The Autonomous Vehicle Systems (AVS) Lab and the Laboratory of
Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the Univeristy of Colorado are collaborating on an exciting new open-source spacecraft simulation and mission analysis tool called Basilisk. We are jointly using this tool to model both near-Earth and deep-space mission. The Basilisk (BSK) framework is a modular C/C++ based simulation
environment that is wrapped with Python to make it scriptable. This allows for dynamics actuators, sensor, and space environment forces to me modeled in an interchangeable manner. The latest efforts even allow for Python BSK modules to be interfaced with C/C++ modules. A message passing interface is employed to flow the
data between modular elements. This allows for the latest research results to be integrated into mission analysis simulation tools such as ground support software, hardware simulation testbeds and software-only simulation architectures. A similar approach is used to develop and test flight software algorithms. This seminar highlights on-going Basilisk related research efforts between LASP and the AVS lab, and how this is changing how mission simulations and autonomous software is being developed. The result is a framework that readily allows academic astrodynamics research to become flight qualified software and flown on missions.
