Mission Operations & Ground Systems

Together, the Flight Control Team’s skills comprises mission management, spacecraft operations, subsystem engineering, flight dynamics, mission planning and mission control systems.

To prepare for our ELSA-d mission, Astroscale developed the In-Orbit Servicing Control Centre – National Facility in partnership with Satellite Applications Catapult at Harwell Campus, UK. Prime funding from UK’s Research and Innovation (UKRI) kick-started the development of this state-of-the-art facility, which is being used by Astroscale to develop multiple capabilities and systems. These systems will support the mission operations and ground segment of our ELSA-d mission, future debris removal missions and associated orbital services in the UK and Japan.

Recent innovations include the Astroscale team developing a specialized Mission Planning System for on-orbit servicing and Active Debris Removal missions, and successfully undergoing testing to support the identification, tracking, rendezvous docking and de-orbit of the Client satellite during our ELSA-d mission.

The Mission Planning System is designed to handle the demands of a complex series of Client satellite captures, requiring uninterrupted streams of telemetry when switching between four ground station providers across sixteen locations, including Astroscale’s ground station in Totsuka, Japan and stations managed by SSC, KSAT and ATLAS Space Operations. The Ground Systems team is supported by a number of exceptional partners including RHEA, GMV and CGI.

ELSA-d