Impact of Satellite Reliability and Global Data Traffic on the Profitability of Communication Constellations

This paper presents a new methodological approach for the reliability estimation of single point-to-point-connections in a communication constellation while carrying simultaneous global data traffic. This approach consists of two major parts. The first part contains a network analysis which detects all available signal routes for a certain point-to-point-connection in a global data traffic network. The subsequent second part is a dynamic reliability block diagram analysis with phased structure functions. Furthermore, a new importance analysis is presented for the identification of critical payload components for an ensured constellation service revenue. Both analyses have been developed by capability extension of the previous constellation reliability tools developed during the research project MiRel (Mission Reliability) of the Institute of Space Systems (IRAS) at Technische Universitat Braunschweig and SAREL Consult GmbH. First results allow architectural payload optimizations by analyzing the impact of each communication unit on the overall constellation revenue generation process. Future work shall also consider the impact of global data flow dynamics on the onboard memory of communication payloads in order to predict temporary satellite inaccessibility due to bottleneck scenarios during high global data traffic.