Characterisation of SATCOM Networks for Rapid Message Delivery: Early In-Orbit Results

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the in-orbit performance of SATCOM networks on a nanosatellite, demonstrating their potential for rapid message delivery and autonomous operations, while highlighting practical challenges in deployment.

Contribution

It provides the first in-orbit characterization of SATCOM networks on a nanosatellite, offering insights into their reliability and operational challenges for scientific and autonomous missions.

Findings

SATCOM networks enable rapid down-link of detection events

In-orbit performance shows potential for autonomous satellite operations

Practical challenges identified in deploying SATCOM in nanosatellites

Abstract

Traditional nanosatellite communication links rely on infrequent ground-station access windows. While this is well suited to both payload data and detailed scheduling information, the resulting long periods without contact are ill-suited for both opportunistic tasking of satellites and triggers generated by autonomous operations. Existing orbital infrastructure in the form of satellite communication (SATCOM) networks, such as Iridium and others provide a readily available and cost effective solution to this problem. While these networks continue to be utilized onboard nanosatellites, a full characterization of their utility and performance in-orbit is vital to understand the reliability and potential for high-timeliness message delivery. The SpIRIT 6U nanosatellite is a mission led by The University of Melbourne in cooperation with the Italian Space Agency and supported by the Australian Space Agency. Developed over the last four years and launched in a 510km Polar Sun Synchronous Orbit in late 2023, SpIRIT carries multiple subsystems for scientific and technology demonstration. The Mercury subsystem provides a demonstration and characterization test bed for SATCOM utilization in-orbit, while also providing the capability of rapid down-link of detection events generated by the main scientific payload of the mission, the HERMES instrument for the detection of high-energy astrophysical transients. This paper first presents a brief payload characterization experiment overview. Early in-orbit results are then presented. This work not only sheds light on the utility of these networks for autonomous operations, and on their potential impact to enable greater utilization of nanosatellites for scientific missions, but also offers insights into the practical challenges related to the design and implementation of utilizing these networks in-orbit.