Patrick Stakem

Cubesat Operations Patrick Stakem

This book covers the topic of Cubesat control centers. We'll take a look at the historical development of satellite control centers, and explain how new technology has vastly simplified the approach. The book will suggest several open source options, not only for the control center, but for the entire ground segment. We'll disucss the various functions that a Cubesat Control Center does, and where to find software packages to implement those functions. As technology advances, we have a better basis for Cubesat control centers, as well as cheaper yet more capable hardware, and better and more available software. With the proliferation of inexpensive Cubesat projects, colleges and universities, high school, and even individuals are getting their Cubesats launched. They all need control centers. For lower cost missions, these can be shared facilities. Communicating with and operating a spacecraft in orbit or on another planet is challenging, but is an extension of operating any remote system. We have communications and bandwidth issues, speed-of-light communication limitations, and complexity. Remote debugging is a always a challenge. The satellite control center is part of what is termed the Ground Segment, which also includes the communication uplink and downlink. The control center generates uplink data (commands) to the spacecraft, and receives, processes, and archives downlink (telemetry) data. The spacecraft is usually referred to as the space segment. The spacecraft usually consists of a "bus", the engineering section, and the payload, either a science instrument package or a communications package. Satellite busses can be "off-the-shelf," leading to economies of scale. The concept of the "Contropl Center as a Service" will be introduced, showing how the control center function can be implemented in the cloud. Issues of control center security will be discussed.