An Architecture for Trusted Long-Duration Satellite Autonomy

Traditional satellite operations, which rely heavily on ground monitoring and command and control, face growing limitations. Onboard satellite autonomy offers a promising solution to these challenges. By enabling spacecraft to navigate, execute tasks, monitor health, and analyze data independently, autonomous systems can enhance mission effectiveness, improve resilience, and reduce operational costs. Recent progress has advanced individual capabilities such as autonomous planning, fault management, and decision-making. However, integrating these elements into a cohesive, adaptable framework for long-duration satellite operations remains an open challenge. This paper introduces preliminary work on the Lifetime Autonomy Software for Spacecraft Operations (LASSO) autonomy architecture, specifically designed to address this gap. The contribution of this paper is to present work from the initial development phase, outline future enhancements, and demonstrate LASSO's potential to impact satellite operations management.