Category: Papers

[Paper] apex Mk.2/Mk.3, apex MCC, apex MRMSS

Finally the series of studies of the apex Mk.2/Mk.3 experiments flown on MAPHEUS 10 (2021-12-06) are peer-reviewed and published. You will find them as follows:

  • apex Mk.2/Mk.3: Secure Live Transmission of the First Flight of Trichoplax adhaerens in Space Based on Components Off-the-Shelf: https://doi.org/10.3390/eng6090241
  • The apex MCC: Blueprint of an Open-Source, Secure, CCSDS-Compatible Ground Segment for Sounding Rockets, CubeSats, and Small Lander Missions: https://doi.org/10.3390/eng6090246
  • The apex MRMSS: A Multi-Role Mission Support System and Service Module Simulator for Payloads of Sounding Rockets and Other Space Applications: https://doi.org/10.3390/eng6090247

Some additional materials:

[Paper] apex: A new commercial off-the-shelf on-board computer platform for sounding rockets

In order to supersede the aging Microchip ATMEGA328P as the de facto standard for Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) On-Board Computers (OBCs) with a more powerful system for different kinds of high-speed sensors and image acquisition applications, we developed advanced processors, encryption, and security experiment (apex). The platform consisting of a newly developed OBC using COTS components has been flight tested during the ATEK/MAPHEUS-8 sounding rocket campaign. The main advantages of the apex OBC lies in the speed and simplicity of the design while maintaining operational security with a redundant master-master microcontroller system, as well as dual flash storage within each master. Additionally, a single board computer with a containerized and failure-resistant Operating System (OS) (balenaOS) was included to allow usage of a high-definition camera or other more compute-intensive tasks. The bench and flight tests were performed successfully and already showed feasible ways to further improve operational performance.

Published by "American Institute of Physics" (AIP) in "Review of Scientific Instruments" ( ISSN: 0034-6748 / DOI: 10.1063/1.5118855 )

Download (Paper): DLR Elib

Watch Video of flight on Youtube

Release on balena.io Blog (09.10.2019)

Release on Hackaday (11.10.2019)

Release on thenewstack.io (03.11.2019)

balena in Space Talk (11.06.2021)

2nd generation apex Mk.2/Mk.3 studies

[Paper] (In)Security in the Internet of Things

Internet of Things is the latest buzzword beeing used
in the media and a new sector for the entire electronics industry.
But connecting every electronic device to the internet disconnects
everyone’s privacy in reality. This paper examines the current
problems with an normal homebased “Internet of Things” system
and how the information technology industry is more concerned
with profit versus user security. Ultimately, we need to decide
for ourselves whether we want to continue using these types of
technology.

Download (Paper): STL-TR-2014-02

Download (Presentation): Nico-Maas-IoT

Cyberwar - Just „Warcraft in Space?“

A presentation and (upcoming) paper which I wrote for an Seminar (Applied Informatics)

Cyberwar is a buzz word used widely in media
today, but the problem is no one really knows what it even means.
What is Cyberwar? What does Cyberwar include or imply? Is
it like real war - and if so, where does it take place? Which
corperations deliever the needed weapons and how do they
look like?

Download: Nico Maas - Cyberwar