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Code 587 Technologies and Products

SpaceCube 2.0 - On-Board Processing

Principal Investigator (PI)
Description and Objectives
  • Develop advanced on-board processing to meet the requirements of the Decadal Survey missions:
    • advanced instruments (hyper-spectral, SAR, etc) require advanced on-board processing to facilitate the timely conversion of Earth Science (ES) "data" into ES "information".
    • mission enabling technology to reconfigure/adapt on the fly; detect and react to events; produce data products on-board for direct downlink, quick look, and "first responder" real-time awareness; enable "sensor web" multi-platform collaboration; and perform on-board "lossless" data reduction by moving "ground" functions on-board.

 

SpaceCube 2.0 Processor Engineering Model (Size: 5 x 5 x 7 (inches); Weight less than 10 lbs; Power: 15-20 W) and SpaceCube 2.0 EM on ISE 2.0 (STP-H4 ISS Payload)
SpaceCube 2.0 Processor Engineering Model (Size: 5 x 5 x 7 (inches); Weight less than 10 lbs; Power: 15-20 W) and SpaceCube 2.0 EM on ISE 2.0 (STP-H4 ISS Payload)

 

Technical Approach
  • Design, build, and test a SpaceCube 2.0 system based on new radiation hardened Virtex-5 parts (V-5 devices will eliminate 95% of the mitigation issues and 100% of the "critical" upset scenarios associated with the SpaceCube 1.0 Virtex-4 parts).
  • Couple it with our "radiation hardened by software" techniques (to protect the internal PowerPC's) to deliver a true flight-worthy system that approaches the on-orbit performance of full radiation hardened systems.
  • Provide the science community with the choice between "perfect data using a RAD750" or "100x more data plus next generation capabilities, with (maybe) an occasional bad pixel, using SpaceCube 2.0".
Main Innovation(s)
  • Commercial processing power in space
  • Radiation hardened by software technology
Infusion Potential
  • Earth Science Decadal Survey Missions
  • Cross-cutting technology also for Planetary and Exploration systems