REENGINEERING A TRADITONAL SPACECRAFT CONTROL CENTER

Abstract

Deutsche Telekom is operating various communication satellites since 1989. The SCC (spacecraft control center) is located near Frankfurt / Germany. The entire system is based on antenna/RF equipment, baseband and computer software packages running on a computer network of different machines. Due to increased maintenance effort the old baseband system needed to be replaced. This also had effects to the computer system, especially to the M&C. The aim was to design the entire system in a way that the operation effort in costs aspects and human intervention are minimized. This paper shows the successful real world project of reengineering a traditional spacecraft control center (SCC). It is shown how a fifteen year old hardware (baseband system) and software design was replaced by a modern concept during normal operations. The new software packages execute all necessary tasks for spacecraft- and ground station control. The Monitor and Control System (M&C) is a database driven design (FRAMTEC, from CAM Germany).