Designing and Developing a Ground Operation Software for Picosatellite Operation and Data Processing

摘要

Ground operation software (GOS) plays an important role in satellite operations. The software need to be able to retrieve, decode, display and archive the telemetry data as well as send command to control the satellite. These are mandatory functions which will allow satellite operators to communicate and command the satellite in ensuring its mission is executed as designed. Researchers in Agensi Angkasa Negara (ANGKASA) are currently developing a picosatellite as a research project using various Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components. Even the software algorithm and coding are being developed from scratch. Compared to bigger sized satellites, the picosatellite has a much simpler architecture, modules and mission, thus the required functions on GOS are greatly reduced. The communication protocol used is unique yet simple, which means the GOS will not require any additional modules to understand and interpret either the telemetry data or payload data received as it is already in an easy-to-understand format. GOS was developed using .Net platform with several modules for easy maintenance and expansion of the system. Closed-loop simulation was applied to test the functionalities of GOS as well as for debugging purposes. Results of the simulation are presented at the end of the paper. In conclusion, the GOS may require a few upgrades due to a change of hardware. However, it will still remain as the main reference for future development of GOS.