Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SAFEST (Smart Avionics for Flight tErmination SysTems, SAFEST)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2023-01-01 do 2025-04-30
The SAFEST project (Smart Avionics for Flight Termination Systems) was created to improve the safety and flexibility of space launches, especially for new, reusable, and commercial rockets. Traditional flight termination systems are expensive and rely heavily on ground infrastructure. This limits their use in modern launch scenarios. SAFEST aimed to offer a smarter, more autonomous solution that reduces costs and increases flexibility.
The project overall objective were:
• Develop an Autonomous Flight Termination Unit (AFTU) – a system that can safely stop a mission if needed, without human intervention.
• Create a modular avionics platform (MIA) – a flexible software system that makes it easier and faster to develop and test spaceflight applications.
• Demonstrate both technologies in an integrated prototype to reach TRL 5-6
The main impacts that the project aimed for were:
• Safer and more affordable launches by reducing the need for complex ground systems.
• Faster development cycles thanks to reusable and configurable software (SW).
• Support for European space innovation, helping new players enter the market with advanced, cost-effective technology.
The project overall objective were:
• Develop an Autonomous Flight Termination Unit (AFTU) – a system that can safely stop a mission if needed, without human intervention.
• Create a modular avionics platform (MIA) – a flexible software system that makes it easier and faster to develop and test spaceflight applications.
• Demonstrate both technologies in an integrated prototype to reach TRL 5-6
The main impacts that the project aimed for were:
• Safer and more affordable launches by reducing the need for complex ground systems.
• Faster development cycles thanks to reusable and configurable software (SW).
• Support for European space innovation, helping new players enter the market with advanced, cost-effective technology.
The project has successfully achieved its two main goals in terms of technical development, demonstrating the feasibility of the technical solutions and highlighting the main strengths with respect to the competitors.
• A modular, MPSoC-based avionics software execution platform (MIA) was developed and validated. It includes a hypervisor (XtratuM/NG), RTEMS OS, and abstraction layers (OSAL and PSP), enabling flexible deployment of avionics applications.
For the MIA platform, the main achievement was the demonstration of the implementation of AFTU use-case in a high efficient way, facilitating the integration of SW, both manually or autocoded, and also supporting the real-time debugging. This has been translated into a considerable reduction of time for the integration and verification in comparison with other SW approaches.
• An AFTU demonstrator was designed, implemented, and integrated into the MIA platform (navigation and mission rules functionalities). The AFTU demonstrator also included the real sensors, stimulated through the Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) developed.
A significant achievement of this project is confirmation that the AFTU SW is fully user- configurable, offering a high degree of flexibility. This adaptability allows the unit to meet diverse operational requirements ensuring compliance with user-defined mission constraints and to particularize for each launch scenario. The successful testing campaign demonstrates the maturity of the system and its readiness to further refinement. This is the main added value of the AFTU solution proposed within SAFEST, with respect to other competitors.
• A modular, MPSoC-based avionics software execution platform (MIA) was developed and validated. It includes a hypervisor (XtratuM/NG), RTEMS OS, and abstraction layers (OSAL and PSP), enabling flexible deployment of avionics applications.
For the MIA platform, the main achievement was the demonstration of the implementation of AFTU use-case in a high efficient way, facilitating the integration of SW, both manually or autocoded, and also supporting the real-time debugging. This has been translated into a considerable reduction of time for the integration and verification in comparison with other SW approaches.
• An AFTU demonstrator was designed, implemented, and integrated into the MIA platform (navigation and mission rules functionalities). The AFTU demonstrator also included the real sensors, stimulated through the Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) developed.
A significant achievement of this project is confirmation that the AFTU SW is fully user- configurable, offering a high degree of flexibility. This adaptability allows the unit to meet diverse operational requirements ensuring compliance with user-defined mission constraints and to particularize for each launch scenario. The successful testing campaign demonstrates the maturity of the system and its readiness to further refinement. This is the main added value of the AFTU solution proposed within SAFEST, with respect to other competitors.
The SAFEST project delivered several innovations that go beyond current industry standards:
• MIA Platform: Modular avionics software platform reached TRL 5–6, enabling fast integration and real-time debugging.
• AFTU Algorithms: Localization and mission rules validated within MIA, achieving TRL 5–6.
• System Design: Enabled third-party app development and smooth integration using autocoding.
• Radiation Resilience: The project introduced new methods to assess and mitigate radiation risks in space, using commercial hardware platforms like Zynq SoC. This opens the door to more affordable and robust avionics solutions.
• Efficiency: Reduced development costs via modular architecture and SW reuse.
• Operational Impact: AFTU lowers launch costs and enables new launch sites
To ensure further uptake and success, the following steps are key:
• Further testing and demonstration in real launch scenarios.
• Access to funding and partnerships for industrialization and commercialization.
• Supportive regulations and standards to ease certification and adoption.
• International collaboration to expand market reach and align with global safety standards
• MIA Platform: Modular avionics software platform reached TRL 5–6, enabling fast integration and real-time debugging.
• AFTU Algorithms: Localization and mission rules validated within MIA, achieving TRL 5–6.
• System Design: Enabled third-party app development and smooth integration using autocoding.
• Radiation Resilience: The project introduced new methods to assess and mitigate radiation risks in space, using commercial hardware platforms like Zynq SoC. This opens the door to more affordable and robust avionics solutions.
• Efficiency: Reduced development costs via modular architecture and SW reuse.
• Operational Impact: AFTU lowers launch costs and enables new launch sites
To ensure further uptake and success, the following steps are key:
• Further testing and demonstration in real launch scenarios.
• Access to funding and partnerships for industrialization and commercialization.
• Supportive regulations and standards to ease certification and adoption.
• International collaboration to expand market reach and align with global safety standards