V3C: Mobile Control Center for Autonomous Satellite Operations

Abstract

The "Verlegefähiges Compact Control Center" (V3C) is a mobile and autonomous ground control segment developed as part of Germany's national Responsive Space capability. Responsive Space is dedicated to enable rapid deployment and operation of LEO satellites within just a few days. V3C enhances mission flexibility and resilience by allowing secure, automated satellite operations from virtually any location, complementing conventional fixed control center infrastructure. This paper presents a fully autonomous field deployment of the V3C system. The setup demonstrates complete independence from centralized control facilities, enabling mission operations directly at remote sites. To support truly mobile operations, a SOTM terminal was used for the demonstration. This terminal established a geostationary relay link to a fixed VSAT, which in turn connected to a ground-based S-band antenna. The S-band antenna established the final space link to the LEO satellite BIROS for Earth observation tasks. The entire communication path was secured using the SINA solution by secunet, allowing the secure handling of classified data over public or insecure networks. The V3C control system, including the full Mission Operations System (MOS), was deployed on a standard laptop using multiple cryptographically separated virtual machines on a SINA workstation. Automated deployment ensured minimal setup time and operational readiness in the field. This paper describes the technical design, implementation, and results of the successful demonstration campaign. It highlights the ability to securely conduct satellite bus and payload operations from remote locations using a GEO relay link. The demonstration included the complete task cycle: satellite planning, command uplink, payload data acquisition, downlink via geostationary relay, local processing, and image display. Additionally, telemetry was processed by an integrated Flight Dynamics System to update orbital data for subsequent satellite contacts and observation tasks.