ESA And Telespazio AI Are Rewiring Space Ops With Machine Intelligence

Space operations are a major undertaking; they require teams of people to ensure mission success and safety. However, they are time-consuming. As such, Telespazio has rallied a consortium of organisations to drive AI development to make these operations more efficient. The key areas of the group’s AI objective are to automate preparation and simulation in a bid to reduce the manual workload for teams on the ground. 

Sigmar Keller, CEO of Telespazio Germany, commented in a press release: “Powered by an outstanding consortium and utilising the CO2M mission as a demonstration platform, this project marks a transformative step in automating mission operations, setting a new benchmark for future satellite missions.”

Telespazio’s Mission To Embed AI For Future Space Operations

The mission, titled: “AI for Automation of Operations Preparation and Operational Simulation”, or OPOS, has been handed to Telespazio Germany. Via a consortium of space organisations including the European Space Agency and EUMETSAT, the team aims to align with ESA’s “Artificial Intelligence for Automation (A²I) roadmap”, Telespazio said. 

Currently, flight control teams have to conduct arduous, complex, and time-consuming tasks to achieve mission preparation and undertake simulations. However, through AI, these simulations can be automated, reducing the burden on said teams. Telespazio said AI could ultimately “eliminate repetitive manual tasks”. Once implemented, the AI system would enable:

• Better fault detection.
• Optimised resource management. 
• Greater mission efficiency. 

The AI Popularity Storm That’s Making Waves In The Space Industry

To ensure the AI mission is a success, Telespazio said they will “optimise the most critical and frequently performed routine operations.” But this isn’t a novel aspect of space operations anymore. In fact, AI is becoming increasingly popular in all sectors, including the space industry. 

Space Force have recently outlined their strategic move to use AI to improve their operational efficiencies. In addition, the US’ previous administration signed an executive order to build an AI data centre that will power the country’s AI needs for years to come. These are just some of the ways AI is being used ubiquitously. The same trend is following suit at ESA, with the dawn of AI helping to streamline space missions. 

Telespazio outlined that: “space operations depend on manual workflows, complex procedure updates, and labour-intensive validation processes. OPOS will address these challenges by automating routine tasks, helping detect regressions, enhancing preparation processes and hence streamlining ground operations. The consortium will ensure AI-driven automation is applied where it has the greatest impact in the preparation of missions.” 

Testing The Waters: ESA & Telespazio’s Plan To Test Their AI Systems

To drive the AI evolution, ESA, Telesapzio, and the consortium will utilise the upcoming Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring (CO2M) mission to demonstrate their AI capabilities. CO2M will capture a mountain of data and will present as a significant undertaking for ground-teams. To reduce the human demand, ESA and Telespazio will use AI to simplify the simulation validation, improve data processing, and regression detection. 

Telespazio affirmed: “OPOS will free up resources for future missions and space exploration initiatives. Its impact will extend beyond ESA’s current operations, establishing new benchmarks for AI-driven mission preparation.” Adding: “The consortium unites specialists in operations preparation and mission simulations. Their combined expertise ensures AI-powered automation becomes a core component of Europe’s space operations infrastructure.”