Ground System Development

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Ground System Development
Satellite Mission Operations Best Practices Best
Practices Working Group AIAA Space Operations and
Support Technical Committee

• Evan Eller
• evan.eller_at_honeywell-tsi.com
• Honeywell

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Outline

• Introduction
• Development Process
• Staff and Reviews
• Design Process
• Component Selection
• Component Delivery, Testing, and Control
• Ground System Design
• General
• Automation

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Introduction

• Best Practices for Ground System Development
• Development Process
• Ground System Design
• Best Practices include
• People involved in process
• Reviews conducted during process
• Access to Data
• Open Standards
• Automation

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Development Process

• Staff and Reviews
• Design Process
• Component Selection
• Component Delivery, Testing, and Control

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Staff

• Include Operations Staff and Engineers early in
  design process
• Seek a broad body of knowledge
• Space Operations Ground Systems
• Information Technology
• Collocate mission team members
• Avoid Physical Separation
• Avoid Task Separation
• Ensure continued access to software developers

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Reviews

• Internal
• Start early in project
• Multiple reviews
• Earlier ones to raise issues, critique ops
  concept
• Later ones to demonstrate resolution of issues
• External
• Independent of project
• Function/Preliminary/Critical Design Reviews
• Panelists should have directly related experience

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Design Process

• Define intended users of ground system
• Keep set of users narrowly focused
• Promote extensibility
• Keeps generality of function in design
• Common conventions for interfaces
• Organize software into functional packages

• Leave open the possibility of future system
  extensions
• Define key interfaces before starting
  implementation
• Build functionality into stateless libraries with
  strictly defined interfaces
• Design with automation in mind

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Component Selection

• Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS)
• Insure quick supply from vendor
• If using customized components, stock plenty of
  spares upfront
• Ensure that COTS solutions meet requirements
• Avoid languages with small user base (ADA,
  Jovial)

• Utilize commonly accepted standard languages
  (ANSI C, html)
• Utilize open source software that is capable or
  convertible to your need

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Component Delivery, Testing, and Control

• Configuration Management
• Well-defined software release mechanism
• Create a distinction between software releases
  and installations
• Documentation should be standardized and portable
  (html, text)
• Utilize a problem or bug tracking system

• Utilize a spacecraft simulator during testing
• Insist on Project Definition policy for all
  software development
• Allow for testing between and ground and space
  systems as early as possible
• Utilize phasing when incorporating major changes
  to the system

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Ground System Design

• General comments
• Automation

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General Comments Data System

• Easy access to bus and mission telemetry/sensor
  data
• On-line internet type capability
• Lots of storage that is easy to access (no tape
  mounting!)
• Reliable, easily upgradeable storage systems
• Hot backup for mission critical items
• Simple backup procedures
• Enterprise systems

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General Comments Data System (continued)

• Minimize differences in platforms and operating
  systems across program
• Ensure sufficient bandwidth for data transport
• Be aware of data security issues for your
  organization
• Utilize commonly used communications protocols

• For geographically dispersed users, utilize the
  internet/WWW system
• Keep in mind the task when considering languages
  and tools, limit mandates
• Provide some level of user configuration
  capability
• Utilize with strong configuration management

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Automation

• User interface
• concentrate on system status
• include an interrupt capability
• routine, detailed display of all telemetry
  defeats purpose of automation
• Dont try to build intelligent recovery systems
  that are beyond the state of technology

• Require an acknowledgement to turn off an alarm
• Have the system group alarms into related problem
  sets
• Keep the ground system and the ground system
  monitoring system physically separate