Nebula Public Library

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.

In recent years the concern about the future exploitation of space has been growing due to the risk that uncontrolled space debris poses to the space environment and therefore to the survivability of operational spacecraft. Two main regions of concern exist, GEO, where most of the commercial telecommunications satellites orbit, and LEO, where many scientific missions observing the Earth fly. Of special concern is the sun synchronous orbit, a natural resource of special interest for Earth sciences.

Within VASCO the formal verification methodology (FVM) for advanced human- automation interaction in safety critical environments based on models of the overall human-automation interaction (HAI) system has been developed.
The main objectives for this work are summarized below:
- Approach human-automation interaction from a holistic cooperative system

The objective of this study was to identify and implement solutions to the short comings of atmospheric correction schemes for geostationary satellites for ocean applications and consolidate the related Geo-Oculus requirements.