A Mixed Integer Linear Programming Model for Traffic Logistics Management at the International Space Station
The operations of the International Space Station (ISS) pose many challenging issues, including logistics. The on orbit stay of the ISS is to be significantly extended in the near future: there will be an increased experimental activity in microgravity, g
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A Mixed Integer Linear Programming Model for Traffic Logistics Management at the International Space Station Giorgio Fasano
Abstract The operations of the International Space Station (ISS) pose many challenging issues, including logistics. The on orbit stay of the ISS is to be significantly extended in the near future: there will be an increased experimental activity in microgravity, giving rise to a renewed interest also in the related optimization aspects. A permanent logistic support is necessary to guarantee key ISS operations, as well as the scientific activities performed on-board. A traffic model, based on a mixed integer linear programming (MIP) approach, has been adopted to carry out the requested logistic planes. This chapter discusses the MIP model and provides insights concerning its application context. Keywords International Space Station (ISS) • Logistic support • European automated transfer vehicle (ATV) • Traffic model • On-board resource resupply • Mixed integer linear programming (MIP) based modeling approach
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Introduction
A major space venture witnessed by the entire world in the last three decades is the International Space Station program (ISS, www.nasa.gov). The ISS research program is conducted by the space agencies of the USA (NASA), Russia (RKA), Europe (ESA), Japan (JAXA), Canada (CSA), and Italy (ASI). Cited from the Canadian Space Agency’s web site, “Since the first module of the Station was
G. Fasano (*) Thales Alenia Space Italia S.p.A., Str. Antica di Collegno 253, 10146 Turin, Italy e-mail: [email protected] G. Fasano and J.D. Pinte´r (eds.), Modeling and Optimization in Space Engineering, Springer Optimization and Its Applications 73, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-4469-5_9, # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
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launched in 1998, the ISS has circled the globe 16 times per day at 28,000 km/h at an altitude of approximately 400 km, covering a distance equivalent to the Moon and back daily.” For details and extensive further references related to the ISS, visit the websites www.nasa.gov, www.roscosmos.ru, www.esa.int, www.jaxa.jp, www.asccsa.gc.ca, and www.asi.it/en. The worldwide space environment, involving both national agencies and the whole topical industry, shows a renewed interest in the ISS, as its dismantling is expected to be postponed quite significantly into the future. Regardless of a prediction about the precise time the event will actually occur, a growing momentum is aimed at taking advantage of this new opportunity as much as possible, with its expanding horizons for science and technology. This prospective scenario has a direct influence on two different aspects: namely, ISS research options and technological support requirements. The first one of these aspects is expected to look into new and promising perspectives in the microgravity experimental field; the second aspect is to provide a significantly improved capability to carry out the requested on-board activities. Both of these are expected to give rise to chal
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