Determining the pricing strategy for different preference structures for the earth observation satellite scheduling problem through simulation and VIKOR

This paper presents a method by which decision-makers of the Earth observation satellite operations can coordinate pricing and operational decisions. The pricing of satellite images is complex due to uncertainty and high combinatorial complexity in the scheduling, and the high number of evaluation criteria associated with the customers’ image requests. Likewise, any price changes will change the final schedule due to the complex scheduling procedure and preference reflected in the scoring, and understanding how is challenging. In addition, the changes can be very scenario-specific, so a change that seems beneficial in one scenario can lead to other outcomes in others. Therefore, this paper poses a method with which the satellite operator through simulation can investigate the robustness and combined effect of preference and pricing in order to select the pricing strategy that emphasizes the chosen preference structure the best while still finding a compromise on conflicting objectives related to profit, quantity, quality, etc. More specifically, the proposed method allows the satellite operators to take advantage of the scheduling flexibility through the decisions they control, i.e., price and preference structure.