Master's Thesis Proposal

Yunpeng Duan

(Advisor: Prof. Brian Gunter)

"Feasibility of a dedicated satellite constellation for orbital edge computing services"

Thursday, December 5

10:00 a.m.

Montgomery Knight Building 317

Abstract

In-orbit computing addresses the limitations of ground-satellite link capacity by shifting part of the data processing workload to the satellite itself. Satellite constellations equipped with machine learning-based computing payloads can process large volumes of raw data and downlink only the processed results to the ground. However, scaling up computing resources to meet the increasing complexity of in-orbit applications remains a challenge. In this work, we propose investigating the feasibility of a dedicated small satellite constellation that delivers orbit edge computing (OEC) services to spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO). By offloading computing tasks from individual satellites, mission designers can allocate more power and volume to other subsystems. Additionally, this approach allows for more flexible and agile development of data processing applications.
 

Committee
•    Prof. Brian Gunter – School of Aerospace Engineering (advisor)
•    Prof. Koki Ho – School of Aerospace Engineering
•    Prof. Ketan Bhardwaj – School of Computer Science