Space Operations

A total of 280 papers were presented and discussed in 76 subject-oriented sessions during the eighth biennial SpaceOps Symposium in June 2006. The Symposium was hosted by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) in Rome, with high international participation. The SpaceOps Executive Committee and AIAA decided to publish a selection of papers representing the major fields of interest to today's world space-operations community. This volume, "Space Operations: Mission Management, Technologies, and Current Applications", is the result of that decision.The selection of 36 reviewed and updated papers published in this book was driven by their quality and relevance to the space operations community. The selected papers represent a cross section of three main subject areas: Spacecraft Operations covers the preparation and implementation of all activities to operate a space vehicle (manned and unmanned) under normal, non-nominal, and emergency conditions. Ground Operations covers the preparation, qualification, and operations of a mission-dedicated ground segment and appropriate infrastructure including antennas, control centers, and communication means and interfaces. Management covers all management tasks for preparing and operating a particular mission.