MicroPython as a satellite control language

Hanna Vivien Schwarzwald, Sebastian Würl, Martin Langer, Carsten Trinitis

Abstract: Different from terrestrial applications, most imaging nanosatellites are relying on simplistic command sequences for on-board controls. Combined with the unpredictable nature of flight operations, this can result in tedious and work-intensive operations, as unforeseen events might mean that the commands do not fit the needs of the operators anymore. The restricted communication windows meanwhile require a high level of automation whilst keeping the size of uplinked sequences minimal. Therefore we require a dynamic control language that is also able to operate within the resource limitations given by a nanosatellite. In an effort to combine all these requirements, we chose to implement MicroPython as the control language for our satellite payload. This extended abstract shall introduce the architecture and concepts of our implementation. Together with our presentation at CompSpace '22 it shall serve as a basis for discussion of using MicroPython as a payload control language on nanosatellites.