Overview
Cirrus is a suite of flight software services that enables distributed space missions to perform payload processing on a trusted platform. Its onboard networking, data storage and compute tasks can support a wide spectrum of mission applications, including space situational awareness; intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance; cognitive and opportunistic sensing; and machine learning for space-based object detection, to name few.
Cirrus FSW framework enables Warfighters to task space assets to meet operational goals without the hindrance of long planning lifecycles or detailed knowledge of assets
Networking
The Cirrus Networking services provides dynamic spacecraft discovery, multi-hop routing calculations, and message encapsulation to support different spacecraft buses and radios. All Cirrus services leverage the Networking service to support integration with different embedded platforms and protocols. For instance, the network could be a fleet of drones or robots using different wireless protocols.
Compute
Hot loading autonomy or payload processing logic is possible with the Cirrus Compute service. This service provides commanding support to schedule, orchestrate, monitor, and deliver results for computational tasks in a sandboxed environment. The Compute service provides a fast transition from a non FSW expert to develop and deploy capabilities to the flight platform without requiring any knowledge of flight hardware, space networking, or specific mission details.
Storage
Solid state recorder management has already presented operations challenges. File management capabilities like CCSDS CFDP and Bundle Protocol transformed operations. The next generation of distributed spacecraft storage features is brought to you by the Cirrus Storage service. Compute tasks performing payload processing can query and retrieve sensor data stored on any neighborhood spacecraft.
Cyber
With Cirrus services potentially providing multi-tenant support, bad actors could potentially find exploits. Cirrus Cyber services provide a mix of encryption, watchdog, and other services to provide a defense-in-depth approach to protect the services and minimize the attack surfaces.
Cirrus Monitor is representative of a Warfighter application or ground system application showing results from a Cirrus Compute task where machine learning ship detection algorithms were performed