On the autonomy requirements for space missions

Abstract

In new space exploration initiatives of NASA and ESA, there is emphasis on both human and robotic exploration. Risk and feasibility are major factors supporting the use of unmanned craft and the use of automation and robotic technologies where possible. In that context, an autonomous system is able to monitor its behavior and eventually modify the same according to changes in the operational environment, thus being considered as self-adaption. Requirements engineering for autonomous systems, therefore, must address what adaptations are possible and under what constrains, and how those adaptations are realized. Requirements engineering for autonomous systems appears to be a wide open research area with only a limited number of approaches yet considered. In this paper, we present initial results of our research and study on autonomy requirements for space systems.