| A few solid cases are: - space-qualification for the satellite control software. You need to test your own flight software in space, so you use our satellite platform to run test/validation and then reuse on your own satellite. - space-based algorithm tests, such as data compression/error correction or radiation hardening through software means. Inter-satellite link protocols is also a rich field for software developers. - data analysis: satellite instruments can produce a lot more data than can be downlinked, so it is in your best interest to pre-process it as much as possible on-board instead of downloading just raw data - Autonomy algorithms tests: for example for automatic collision avoidance software or maneuvres around non-cooperating target (think defunct satellite or asteroid) - Data fusion: combine data from multiple satellite instruments, such AIS receiver and imagery to filter maritime traffic for ships without AIS transponders on, then classify those - Remote asset tracking and labeling (think pipelines, agriculture, shipping containers, farming plots) where you don't have "eyes on the ground". Needs some image recognition tools to identify changes and/or damage. All of the above can be packed as an "app" and run concurrently or in series on one or multiple satellites, with the possibility of reusing the code for different satellite platforms. An interesting case is making a single "virtual satellite" out of multiple physical ones, with a single app using instruments from different satellites. |