Training Needs for Preparing Spacecraft Operations: An Operations Engineer's Perspective

Paper number

IAC-05-D1.5.01

Author

Mr. Filippo De Rose, VEGA Group, Germany

Year

2005

Abstract

As spacecraft become increasingly complex systems, so do all the relevant operations affecting them. Missions may vary from: low earth orbiting remote sensing (e.g. the French, Italian, Spanish HELIOS II) to interplanetary exploration (e.g. NASA-ESA's Cassini-Huygens) and even medium Earth orbit paired with constellation management (e.g. the US D.O.D's Global Positioning System); without forgetting the classic geostationary orbiting, commercial telecommunication satellites (e.g. SES Astra's, ASTRA 1F). The Mission Control Team is usually composed of a: flight dynamics team, flight control team, ground facilities engineers, software support and finally the operations managers; this gathers all the competencies, not only required for the control of spacecraft but also for the testing of satellites and basic-to-complex data processing tasks. One of the most challenging aspects, is how safety-critical spacecraft operations can be. Most of the times, one minor carelessness can lead to sub-systems switching off, or worse, losing control of the spacecraft. Moreover, the dynamics of operations vary, as the spacecraft goes from the launch and early orbit phase, to the satellite in-orbit validation phase (payload switch-on and commissioning) and finally to the routine phase. After taking into account all these factors, one must also consider the operating environment; this is usually composed of: some form of control system, a simulator, a mission planning facility, a flight dynamics facility, data processing facilities and an intricate networking infrastructure. This is merely the top level of an operating environment, which subsequently breaks down into many other constituent parts.

With all of the above-summarised factors considered, it is understandable why many years are spent in the preparation of spacecraft operations and why all parties involved require appropriate training. During this implementation phase, the space segment and the rest of the ground segment are being completed, which will require System Validation Tests and Ground Segment Operational Tests respectively: both intrinsically involve the Mission Control Team.  Several papers, about training needs have been written by training or simulations officers, responsible for the training of key personnel but especially for the infamous simulation campaigns. However, few papers have been written from the point of view of the operators and engineers, which must also take into account aspects of reliability, testability and the lifetime of the tools and processes they produce. Thus, this paper will attempt to present a general overview of the fundamental phase of operations preparation, and the underlying tasks and techniques that come with it. Its main aim, is to present the training needs, in a structured manner, from the point of view of the spacecraft operations engineers. These evolve in sync with the development of the operations preparation phase, the evolution of the space and ground segment and should be flexible to cater for individual, or team weaknesses and strengths.

The author, a junior operations preparations engineer working for the Vega Group, used to work from another "standpoint": spacecraft simulations. In this international consulting and technology  company, in Germany alone, there are more than 80 individuals from different nations, who are experts in the field of spacecraft operations. The paper will attempt to quote experiences from as many as possible, to cover examples of work that has been done in intergovernmental agencies, private companies and national agencies.

Concluding, one of the main objectives of this paper is that it will present a good overview of what are the training needs of the engineers involved in preparing spacecraft operations, from their point of view, taking into account varying cultural and academic backgrounds. These findings could then be taken and compared against other papers on the subject of training, in order to possibly identify, common needs that are faced by other entities across the globe involved in spacecraft operations. Thus attempting, to boldly prove, that perhaps in a near future, these could be harmonised across the globe, in turn stimulating an evolution of how we operate space systems.

Abstract document

IAC-05-D1.5.01.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-05-D1.5.01.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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