Operational Challenges and Achievements of the OPS-SAT-1 Mission

Abstract

Conference Title: 2025 IEEE Aerospace Conference

Conference Start Date: 2025 March 1

Conference End Date: 2025 March 8

Conference Location: Big Sky, MT, USA

The OPS-SAT-1 mission, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) on December 18, 2019, provided a unique platform for testing and validating innovative space technologies. As the first satellite of its kind, OPS-SAT-1's primary goal was to lower the barriers for in-orbit experimentation, offering researchers an unprecedented opportunity to trial cutting-edge concepts in a real-world environment. This paper presents a detailed overview of the lessons learned from operating OPS-SAT-1, emphasizing both technical achievements and operational challenges encountered throughout the mission. A significant aspect of the mission was the successful engagement of the research community. By providing an accessible platform for experimentation, the spacecraft allowed numerous research teams to run their experiments in orbit, validating their technologies, gathering critical data, and disseminating their findings through various publications and public engagements. The collaborative nature of the mission fostered innovation and facilitated the exchange of ideas, resulting in a diverse set of experiments that spanned various fields, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), communications, data processing, as well as non-traditional space activities such as financial transactions and gaming with in-orbit runs of onboard chess and DOOM. The research community's ability to successfully execute their experiments onboard OPS-SAT-1 emphasized the mission's role as a catalyst for technological advancement and research development in space. Pioneering AI experiments lead to operationalizing the use of Machine Learning (ML) for day-to-day onboard real-time data processing and autonomous decisionmaking. This demonstrated the potential of AI to enhance spacecraft autonomy, setting the stage for other experiments and satellite missions to leverage AI for improved operational efficiency. The mission also explored new communication protocols and onboard data processing techniques. These included testing high-speed data downlinks and innovative compression algorithms to maximize the efficiency of data transmission to ground stations. The lessons learned from these tests highlighted the importance of optimizing communication strategies to handle the vast amounts of data generated by modern satellites. Throughout its operational life, OPS-SAT-1 encountered several anomalies and technical challenges that provided invaluable insights. Key among these were issues with the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS), which experienced failures in reaction wheels and control algorithm anomalies. This paper presents the technical achievements and operational lessons from the OPS-SAT-1 mission and provides a comprehensive understanding of the factors that contributed to its success. The insights gained from OPS-SAT-1 will be instrumental in developing future CubeSat missions, particularly the follow-up mission OPS-SAT VOLT.