ASTOS is a tool dedicated to mission analysis,

Trajectory optimization Trajectory optimization is the process of designing a trajectory that minimizes (or maximizes) some measure of performance while satisfying a set of constraints. Generally speaking, trajectory optimization is a technique for computing an open-loop ...

, vehicle design and

simulation A simulation is an imitative representation of a process or system that could exist in the real world. In this broad sense, simulation can often be used interchangeably with model. Sometimes a clear distinction between the two terms is made, in ...

for space scenarios, i.e. launch,

re-entry Atmospheric entry (sometimes listed as Vimpact or Ventry) is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. Atmospheric entry may be ''uncontrolled entry ...

missions, orbit transfers, Earth observation, navigation, coverage and re-entry safety assessments. It solves

Aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

problems with a data driven interface and automatic initial guesses. Since 1989, with the support of the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

, it has developed, and improved this trajectory optimization environment to compute optimal trajectories for a variety of complex multi-phase

Optimal control Optimal control theory is a branch of control theory that deals with finding a control for a dynamical system over a period of time such that an objective function is optimized. It has numerous applications in science, engineering and operations ...

problems. ASTOS is being extensively used at ESA and aerospace industry community to calculate mission analysis, optimal launch and entry

trajectories A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete traje ...

and was one of the tools used by ESA to assess the risk due to the ATV 'Jules Verne' re-entry. ASTOS is compatible with

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

platforms and is maintained and commercialized by Astos Solutions

GmbH (; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. It is a ...

History

The development of ASTOS (formerly named ALTOS) started in 1989 at the DLR in

Oberpfaffenhofen Oberpfaffenhofen is a village that is part of the municipality of Weßling in the district of Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany. It is located about from the city center of Munich. Village The village is home to the Oberpfaffenhofen Airport and a ...

and MBB (now Astrium). In 1991 the Institute of Flight Mechanics and Control (IFR) at the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart () is a research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with programs in civil, mechanical, ind ...

under the head of Prof. Klaus Well took the responsibility for the development of ASTOS. In 1999 the commercialization of ASTOS began. In the period 2001-2006 ASTOS was sold by Technology Transfer Initiative of the

(TTI). Since September 2006, the newly founded company Astos Solutions GmbH is responsible for development and sales of ASTOS.

Projects

ASTOS is being extensively used in aerospace agencies and industry since 1998, hereafter a not complete list of project is presented where the software was involved during the design or accomplishment of the space mission. * Performance map of conventional launch vehicle:

Ariane 6 Ariane 6 is a European expendable launch system developed for the European Space Agency (ESA) and manufactured by a consortium of European companies, led by the prime contractor ArianeGroup. As part of the Ariane rocket family, it is operate ...

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationar ...

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, and ...

Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Soviet Union, Union of Soviet Socialist Republi ...

from

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

, several FLPP concepts, VLM * Feasibility study of reusable launch vehicle:

Hopper Hopper or hoppers may refer to: Places * Hopper, Illinois * Hopper, West Virginia * Hopper, a mountain and valley in the Hunza–Nagar District of Pakistan * Hopper (crater), a crater on Mercury People * Hopper (surname) Insects * Hopper, the ...

Skylon Skylon may refer to: * Skylon (Festival of Britain), a landmark structure of the 1951 Festival of Britain * Skylon (spacecraft) Skylon was a series of concept designs for a reusable single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane by the British company React ...

SpaceLiner SpaceLiner is a concept for a Sub-orbital spaceflight, suborbital, hypersonic, winged passenger supersonic transport, conceived at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, or DLR) in 2005. In its second role the S ...

, Fast 20XX ALPHA. * Earth Atmospheric re-entry:

X-38 The X-38 is an experimental re-entry vehicle designed by NASA to research a possible emergency crew return vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station (ISS). The 1995–2002 program also developed concepts for a crew return vehicle design t ...

Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator The Advanced Reentry Demonstrator (ARD) was a European Space Agency (ESA) suborbital reentry vehicle. It was developed and operated for experimental purposes, specifically to validate the multiple reentry technologies integrated upon it and the ve ...

, IXV, EXPERT. * Safety aspect related to the ATV re-entry. * Planetary re-entry:

Beagle 2 The ''Beagle 2'' was an inoperative British Mars lander that was transported by the European Space Agency's 2003 ''Mars Express'' mission. It was intended to conduct an astrobiology mission that would have looked for evidence of past life on M ...

ExoMars ExoMars (Exobiology on Mars) is an astrobiology programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The goals of ExoMars are to search for signs of past life on Mars, investigate how the Martian water and geochemical environment varies, investigate ...

, Huygens. * Orbit transfer and

Space rendezvous Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

: ConeXpress, DLR DEOS,

OHB SE OHB SE, headquartered in Bremen, is a European space and technology group specializing in the development and implementation of complete space systems, the production of components for various launcher programs as well as the operation of satell ...

Electra. *

Sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...

: SHEFEX II and III,

Maser A maser is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves ( microwaves), through amplification by stimulated emission. The term is an acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Nikolay Basov, Alexander Pr ...

11. * Mission Analysis: STE-QUEST,

External links

Astos Solutions website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Astos Astronomy software Mathematical software Physics software Mathematical optimization software

History

Projects

See also

External links