Trends in cost-effective mission operations

The pressure on achieving cost reductions in Mission Operations has been increasing steadily during the past decade and there is no relaxation in sight for the near future. Therefore, it is necessary to scrutinize mission design and operations concepts for potential in achieving still better cost effectiveness. The present paper presents an assessment of a few concepts that are expected to be promising for further increasing the cost effectiveness of future space mission operations, namely: on-board spacecraft autonomy and on-ground automation, commercial off-the-shelf control systems, multi-mission operation concepts, and hibernation modes. The latter concept is of specific relevance to interplanetary spacecraft with long cruise phases. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.