Sentinel-3 Ground Segment: Innovative Approach for Future ESA-EUMETSAT Flight Operations Cooperation

Abstract

Environment and Security (GMES) Programme, will provide operational land and marine services, based on payload complement featuring wide-swath, low-medium resolution optical and infrared radiometers and a radar altimeter package. In the frame of the Cooperation Agreement on the GMES Space Component, ESA and EUMETSAT have established a specific implementing arrangement concerning the cooperation on Sentinel-3. On this basis, following completion of spacecraft In-Orbit Commissioning, EUMETSAT will be responsible for the operation of the mission covering the products for the Marine User Community and the monitoring and control of the spacecraft in routine phase. This paper provides an overview of the implementation of the above ESA/EUMETSAT cooperation in particular for what concerns the development, integration, validation and verification of the Flight Operations Segment (FOS) as well as the management of pre-launch Operations Preparation activities. This paper describes the approach for FOS facilities procurement, in which some ESA infrastructure developments and expertise are made available to EUMETSAT. In particular this relates to the deployment of ESA Sentinel-3 Mission Control System, Spacecraft Simulator and elements of the ESA Flight Dynamics System at EUMETSAT premises to support the routine operations. Furthermore, the concept foresees provision of additional services by ESA to EUMETSAT throughout the complete mission, including TT&C ground stations, back-up control centre, collision avoidance and operational support. The paper details the concept of Joint Flight Control Team applied during the Operations Preparation phase and the execution of the LEOP and Commissioning activities. The benefits of this innovative approach are highlighted both in terms of technical perspective (e.g. System design process, engineering knowledge), as well as schedule and cost reduction. Nomenclature

RGB Image Prioritization Using Convolutional Neural Network on a Microprocessor for Nanosatellites

“…Birds-2 Nanosatellite 1 kg (1U) UHF 0.8 W 9.6 kbps [6] SNUSAT-1b Nanosatellite 1.9 kg (2U) UHF 0.5 W 1.2 kbps [7] nSight-1 Nanosatellite 5 kg (2U) UHF -9.6 kbps [8] GeneSat-1 Nanosatellite 3.5 kg S-band -83 kbps [9] OPS-SAT Nanosatellite 5.4 kg (3U) S-band -1 Mbps [10] CanX-3/4/ Hodoyoshi-4 Small satellite 64 kg X-band 2 W 350 Mbps [19] DubaiSat-2 Small satellite 300 kg X-band -160 Mbps [20] Sentinel-3 Large satellite 1150 kg X-band -520 Mbps [21] Landsat-8 Large satellite 2623 kg X-band 50 W 384 Mbps [22] In the case of remote sensing applications over regions with high cloud fraction, the downlink limitation of nanosatellites becomes a larger problem when it comes to retrieving clear images if only a few images can be downloaded. According to a previous study [23], approximately 67% of the land is covered with clouds, and local regions with high cloud fraction exceeding 80% exist.…”