Session
Poster Session 1
Location
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Abstract
The Georgia Tech Space Systems Design Laboratory (SSDL) Mission Operations Center (MOC) has historically supported the real-time operations of small satellites but has never simultaneously supported the operation of multiple vehicles. Furthermore, the Ground Data System (GDS) software deployed in the MOC has been rewritten largely from scratch for each new vehicle operated by the SSDL. The SSDL has multiple upcoming launches, including those involving formation flight missions, making the possibility of simultaneously operating multiple vehicles from the MOC increasingly likely. Additionally, the task of rewriting the GDS software for each vehicle is increasingly costly and inefficient. To account for these developments, the SSDL is developing GDS software capable of supporting multiple space vehicles at a time, whether for constellation-style missions or for unique, independent missions. NASA’s upcoming Green Propulsion Dual Mode (GPDM) mission will be used as a reference mission for the discussion in this paper. The SSDL is performing bus integration and mission operations for GPDM, which seeks to validate chemical and electric dual-mode propulsion on orbit. This paper proposes a novel approach for developing GDS software and will discuss (1) the technical requirements for the GPDM GDS, including those supporting tactical and strategic mission operations, (2) the abstraction of strategic GDS requirements from GPDM-specific functions to the functions of an arbitrary space mission, and (3) the design and development of configurable and modular strategic GDS software to support the simultaneous planning, implementation, and analysis of contacts for multiple space vehicles while also promoting GDS reusability between space missions. The proposed architecture consists of a web-based central orchestrator application, which handles common mission operations functions (e.g., logging, controlling data flow, and storing and retrieving data) and component applications, which handle narrow, mission-specific tasks (e.g., sequence development, orbit determination, and payload data analysis) that can be assembled into processing pipelines using the orchestrator. Communication between the component applications and the central orchestrator server occurs over a RESTful API, enabling the integration of component applications written using arbitrary development stacks. This approach permits the integration of both bespoke mission-specific software and vendor-supplied and legacy mission code. This GDS architecture maximizes the reuse of boilerplate code between missions, enabling the streamlining of software implementation by allowing developers to focus on mission-specific features.
Document Type
Event
An Open Architecture for Ground Data Systems
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
The Georgia Tech Space Systems Design Laboratory (SSDL) Mission Operations Center (MOC) has historically supported the real-time operations of small satellites but has never simultaneously supported the operation of multiple vehicles. Furthermore, the Ground Data System (GDS) software deployed in the MOC has been rewritten largely from scratch for each new vehicle operated by the SSDL. The SSDL has multiple upcoming launches, including those involving formation flight missions, making the possibility of simultaneously operating multiple vehicles from the MOC increasingly likely. Additionally, the task of rewriting the GDS software for each vehicle is increasingly costly and inefficient. To account for these developments, the SSDL is developing GDS software capable of supporting multiple space vehicles at a time, whether for constellation-style missions or for unique, independent missions. NASA’s upcoming Green Propulsion Dual Mode (GPDM) mission will be used as a reference mission for the discussion in this paper. The SSDL is performing bus integration and mission operations for GPDM, which seeks to validate chemical and electric dual-mode propulsion on orbit. This paper proposes a novel approach for developing GDS software and will discuss (1) the technical requirements for the GPDM GDS, including those supporting tactical and strategic mission operations, (2) the abstraction of strategic GDS requirements from GPDM-specific functions to the functions of an arbitrary space mission, and (3) the design and development of configurable and modular strategic GDS software to support the simultaneous planning, implementation, and analysis of contacts for multiple space vehicles while also promoting GDS reusability between space missions. The proposed architecture consists of a web-based central orchestrator application, which handles common mission operations functions (e.g., logging, controlling data flow, and storing and retrieving data) and component applications, which handle narrow, mission-specific tasks (e.g., sequence development, orbit determination, and payload data analysis) that can be assembled into processing pipelines using the orchestrator. Communication between the component applications and the central orchestrator server occurs over a RESTful API, enabling the integration of component applications written using arbitrary development stacks. This approach permits the integration of both bespoke mission-specific software and vendor-supplied and legacy mission code. This GDS architecture maximizes the reuse of boilerplate code between missions, enabling the streamlining of software implementation by allowing developers to focus on mission-specific features.
