Satellite Constellation End-of-Life Dependability Assessment with AltaRica 3.0

The space sector has recently seen an explosion in the number of constellation projects. The development of such programs, which are on a much larger scale and require significantly shorter development times, means that manufacturers must be able to keep up with a pace that is quite different from that of more conventional projects. The specificity of such constellations is the import of non-space-specific technologies. One of the challenges is to correctly assess the reliability of these technologies and the products using them. Industrial players such as Thales Alenia Space (TAS) are exploring new ways of meeting this demand.

In this context, and with a view to helping develop future communication or navigation constellation projects, it makes sense to try out new analysis methods linked to Model-Based Safety Assessment (MBSA).

This Model-Based approach to system reliability analysis is gradually gaining the confidence of engineers, and is still subject to numerous developments. It is a complementary method to traditional reliability and safety studies: it aims to obtain equivalent results more quickly, but also to create new analysis tools.

MBSA consists in modeling the propagation of failures within a system, using a specific language. This relatively recent method enables greater cooperation between systems engineers and reliability engineers through the use of common models, particularly in the context of constellation programs.

The aims of this study are firstly to assess the value of the MBSA method in the context of a telecommunications program, and secondly to study the opportunities offered by such an approach, in particular via the AltaRica tool.