IEEE - Aerospace and Electronic Systems - May 2022 - 3

In This Issue -Technically
IMPLEMENTATION OF A GNU RADIO-BASED SEARCH AND RESCUE RECEIVER ON
ESA'S OPS-SAT SPACE LAB
OPS-SAT is the first publicly accessible Hardware/Software Innovation Lab in low Earth orbit. It was launched
by the European Space Agency on December 18, 2019, and is open to European academia and industry, allowing
new concepts to be tested in space with a range of interesting payloads. This article discusses the implementation
and results of an in-orbit demonstration (IOD) using the software-defined radio payload of OPS-SAT together
with onboard RF processing techniques. We demonstrate the design of a software configurable search and rescue
receiver using GNU Radio, running on Linux in a 3U CubeSat. The system runs on the Satellite Experimental
Processing Platform (SEPP) Cyclone V ARM system-on-chip and is able to autonomously detect and decode
transmissions from terrestrial 406-MHz beacons from the global COSPAS-SARSAT search and rescue system.
Decoded beacon information is logged onboard together with metadata and is downloaded to mission control at
ESA/ESOC. The successful IOD paves the way for in-orbit RF experimentation and bridges the gap between satellite
operations and the Internet ofThings era.
A REVIEW OF SECURITY INCIDENTS AND DEFENCE TECHNIQUES RELATING
TO THE MALICIOUS USE OF SMALL UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS
Critical national infrastructure sites, such as airports and nuclear facilities, have been subject to a number of airspace
breaches from malicious unmanned aerial systems (UASs) in recent years. Not only can these incidents
cause major disruptions, but they can have significant financial consequences. This article conducts a short review
ofsecurity incidents caused by the malicious use ofsmall UASs at airports and nuclear facilities. We conclude that
the number ofincidents ofconcern remain high and suggest the increased use ofUAS with longer flight times, indicating
a move away from commercially available platforms, which have limited flight times. The detection and
classification methods presented in this review each have strong benefits but this is not withstanding their own
challenges. Hence, this review recommends that more than one sensor type are considered in parallel for live systems.
A comprehensive detection and classification system must extend further than typical commercially available
platforms ifwe are to fully realize the threat. We also conclude that while successful countermeasure methods
do exist there still remains many policy and legal challenges ahead for their implementation.
HAYABUSA2 RE-ENTRY CAPSULE TRACKING BY MARINE RADARS
In the Hayabusa2 re-entry capsule recovery operation, marine radars were used to estimate the landing point ofthe
capsule. These radars were commercial products for ships and were used with some modifications for this operation.
The radars tracked the instrument module (I/M) containing the asteroid samples for 18 min, along with other
equipment. The maximum observed distance was 31.55 km, and the tracking was accurate up to 240 m near the I/
M landing point. This article describes the marine radar system, reports the tracking results of the operation, and
discusses the considerations made for future missions. One consideration is to estimate the altitude by using multiple
search radars in order to more accurately predict the landing point. Another is to estimate the radar cross-section
ofthe I/M during descent. This article demonstrates that the altitude can be estimated by the search radars, and
the radar cross-section fluctuates by approximately. 10 times depending on the elevation angle relative to the radar.
The results ofthis article suggest the possibility ofcooperative search by using multiple small radars. This feature
may contribute to reductions in mission costs and to expanding the choice oflanding areas.
THE EARLY U.S. HISTORY OF REAL-TIME TELEMETRY PROCESSING AND DISPLAY
This article outlines the early U.S. history of real-time telemetry processing and display in the computer era. The
requirements for real-time testing and display overwhelmed the computer capabilities in the late 1960s and early
1970s. A number of creative solutions were used to address the problem, both from a technological perspective
and from the flight test engineer's (the " user " ) perspective. The primary history is the experience at the Naval
Air Test Center, Patuxent River, MD, USA. Parallel developments at other test ranges and in the commercial sector
are also described.
MAY 2022
IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
3

IEEE - Aerospace and Electronic Systems - May 2022

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