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Benefits of Integrated Space-Ground Software Systems

Traditional approach to mission software development

The ground and space segments of a satellite project are often developed independently of each other, by different teams, or even different contractors, and at different life cycles of the mission. In other words, there has traditionally been a noticeable tendency to de-couple the development of separate flight software and mission operations system.

The most common way to establish this separation early on is to establish communication via packet data. In order to efficiently operate a spacecraft, developers need to thoroughly describe the telecommand and telemetry packets that will perform exchanges between the flight and the ground sides.  This means that the spacecraft functionality and its exposure to the control centre have to be described in significant detail and then captured at packet level.

The limitations of traditional approach

As a result, this approach has certain downsides:

• It offers an impoverished view of the available functionality
• It is labour intensive and prone to errors
• it does not readily capture high-level patterns of interaction
• it is hard to change and adapt
• it complicates operations and automation
• it does not scale well in terms of constellations once your space system starts to grow

Alternative approach: Model-Based

Our flight-proven industry-leading technology offers an alternative solution and addresses these key challenges through its unique approach to space software engineering.

Model-based software engineering

The underlying platform used across all our software products is both component-based and model-based. “Component-based” means that it is designed to create limitless combinations of software components which are entirely self-contained and have a coherent set of functionality. While every mission is different, software systems tend to perform a number of similar tasks such as data acquisition, monitoring, logging, FDIR, TM/TC, scheduled and automated actions. These common functions are provided as library components which allows users to quickly cover basic functionality of the system and focus on the development of bespoke components, unique to their particular mission.

Once the component structure is defined, the system provides a machine-readable description (a model) of its entire architecture, which is understandable by both the space side and the ground side, and is used across the life cycle of the system. Each mission defines its own model to represent the facilities available and the chosen configuration options.

Why choose model-based approach

The real advantage of the model-based approach is that the entire flight software package, developed through our software can be quickly and easily understood by our ground-based products.

For example, the spacecraft database generated by each specific deployment can be loaded up into our operations software to automatically populate it with all the spacecraft components. It gives the system a full view of the different components and their services and makes integration and configuration virtually automatic.

This unified approach to flight and ground software development through a shared functional architectural model brings a wide range of benefits to all aspects of missions, end-to-end and across the full life cycle:

• It facilitates rapid interaction 
• It improves efficiency of operations
• It allows for light level of automation
• It supports scalability

Model-based approach across upstream and downstream activities

This model-based approach stretched beyond flight software development and mission operations and right into space-based service delivery and the downstream sector, solely focussed on applying the data or services to produce actionable insights and applications for a wide range of industries.

Our mode-based technology forms the foundation for the HELIX suite of products,  designed to joined up various software systems within a mission infrastructure. HELIX connects the entire mission lifecycle, from upstream mission development to downstream insights and applications, delivered through space-based services:

• Rapid flight software development
• Automated testing and simulation
• Automated operations and ground control software
• Mission add-on/app development for spacecraft or ground deployment
• Accessing space data for value-added insights and intelligence
• Cross-product monitoring and analytics

Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of the dynamic New Space landscape is the constant growth, evolution, and scaling up of missions. With each new spacecraft or mission comes a host of new requirements, hardware components, vendors, and technologies. Predicting the exact trajectory of these changes can be daunting and the key to successful operations lies in seamless integration mechanisms and efficient management of available assets and resources.

HELIX is designed to integrate together the entire end-to-end space software provision – from flight software to ground operations and data-insights applications. It tightly connects currently disjointed and fragmented space software systems for significantly improved efficiency, simplicity, and noticeably lower costs. .

Learn more: Book a Demo

We’ve been evolving our technology over the past 12 years through extensive development work. During this time, our software has powered more than 50 spacecraft in orbit, helping them to maximise their mission potential. 

Contact us today to see our products in action and arrange a one-to-one demo of our software, tailored to your unique mission needs and requirements.