Mission operations preparation environment: A new approach for the future

Abstract

This paper will present concepts and preliminary results of a major study (MOIS&MORE) currently being conducted for the European Space Agency, to prepare a fully integrated environment for mission Operations Preparation. The Operations Preparation Phase is one of the most challenging in the mission lifecycle. The spacecraft itself is supported by complex systems for on-board control, mission planning, monitoring and control, flight dynamics and communication, all of which contribute to the continued ability to fulfil the mission. The overall picture is of a "system of systems", each very complex in its own right but only effective when working correctly in concert with the others. The primary focus of the MOIS & MORE project is the safe and efficient management of this system of systems, through the coordinated management of all configuration data used for Satellite Operations. This will be achieved conceptually by the definition of a hierarchical offline data model designed to capture all classes of configuration data in a consistent way, providing the means to define relationships and dependencies and providing safe storage and release control. This data model is based on the principles of the Space System Model (SSM) defined in ECSS standard ECSS-E-ST-70-31C. © 2012 by Rhea System s.a.