Mission Control Systems for Simple Satellites

Philip Holding
holding_pr@scisys.co.uk
SSL

Abstract:
The relatively low budgets now required for the manufacture and operation of
small scale satellites with simplified on-board capabilities have brought space
access within reach of many more customers. This impacts upon the industry as
it moves into the next century as effort becomes focussed on building control
systems to support these missions.

The challenges involved in designing and implementing small mission control
systems for these simple satellites differ from those for large scale systems
for complex satellites. With small scale mission control systems, the emphasis
is on providing basic capabilities within very short timescales minimising the 
cost without introducing the delays and extra expense of mission specific
functionality. Larger mission control systems tend to have longer development
schedules and require software which is both more specialised and complex
reflecting the complexity of the satellites themselves. 

One way of achieving the above goals for simple satellite systems is to have a
kernel of validated functionality which can be customised per mission. The
kernel has to be flexible enough to enable its integration with additional or
replacement functionality. Another way of reducing the development time,
implementation risks and ultimately cost is to adopt the use of Commercial Off
The Shelf (COTS) products as a part of the kernel. 

This paper compares the principal issues involved in the developing mission
control systems for simple and complex satellites and focuses upon the ways
they can be achieved for simple satellites.

Keywords: Mission Control System, Low cost, Simple, Kernel, COTS.