Vol. 5 Issue 2
Debris Over Europe

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SpaceOps Meetings and News

SpaceOps 2008 NTPC Meeting

A Technical Program Committee Chairmen (TPC) meeting took place on the 13th and 14th of November at DLR/GSOC.
The results of general interest are summarized in the following:

Abstract Evaluation Process: Each abstract submitted for the SpaceOps 2008 conference will be evaluated and marked (1-worst, 10-best) by two members of the TPC.

A reviewer may want to change an abstract from the original topic to another topic. The change shall be made by the reviewer after consultation with the other reviewer, and the co-chairs of the TPC shall be informed via email.


After independent evaluation the two reviewers may consult each other, and in the case of major discrepancies on the evaluation results (i.e. overall mark differing by more than 3 points), may discuss the abstract and revise their original marks. In the case of no convergence between the two reviewers, the issue will be brought to the attention of the co-chairs, who will nominate a third reviewer for solving the issue. A total of 399 papers will be accepted for the conference program. The paper selection process will be finalized during the next TPC meeting in Washington in January 2008.

The Space Operations Communicator Augmentations (SpaceOps-Wiki): Session Chairs will collect interesting “key words” (plus a maximum of 3 sentences of explanations, including a reference to the papers) during the presentations of the SpaceOps 2008 conference. The key words will be selected according to their actuality bearing on new concepts or future trends. The edited key words will be published in the Communicator (SpaceOps-Wiki – tab to be implemented on the front page). By linking them directly to the SpaceOps2008 paper archive, maintained by AIAA, interested readers can pursue the matter by reading the original paper.

As an additional feature, interactive commenting / expansion of the SpaceOps-Wiki will be facilitated.

Publication of SpaceOps2008 “Best Papers”: The TCP decided to publish the selected three best papers as additional promotion of the SpaceOps Conference within the “Technical Papers” section of the Communicator.

It shall be pointed out that high quality papers can always be published within the Communicator – also in between of the bi-annual SpaceOps Conferences. For further instructions please refer to Downlink > Author Help on the front page of the Communicator.




SpaceOps 2008 Implementation Plan

In order to more efficiently organize future SpaceOps Conferences, in particular those which take place in cooperation with the AIAA, it has been decided to formalize and streamline the organizational process.

The current SpaceOps 2008 Implementation Plan refers to the upcoming conference, co-hosted by ESA/ESOC and EUMETSAT in Heidelberg, Germany, and provides transparency on all SpaceOps organizational elements, in particular as they concern all technical, logistical and budgetary aspects.

The Implementation Plan covers:

  • SpaceOps 2008 conference elements such as size, location, floor plan of the venue and allocation of the various facilities for the running of the conference
  • Allocation of responsibilities with respect to the preparation of the conference
  • Conference topics/sessions
  • Organization of the technical committee responsible for the evaluation of the abstracts/drafts and final papers; evaluation criteria and preparation of the final technical program
  • Overall planning
  • Overall budget of the Conference including all expenses, sponsorships, contributions from the different participating agencies, conference fees etc.

The prime purpose of the formal Implementation Plan is to provide a management tool for the preparation and execution of the SpaceOps 2008 conference; however, it will be updated periodically (ca. every 6-8 months) and re-distributed to the SpaceOps Committee Members.

It shall be noted that the distribution of the detailed conference budget (contained in Appendix C of the Plan) will be restricted to the current host until the completion of the conference.

After the SpaceOps 2008 conference, this document will undergo a final update and will be handed over, together with the detailed budget information (Appendix C), to the representative of the Agency in charge of the next SpaceOps conference (SpaceOps 2010). As agreed at the SpaceOps ExCom and CaL meetings held in Tokyo in April 2007, the SpaceOps 2010 conference will be organized by NASA and held at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It is expected that the same procedure as outlined above will be followed for the 2012 conference.

The maintained SpaceOps Implementation Plan (without Appendices) will be available online on the SpaceOps Organization web site (http://www.space-ops.org) for authorized members (requires member log-in information).

 

RCSGSO 2007 Conference Summary

(Co-organized by IKI and ESA – hosted by IKI in Moscow 11th-15th June 2007)

General

A discussion forum addressing specific conference-related subjects has been well appreciated by the audience and suggestions have been made to include more of such ‘discussion forums’ in future conferences.

The conference received 142 registrations from 16 countries and all major space agencies. Space industry from around the world (Europe, USA, and Asia) actively participated in the conference with a representation of approximately 30% to 40% of the overall attendance.

Highlights

The technical content of the conference has been quite substantial and well appreciated by those in attendance. Several papers did show that similar developments in the space operations field are independently carried out in different countries by different organizations using different methodologies. The conference gave the chance to exchange ideas and experience on such developments with the aim of increased efficiency in the implementation of such developments.

Key words collected during the conference for cost/efficiency optimization of ongoing and future missions were: “Virtualization” (virtual reality); Remote Control and Automated Operations; Enhancement of the Concept of “Infrastructure” with respect to mission specific development; close adherence to existing International Standards and Enhancement of Standardization in some areas (e.g. in the middleware of space or ground M&C systems); Commonality of Functionalities and Re-use; Optimization of organization and Distribution of manpower/expertise in the different phases of a mission from development/preparation for launch to routine operations.

In conclusion, the conference has been quite rich in flow of technically information and on presentation of methodologies for increased efficiency in the operations of on-going and future space missions.

The conference has also provided a forum in which to consolidate relationships between various partners and to establish the basis for new activities in the space operations arena.

In particular, we offer a warm “Thank You” and “Congratulations” to IKI for the accurate organization of the various events of the conference.

Highlights of the Social Program were the visit to the ENERGIA museum displaying the flown capsules of the first Cosmonauts (and in particular of Yuri Gagarin) and a complete flight model of the MIR.

In conclusion, the conference has fully met its goals in all aspects.

Paolo Maldari

ESA Directorate of Operations and Infrastructure, Robert-Bosch Strasse 5, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Reducing Costs of Spacecraft Ground

Systems and Operations (RCSGSO), 11-15 June 2007, Moscow, Russian Federation

(ESA SP-648, July 2007)
The CD of the proceedings can be obtained by ESA (http://www.esa.int), search for Publication SP-648)

Notabene: The paper “Cost efficient Evolution of the ESA Network int the Space Era” (P. Maldary, N. Bobrinsky) is published in this issue of the “Communicator”




Additional Conference Announcements

Ground System Architectures Workshop 2008 (GSAW)

Crowne Plaza Hotel
Redondo Beach, CA
31 March-3 April 2008

Call for participation Reminder (http://sunset.usc.edu/gsaw)


 
 
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