ESA Operations, Engineering & Space Safety

🛰️ #Proba3 completes first week of simulations   Set to be launched this December, the Proba-3 mission, composed of two spacecraft, will be the first time ESA attempts the challenge of flying two spacecraft in precise formation with mm-level accuracy. It will demonstrate new technologies for satellite formation-flying, autonomous navigation, #GNSS positioning, and the automation of the ground segment. The operations are performed under the watchful eye of the small operations team located at the #ESEC SmallSat Operations Centre in Redu, Belgium. The interface between the operations centre and the ground stations is provided by #ESOC. This week, as part of the first "Launch and Early Operations Phase" training, spacecraft operators, system engineers and support experts at Redu took their places and executed their tasks as if it were the real launch. Learn more about this simulations campaign 👉 https://lnkd.in/e2WcXEnp

☀️ 🛜 ESA and NASA exploring pioneering technologies for the Solar System Internet Any space mission, whether in deep space or in Earth orbit, needs to be able to communicate with Earth for controlling the spacecraft and receiving data. So, what is the most efficient way of transferring information quickly when communication is frequently disrupted, latencies can be large and no continuous end-to-end connectivity may exist? Together with NASA and other international partners, ESA is exploring how communications using disruption tolerant networking (DTN) based on the Bundle protocol can enable internet-like networking in space to finally create the Solar System Internet. Recently, a group of experts from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center came to #ESOC to discuss current activities to enable robust and interoperable space communication networks in the future. Learn more about how this groundbreaking technology is being developed at ESOC 👉 https://lnkd.in/ersRKwtu  

ESA Space Safety Programme, coordinated from #ESOC, is also about the Moon. In the coming decades, the region between Earth and the Moon – cislunar space – will become increasingly busy with human and resource traffic. This region is not protected by modern space debris guidelines and is already littered with space debris that must be monitored to protect spacecraft travelling to the Moon. Satellite operations take a significant role in addressing the issues posed by #SpaceDebris. At ESOC, particular care is done to:  🗑️ Minimise the number of space debris released during normal operations.  💥 Limit the potential for on-orbit break-ups and collisions.  🎯 Elaborate bespoke end-of-life operations for missions of different orbits. 

🛰️ #HeraMission: CubeSats perform first operation in deep space. Last week, the two CubeSat passengers aboard ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defence were briefly activated and exchanged their first signals with Earth, confirming their nominal status.  “Each CubeSat was activated for about an hour in turn, in live sessions with the ground to perform commissioning – what we call ‘are you alive?’ tests,” explains ESA’s Hera CubeSats Engineer Franco Perez-Lissi.  The commissioning took place from Hera Missions Operations Centre at #ESOC, also home to ESA's Space Safety Programme, in connection with the European Space Security and Education Centre, in Belgium, which hosts Hera’s CubeSat Mission Operations Centre. Learn more about the CubeSats' commissioning 👉 https://lnkd.in/euDm4XSn GomSpace | Tyvak International

📡 ESA-upgraded commercial deep-space antenna supports #SolarOrbiter While ESA’s own global network of deep-space antennas provides comprehensive, full-sky coverage for interplanetary missions, partnering with external stations allows ESA to optimise data downlink opportunities and free up resources for other missions. In this context, ESA has collaborated with Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. in Cornwall, UK and upgraded the station to provide the first commercial deep-space tracking service. During recent tests, the station demonstrated its enhanced capability by successfully relaying telemetry from Solar Orbiter to ESA mission controllers at #ESOC in Germany.    “We are pleased to see Goonhilly being used in this way,” said Daniel Lakey,  flight controller on Solar Orbiter. “It will allow us to manage communication more efficiently, particularly during busy periods, and opens up new possibilities for future missions.” With the growing demand for deep-space tracking for both space agencies and new commercial space companies, the Goonhilly upgrade is an excellent example of how ESA can foster European industry. By enabling commercial entities to provide state of the art deep space tracking services, ESA is helping to build a strong commercial capability in Europe's space sector.    Learn more about this cooperation 👉 https://lnkd.in/ecs-KX8g Matthew Cosby

The IAC 2024 has been the opportunity to display the innovative approaches explored at #ESOC to apply artificial intelligence to mission operations.   Interested in learning more? Read the papers presented by our experts:   🔹 Artificial intelligence-based automation of mission post-launch operations processes 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eFUF5GTT   🔹 Smart Space Operations: OCAI's contribution to Operational Excellence 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eu3mx_bu   🔹 DataX: a state of the art data strategy for mission operations 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ezp9Bxbj   🔹 Constellation Autonomy: AI solutions for adaptable and efficient operations 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eFyc49Gk   🔹 Automation of flight dynamics planning for ESA's XMM-Newton 🔗 https://lnkd.in/et4NqQu5   🔹 Artificial Intelligence-based short-term satellite health forecasting 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ebbUz7St   🔹 Intelligent root-cause investigation and AI-assisted handling tool for flight control teams 🔗 https://lnkd.in/epW9xZ4x

💬 Excellent speakers at #ESOC ’s Knowledge Weeks 2024!  In September, ESOC had the privilege of welcoming five experts from the very forefront of their respective fields who delivered educative talks to all of ESA personnel on the importance of adaptation, forward-thinking, collaboration and innovative solutions. Some insights we took home from them: 🔸 How to see and slay the Silent project killer by Johanna Rothman   “It doesn't matter how many projects you start, but how many you finish.”     🔸 Leadership at times of uncertainty by Rita McGrath   “To make your decisions right, you need to analyse data and absorb uncertainty.”     🔸 Mission operations support systems trends by Mauro Pecchioli “As the complexity of everything we do increases, so does the complexity of solutions we employ. A balance needs to be found between multiple aspects of the systems we create.”     🔸 Innovation in regional economic developments by Jim Coleman “Innovation is not just the new tech, science and engineering, innovation comes with the correct policy setup and communication, the seemingly dry and boring stuff that makes it possible.”     🔸 Zero Debris Charter and the path to it by Quentin Verspieren   “To accomplish great things, give everyone agency and recognition, do not claim credit, let others make your cause their own.”  

🛰️ #HeraMission: Two-step, deep-space manoeuvre in progress One does not go simply to an asteroid. Yesterday, Hera conducted #Step1 of its first deep-space manoeuvre, which provided about 90% of the ‘delta-v’ (change in velocity) needed to supplement the impulse provided by the rocket to achieve the desired Mars flyby. For about 100 minutes, Hera fired its three orbital control thrusters, targeting a total ‘delta-v’ of 145.84 m/s. The manoeuvre was closely monitored by ESA’s mission control at #ESOC, who followed the craft’s signals via the highly sensitive radio dish in Malargüe, Argentina. In two weeks, the mission will perform #Step2, a follow-on burn to provide the remaining needed 'delta-v'. A second deep-space manoeuvre will be necessary in February 2026 to achieve an encounter trajectory with Didymos. "Deep-space manoeuvres are typically split in two burns, to conduct a precise orbit determination after the first push to assess its actual performance, and adjust the path with a second - much smaller - burn", explains Sylvain Lodiot, Hera spacecraft operations manager. Come back in two weeks to know the rest! ESA Space Safety

📣 Join us in Darmstadt for our monthly dinner and find out about the link between thermal boxes and the Earth On 30 October, the monthly Darmstadt Space Dinner is giving you the opportunity to exchange with Joachim Kuhn, CEO va-Q-tec!   Joachim Kuhn studied physics at the University of Würzburg. He is an expert on highly efficient thermal insulation and its application, an area he has been working in for more than 30 years. As CEO and founder of va-Q-tec AG, he hopes to improve our quality of life and be more sustainable by using thermal energy more efficiently. The company is a worldwide pioneer of this technology, and Joachim and va-Q-tec AG have received more than 60 national and international prizes, including the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award 2013, the European Business Awards German Champion 2019 and Financial Times Tech Champion 2021.     🗣️ Planet is a Box - What Thermal Boxes and the Earth have in common and what it means for our Climate  📅 Wednesday 30 October, starting at 18:00   📍 Braustüb’l, Darmstadt      The Darmstadt Space Dinners present the perfect informal opportunity to connect with fellow space enthusiasts, professionals and dreamers from Darmstadt and beyond!  Secure your spot by registering here before 28 October at noon:   👉 https://lnkd.in/e7TpdmyG #ESOC #SpaceIndustry #TechConference  

#HeraMission: A (soon to be) quartet of deep-space antenna listening in Like other ESA deep-space missions, Hera will maintain its contact with Earth using ESA’s trio of 35-m diameter deep-space antennas, located in Spain, Argentina and Australia. But a new one will join as the mission progresses…  Under construction in Western Australia, ESA’s fourth deep-space antenna will support Hera during its journey to and mission at the binary asteroid system Didymos, and provide coverage to spacecraft almost anywhere in the Solar System. Expected to be completed at the end of 2025, this giant will be the Agency's second deep-space in Australia.  In late September, the 120-ton satellite dish of the future New Norcia 3 antenna was lifted and installed with millimetre precision on its tower.  ESA’s first #PlanetaryDefense mission is controlled from #ESOC, ESA’s mission control centre.  Learn more about the new antenna 👉 https://lnkd.in/eFxzHRhE