The Satellite Control and Operation System 2000 (SCOS-2000) is the generic satellite Mission Control System (MCS) software infrastructure developed and maintained by the European Space Agency (ESA/ESOC) in collaboration with European industry and deployed for missions such as Radarsat 2, XMM Newton, Integral, MSG, Cryosat, GOCE, Herschel Plank and Rosetta. Upcoming missions that will deploy SCOS-2000 include Cryosat-II, Aeolus, Lisa Pathfinder, SWARM, GAIA and Galileo.

It is a generic system, tailored for the specific needs of each mission. The core of the system provides comprehensive telemetry

Telemetry

Telemetry is a technology that allows measurements to be made at a distance, usually via radio wave transmission and reception of the information. The word is derived from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure...

 processing, manual and automatic commanding, on-board software management, mission archive and web-based data distribution.

Functionality

A MCS provides the means for the satellite operators to monitor and control one or more satellites. The MCS does not provide science data processing, which is typically performed at a dedicated science centre.

Commanding Chain

The commanding chain is based on the CCSDS Frame standard. Command stacks can be loaded either manually or automatically and is validated against predefined constraints prior to release.

Telemetry Chain

The telemetry chain is based on the CCSDS Frame and the CCSDS Packet standards. CCSDS frames are received from the ground station through a Space Link Extension (SLE) interface and demultiplexed into telemetry packets.

Typical functions performed on receipt of a telemetry packet include; checking the parameters are within range (hard and soft limit checking) and validation of sent telecommands.

Archive

The system provides fully automated packet and parameter archives, capable of managing the high data volumes of modern missions.

Licensing

SCOS-2000 is owned and licensed by ESA. It is available to European space industry under different licensing terms. Products developed based on SCOS-2000 can be exported to non-European countries.

History

The development timeline of SCOS-2000 has been;

• Release 1.0.
• Release 2.2.
• Release 2.3.
• Release 2.3e.
• Release 2.4.
• Release 2.4.1.
• Release 3.0.
• Release 3.1.
• Release 4.0.
• Release 5.0.

Comparison with earlier systems

SCOS-2000 is the latest in a line of generic mission control systems developed by ESA. Some of the source code is based on ESA's previous control system, called SCOS-II. SCOS-II itself was not widely used, with the Huygens and SOHO missions being the main users.