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html
Development of Satellite Mission Operations
Systems for the Operation of Small Satellites
and Additional Assets
• ECE 420 – Senior Design II at the University of New Mexico (Fall 2019)
• Course Overview:
• C1. Proposals and Project Design/Implementation
• C2. Design methodology and development of professional project oriented skills
including communication, team management, economics and engineering
ethics.
• C3. Students work in teams to implement 419 proposal. Prototypes are built and
tested to sponsor specifications, and reports made to sponsor in addition to a
Final Report and Poster Session presentation.

http://norkdd.weebly.com/ece-c2iss.html
Topic of Research & Plan
• The Purpose
• Develop an integrated software laboratory
to aid in the development, testing,
training, and operation of small satellites,
drones, and other assets.
• Highlighted Published Journal Papers
used as reference:
• Development of a Comprehensive Mission
Operations System Designed to Operate
Multiple Satellites. 25th Annual AIAA/USU
Conference on Small Satellites. 2011.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/smallsat
/2011/all2011/62/
• COSMOS – An Innovative Nodal
Architecture for Controlling Large
Numbers of Small Satellites and Diverse
Assets. 7th International Conference on
Recent Advances in Space Technologies
(RAST). 2015. Document Location:
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/72
08374
Phases of Research & Analysis
• Phase 1:
Phase
• Initial Project Proposal and Approval
1
• Phase 2:
• Develop criteria to evaluate various project
requirements, as they apply to the satellite
simulator project.
Phases of
• Phase 3: Phase Research Phase
4 and 2
• Conduct research of chosen topic, develop Analysis
requirements, and testing criteria.

• Phase 4:
• Using evaluation criteria of phase 2 and
research of phase 3, implement the Phase
project in form.
3
• Final Presentation of Findings (Dec 2019)
Research Summary
Project Deliverables
• Provide Overview of Small Satellites and Operational Satellite Mission
Architecture
• Analyze the Development of COSMOS
• What is COSMOS?
• How does COSMOS relate to Satellite Communications?

• Apply Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Papers to Course Objectives

• This project reviews two interrelated peer-review research papers, and through
analysis, the course objectives will be accessed.
• Utilize Peer-Review techniques provided by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Comprehensive Open-Architecture Space
Mission Operations System (COSMOS)
COSMOS Overview
• Developed at the Hawaii Space
Flight Laboratory (HSFL) in
collaboration with NASA Ames
Research Center (ARC).
• Why was COSMOS Created?
• COSMOS was designed to primarily
support the development of one or
more small spacecraft through the
development of a set of software
tools and interrelated hardware.
COSMOS Primary Mission Definition
• “COSMOS […] enable the [mission]
operations team to interface with
the space craft, ground control
network, payload, and other
customers in order to perform
mission functions…”
• Development (p1), Sorensen et
al.
Small Spacecraft Introduction
• Definition • Cubesats (Size)
• NASA defines small spacecraft “to
be those with a mass of less than
180 kilograms”

• Cubesats are another type of

small spacecraft that weigh only a
few kilograms and are built in a
standard frame that is a 10
centimeter cube. These cubesats
can be composed of one (1U) to
many cubes (XU)

Small spacecraft are often more commonly referred

to as small satellites (cubsats), or mini-satellites
depending on their size and use.
Small Spacecraft and COSMOS
• There is a growing need for a low- • SORTIE 6U Cubesats (Example)
cost, flexible operational method for
developing and operating small-
satellite missions.
• Traditional (monolithic scale) space
missions such as large
geostationary satellites and the
former NASA space shuttle program
required a massive investment in
capital and maintenance.
• COSMOS offers an innovative
alternative to this that makes small
satellite research, development, and
operations possible. Scintillation Observations and Response of The
Ionosphere to Electrodynamics (SORTIE)
Mission: To collect data over the course of 6 months,
which will allow scientists to describe the distribution of
wave-like structures in the plasma density of the
ionospheric F-region and to connect these variations to
wave sources in the troposphere and in the high latitude
thermosphere.
-COSMIAC at the University of New Mexico
 COSMOS Architecture and Design

COSMOS Ground Station Network

Block diagram showing the general overview of the
COSMOS functional elements.
-Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory (HSFL)
 COSMOS
&
Satellite Communications

COSMOS
Primary Tools
COSMOS and Satellite Communications
• Mission Planning & Scheduling • MPST Block Diagram
Tool (MPST)
• Converts mission planning and
status tracking inputs into
executive command loads,
schedules, sequences, and
timelines (Human Readable)

• A top-level MPST executive

interface provides an automated
capability to plan several nodes
(such as multiple satellites) within
a given mission.
COSMOS and Satellite Communications
• Mission Operations Support Tool (MOST)

Mission Operations Support Tool (MOST) Basic Functions

1. Displays Timeline w/ Past and Future Events
2. Displays Subsystem and Payload Status
3. Provides Visual/Graphical display of satellite orbit
attitude.
4. Detects warnings and displays warnings to satellite
conditions
5. Send real-time commands to the satellite

Operational Proof-of-Concept

HawaiiSat-1 Mission
COSMOS and Satellite Communications
• COSMOS Executive Operator (CEO):

• Overview:
• Provides situational awareness of multiple
vehicles (true or simulated) simultaneously.
• Provides situational awareness for the
ground segment, including the status and
operations of all ground stations within the
network.
• CEO acts as the launching point for other
COSMOS applications, such as the MPST and
MOST utilities previously detailed.
Going Forward – NOS3
• NASA Operation Simulator for Small
Satellites – NOS3

• Overview:
• COSMOS is a difficult to implement
approach.
• NASA has developed a new program to
support a small satellite mission (NOS3).
• NOS3 allows for multiple developers to build
and test flight software with simulated
hardware models
•

NASA Operational Simulator for Small Satellites – NOS3

Operational Diagram. 10
NOS3 - Continued
• NASA Operation Simulator for Small
Satellites – NOS3

• Overview:
• NOS3 has a familiar and easy to use
environment (configurable)
• Native Linux support
• Low operational overhead costs (important!)

NASA Operational Simulator for Small Satellites – NOS3 –

Sample Virtual Environment. 10
COSMOS | NOS |
3 C2ISS

Bringing Everything
Together
COSMOS | NOS3| C2ISS
Bringing Everything Together
• C2ISS Requirement 1:
• COSMOS is a great tool for
understanding the differing orbits
that satellite systems use.
• COSMOS offers a practical hands-
on application of Kepler’s Laws,
and how they related to satellite
systems.
COSMOS | NOS3| C2ISS
Bringing Everything Together
• C2ISS Requirement 2:
• Requirement: provides a
framework for satellite ground
stations. Highlighting how earth
stations communicate with
satellite systems, COSMOS and the
COSMOS tools offer a framework
for expanding knowledge in future
coursework and within a space
career.
COSMOS | NOS3| C2ISS
Bringing Everything Together
• Outcome/Objective :
• NASA NOS3 offers a practical
interface for implementing satellite
network applications.
• Applications and interface show
the greatest overview of how
satellite networks operate, and as
the top-level application, providing
a clear overview of ground station
networks and satellite network
applications.
Conclusions/Resolutions
Going Forward
• Performance:
• COSMOS Application did not
perform as desired.
• Focus was to determine the best
method going forward to
implement the networking,
communications, software, and
hardware assets into a usable final
project.
• Alternatives Considerations:
• COSMOS from Ball Aerospace
• Working Variant Inaccessible, not
used for testing
• NASA NOS^3 Software (will be
used going forward)
• Concept of Project:
• I have learned a great deal about
satellite earth stations, orbital
dynamics, and satellite networking
techniques.
Thank-you.
Mr. Nordhagen-Sorenson,
Ethan Z. http://norkdd.weebly.com/

Ethan Z. Nordhagen-Sorenson (M’12) This author became a Member (M) of IEEE in 2012. Ethan was born in
Michigan, United States of American, in 1990. Bachelor of Science in computer engineering, with an emphasis in
hardware design, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM USA, 2019. Master of Science in computer
engineering, with emphasis in information systems, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM USA, 2020.

He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2008, specializing in conventional artillery and HIMARS rocket fire direction
control and communications. Leaving the military as a Sergeant (E-5) to pursue his education in the field of computer
engineering, cybersecurity, and information assurance. He is currently employed as a Research Engineer with the COSMIAC
research center at the University of New Mexico, School of Engineering, Albuquerque, NM USA. He also works within the
United States Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, Advanced Systems and Development Directorate (SMC/AD) in
support of the operation and development of advanced satellite systems and communications capability.

Mr. Nordhagen-Sorenson is a professional member of the following organization other than the IEEE: American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Physical Society (APS), American Physical Society - Division of Astrophysics
(APS-DAP), American Physical Society - Division of Nuclear Physics (APS – DNP), American Legion, Veteran’s of Foreign Wars
(VFW), The American Legion, CompTIA Association for Information Technology Professionals (CompTIA – ATIP).
Works Cited - References