SRFS: Parallel Processing Fault-tolerant ROS2-based Flight Software for the Space Ranger CubeSat

TL;DR

This paper introduces a fault-tolerant, parallel-processing satellite flight software based on ROS2, enhancing reliability, efficiency, and development speed for CubeSat missions through integrated hardware/software design and rigorous testing.

Contribution

It presents a novel ROS2-based flight software architecture that supports parallel data processing, fault tolerance, and rapid development for small satellites.

Findings

Effective telemetry and remote control capabilities

Autonomous error recovery demonstrated

High system reliability and maintainability confirmed

Abstract

Traditional Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) often suffer from limited parallel performance, whereas thread monitoring in Linux-based systems remains challenging. To overcome these limitations, this paper presents a satellite flight software system design based on the Robot Operating System (ROS), which utilizes its reliable built-in publish-subscribe messaging mechanism to facilitate inter-application communication. In response to the complex functional demands of modern small satellites, the proposed design integrates both hardware and software architectures, along with system scheduling and error-correction strategies. This integration supports efficient parallel data processing, enhances system reliability, and shortens the development cycle through code reuse. The system was rigorously evaluated through comprehensive tests covering time delay, system management, fault tolerance, and maintenance procedures. Experimental results confirm the system's effectiveness in telemetry, remote control, integration of new features, and autonomous error recovery. The findings underscore the high reliability and maintainability of the ROS-based satellite flight software, offering a valuable reference for the rapid development of high-performance small satellite systems.