CLOUD COMPUTING FOR SPACECRAFT CHECKOUT OPERATIONS

Abstract

The Spacecraft Checkout deals with testing and validation of all Spacecraft elements and its functionalities before launch. The checkout deals with extensive testing operations on the Spacecraft and the data related to the tests are also voluminous. About 60 percent of the Spacecraft Checkout operations have been automated using a suite of software tools which runs on Checkout servers which are on LINUX platform. The automated operations using this software suite requires a lot of backend effort for setting up configuration files, databases with information on Telemetry, Telecommand and other subsystems, test files which details the operations to be carried out are logged for future reference. A lot of manual effort goes in the checkout preparatory phase where in the databases, test procedures and configuration files are prepared. During the checkout operations, the satellite data acquired has to be distributed online to different agencies for analysis in real time as well as at a later stage. This project aims at exploring cloud platform based solutions for the unified platform where all satellite preparatory data can be kept, support for tools which aids in generating databases and test files based on previous spacecraft data, spacecraft Data Access Portal for External Agencies and support for tools which aids in Remote Checkout operations. A feasible architecture which suits the checkout environment will be the outcome.