Abstract Current state of the art in Space Traffic Management (STM) relies on a handful of providers for surveillance and collision prediction, and manual coordination between operators. Neither is scalable to support the expected 10x increase in active spacecraft population in less than 10 years, nor does it support automated maneuver planning. We present a software prototype of an STM architecture based on open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and drawing on insights from NASA's architecture for low-altitude Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management. The STM architecture is designed to provide structure to the interactions between spacecraft operators, various regulatory bodies, and STM service suppliers, while maintaining flexibility of these interactions and the ability for new market participants to enter easily. Autonomy will be an indispensable part of the proposed architecture in enabling efficient data sharing, coordination between STM participants and safe flight operations (e.g. select spacecraft maneuvers to prevent impending conjunctions between multiple spacecraft). The STM prototype is based on modern micro-service architecture adhering to OpenAPI standards and deployed in industry-standard virtualized containers, facilitating easy communication between different participants or services. The system architecture is designed to facilitate adding and replacing services with minimal disruption. We have implemented some example participant services (e.g. a space situational awareness/SSA provider, a conjunction assessment supplier/CAS, an automated maneuver advisor/AMA) within the prototype. Different services, with creative algorithms folded into them, can fulfill similar functional roles within the STM architecture by flexibly connecting to it using pre-defined APIs and data models, thereby lowering the barrier to entry of new players in the STM marketplace. We demonstrate the STM prototype on a multiple conjunction scenario with multiple maneuverable spacecraft, where an example CAS and AMA can recommend optimal maneuvers to the spacecraft operators, based on a pre-defined reward function. Such tools can intelligently search the space of potential collision avoidance maneuvers with varying parameters like lead time and propellant usage, to optimize a customized reward function, and be implemented as a scheduling service within the STM architecture. The case study shows an example of autonomous maneuver planning using the API-based framework. As satellite populations and predicted conjunctions increase, an STM architecture can facilitate seamless information exchange related to collision prediction and mitigation among various service applications on different platforms and servers. The availability of such an STM network also opens up new research topics on satellite maneuver planning, scheduling and negotiation across disjoint entities.

中文翻译：

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空间交通管理的原型操作自主性

摘要 空间交通管理 (STM) 的当前技术水平依赖于少数供应商进行监视和碰撞预测以及操作员之间的手动协调。既不能扩展以支持预计在不到 10 年的时间内将活跃航天器数量增加 10 倍，也不支持自动机动规划。我们展示了基于开放应用程序编程接口 (API) 的 STM 架构的软件原型，并借鉴了 NASA 低空无人机系统交通管理架构的见解。STM 架构旨在为航天器运营商、各种监管机构和 STM 服务供应商之间的交互提供结构，同时保持这些交互的灵活性和新市场参与者轻松进入的能力。自主性将成为拟议架构中不可或缺的一部分，以实现高效数据共享、STM 参与者之间的协调和安全飞行操作（例如，选择航天器机动以防止多个航天器之间即将发生的会合）。STM 原型基于现代微服务架构，遵循 OpenAPI 标准并部署在行业标准的虚拟化容器中，促进不同参与者或服务之间的轻松通信。该系统架构旨在以最小的中断促进添加和替换服务。我们已经在原型中实施了一些示例参与者服务（例如空间态势感知/SSA 提供者、联合评估供应商/CAS、自动机动顾问/AMA）。不同的服务，将创造性算法融入其中，可以通过使用预定义的 API 和数据模型灵活地连接到 STM 架构中，从而在 STM 架构中发挥类似的功能作用，从而降低新参与者进入 STM 市场的门槛。我们在具有多个可操纵航天器的多会合场景中演示了 STM 原型，其中示例 CAS 和 AMA 可以基于预定义的奖励函数向航天器操作员推荐最佳机动。此类工具可以智能地搜索具有不同参数（如提前期和推进剂使用情况）的潜在避碰机动空间，以优化定制的奖励功能，并在 STM 架构中作为调度服务实施。案例研究展示了使用基于 API 的框架进行自主机动规划的示例。随着卫星数量和预测会合的增加，STM 架构可以促进与不同平台和服务器上的各种服务应用程序之间的碰撞预测和缓解相关的无缝信息交换。这种 STM 网络的可用性还开辟了有关卫星机动规划、调度和跨不相交实体协商的新研究课题。