Recommendations to Advance Space Trusted Autonomy

Abstract

The interagency Space Science and Technology Partnership Forum was established in2015 to identify synergistic efforts and technologies across the U.S. government. While the various space agencies of the U.S. government have distinctly different visions for future operational space systems, all share important foundational common needs. These needs, combined with the maturation of autonomous technology and the prospect of leveraging autonomous systems to address those needs, have led each agency to consider how and when to to implement increasing levels of autonomy in their space systems, and how to determine the trustworthiness of an autonomous system. The Partnership facilitated dialogue among the partners, collected and analyzed data on current and desired future levels of capability, and identified gaps to motivate three recommendations that can be addressed within the Partnership community. These recommendations address the need for more robust documenting and socializing of anomalies in space system operations; the need to expand communication and trust within the community of developers, operators, and end users; and the need for a safe development and testing environment for maturing and demonstrating future autonomous space systems. These recommendations will facilitate both near-term programmatic actions and long-term steps for implementing enduring progress towards enabling space trusted autonomy.