Responsibilities, role and integration of Mission Operations within the complex ground-segment of the German TerraSAR-X radar mission

Kurzfassung

TerraSAR-X is a high-resolution radar-satellite of a new generation to be launched in 2006. It will be Germanys first earth observation space project based on a public-private partnership with financial contribution from industry. Beside scientific utilization the project will open a large potential for the commercial exploitation of remote sensing data. These facts and the highly integrated ground-segment with significant contributions from three DLR institutes constitute the unique characteristic of this novel project. The Mission Operations System (MOS) itself serves and operates the direct interface to the satellite not only during the mission lifetime but already in its AIT-phase by means of a compact but comprehensive Monitoring and Control System, invoking a number of new core-elements, tools, processes and concepts not only in the technical but also operational and management fields – see ref. [1]. Furthermore one of the major tasks within the MOS is the development, validation and operation of the Mission Planning System (MPS) which is designed to screen and evaluate, to plan, optimize and finally to realize a magnitude of data-take requests by making optimum use of resources while satisfying the scientific and commercial user community – all this on a time-scale aiming to set new benchmarks. Up- and downlinkencryption and on-ground key management, stringent manoeuvre requirements to keep the spacecraft on its nominal reference-orbit during the entire lifetime and the necessity to employ a new Monitoring- and Control system (MCS) for this demanding mission complete the project specific challenges. In parallel to these demands posed by the mission and system requirements a large number of technical and operational interfaces with the Instrument Operations and Calibration Segment (IOCS – responsible for radar instrument operation and calibration) and with the Payload Ground Segment (PGS – responsible for payload data reception, processing, archiving and distribution) leaves the MOS in complex interaction within the ground-segment, which itself interfaces with the commercial marketing company and its customers. On the background of all this, the paper will address benefits and synergies but also challenges and sensitive areas from the MOS point of view, attempting special analysis on and trying to convey lessons-learned and provide an outlook for follow-on missions.