Nebula Public Library

The use of lasers for space missions has been increasing in the past and will dramatically increase in the future. Lasers in space often fulfill tasks that cannot be accomplished by other means. Examples are measuring distances of millions of kilometers with nanometer precision, detecting trace gases in the atmosphere of Earth from a satellite, or transmitting data between satellites over distances of some 10,000 km at very high rates. With the exception of semiconductor lasers, almost all of the la- sers used in space are optically pumped solid state lasers.

The space debris environment poses an ever-increasing risk to spacecraft particularly in low Earth orbits (LEO). Due to limitations of existing vulnerability models, increasing the overall survivability of a spacecraft by enhancing the protection of sensitive parts was not possible in the past. The aim of this study was to adopt and develop methodologies that allow increasing the survivability of a spacecraft by varying individual parameters, e.g. the position of sensitive components or the thickness of component casings.

Current evolution of IP networks has raised the opportunity to consider the use of well-established and mature Internet communication models for use in space missions. One of the most attractive of these models, particularly in terms of distributed and resilient data delivery, is the 'torrent'. A complete implementation of the CCSDS File Delivery Protocol (CFDP) [AD1] has been recently delivered to ESOC.