Simulating distributed small satellite networks: A model-based tool tailored to decentralized resource-constrained systems

The conception of new Earth-observing satellite systems is urging the development of tools that can assist engineering teams in their design, validation and testing pursuits. Large-scale Distributed Satellite Systems (DSS) are expected to operate with minimum human intervention and could coordinate their actions through inter-satellite networks. Multiple in-orbit data services are also envisioned for DSS that could potentially enhance the capabilities of these systems and ameliorate their performance (e.g. shorter downlink latencies, pre-processing of instrument data, etc.) In this context, this paper presents an integral, design-oriented simulation framework that is tailored to the above-mentioned concurrent trends: autonomous operations, and inter-satellite networking. The tool is conceived as an extensible programming framework in which users can implement their own spacecraft components and simulate the behavior of these systems. The goal of the software is to extract mission performance metrics and assess the validity of designs. This paper details the software architecture (encompassing the modeling environment for physical and networking components, and graphical user interface) and presents some preliminary results.