Setting goals

When the objectives for a test plan have been agreed, the GSRF team then conduct the test campaign, which can take days or even weeks depending on the scope and complexity of the test.

A typical test campaign will ensure that the ground segment software – today, ESA uses a generic mission control system called Satellite Control and Operation System (SCOS) – is tested in the configuration needed for its specific mission (going to Mars is utterly different from going to Mercury) in a complete operational chain.

This means ensuring that the commands entered by a flight control engineer into the mission control system are properly processed, transferred to the (simulated) ground station, transmitted into space by the (simulated) radio antenna and received and executed onboard the (simulated) spacecraft. Then the reply from the (simulated) spacecraft must be downlinked in the reverse direction, via the (simulated) ground station again, and, again, properly processed by the mission control system.

To ensure that the ground segment is working, this test process is repeated as often as needed, typically using automated test control software so that GSRF engineers can focus on more critical tasks