A probabilistic model checking approach to analysing reliability, availability, and maintainability of a single satellite system

Satellites now form a core component for space based systems such as GPS and GLONAS which provide location and timing information for a variety of uses. Such satellites are designed to operate in-orbit and have lifetimes of 10 years or more. Reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) analysis of these systems has been indispensable in the design phase of satellites in order to achieve minimum failures or to increase mean time between failures (MTBF) and thus to plan maintainability strategies, optimise reliability and maximise availability. In this paper, we present formal modelling of a single satellite and logical specification of its reliability, availability and maintainability properties. The probabilistic model checker PRISM has been used to perform automated quantitative analyses of these properties.