data handling system of a spacecraft can be viewed as the nodes of a sensor/actuator network. Wireless sensor networks for monitoring and control have been in existence for several years, however, their adoption to space applications is still under discussion. Despite the fact that many communication protocols with adequate power and reliability characteristics are commercially available, the selection of a suitable standard for spacecraft onboard communication remains an open question. This paper enlists the challenges related to wireless interfacing onboard spacecraft in general. Thereafter, characteristics of major intra-spacecraft data traffic types in a typical microsatellite are discussed. Based on this information we evaluate Bluetooth, WiFi and ZigBee as three potential candidates and suggest Bluetooth and ZigBee as two good options for onboard data communication of a microsatellite.