ESA GNC Conference Papers Repository

In this work, a new architecture regarding redundant design of GN&C and propulsion system is proposed. The new architecture is based on resilience engineering. Resilience engineering is a new way of thinking about safety. In resilience engineering, safety is achieved by ensuring that things go right rather than by avoiding that things go wrong. As an application of this approach, following concepts are introduced: all resources are utilized when the state of the system is nominal; the system is tolerable against unexpected behavior; it does not cause unstable condition due to a change of strings. We believe these features are necessary for next generation space missions, e.g. human space missions or scientific exploration missions which need advanced robustness and autonomy. In this work, a methodology to optimize a thruster configuration suitable for the new architecture is developed. With this technique, a designer can determine a thruster configuration which meets all requirements and a desirable characteristic. This paper presents the concept of the new architecture and the methodology to optimize a propulsion system configuration. A design example and simulation results are also presented to show the effect of the new architecture.