Spacecraft Operations & Engineering

Telespazio Germany provides a wide variety of engineering, systems and consultancy services for spacecraft operations support during all phases of the satellite lifecycle. Our teams prepare and execute spacecraft operations from pre-launch to decommissioning, for a range of earth observation, interplanetary, communication and astronomy missions. 

Building on more than 40 years of experience, our Spacecraft Operations Services promote mission success through high standards of systems knowledge, communication skills and engineering analysis for critical and routine phases alike. 

Key customers for these services include:

  • ESA
  • EUMETSAT
  • DLR
  • DLR-GfR

24/7 Real-Time Spacecraft Operations (Darmstadt)

The Real-Time Spacecraft Operations services of Telespazio Germany provide 24/7 operational support of our clients’ satellites, ensuring maximum performance through reliable and dependable teams of specialists operating nearly completely on customer premises.

Our team of Analysts and Controllers provides satellite mission activities from the launch and commissioning of new spacecraft to the daily monitoring and management during the so-called routine or cruise phase of the spacecraft. 

On a 24/7 basis, our operators provide the primary response to spacecraft anomalies – identifying issues and coordinating corrective actions. This ensures that the numerous missions supported, spanning Earth observation, interplanetary and astronomy domains, continue to operate smoothly. To best serve the diversity in satellite type, function and location, our team of operators is multi-mission trained and certified.

Additionally, our service involves support of the missions’ ground segments; our operators coordinate with ground stations to ensure the continuous, reliable transfer of data and communication. The Ground Segment is a critical element in Spacecraft Operations, providing the platform to provide instructive and corrective procedures to the spacecraft, as well as receiving the all-important data for further distribution and analysis.

Current Supported Missions

EUMETSAT
ESOC
Meteosat
Mars Express
EPS
Exomars TGO
Copernicus
Bepi Colombo
Jason
Solar Orbiter
 
Cluster
 
XMM
 
Integral
 
Gaia
 
Swarm
 
Aeolus
 
Cryosat-2

Spacecraft Simulations and Training

Our Simulation Officers provide training to Mission Control Teams (MCTs) for critical phases of their spacecraft missions, including the launch and early orbiting phase (LEOP), commissioning, flybys, rendezvous, orbital insertions and landings, as well as for routine operations.

Our Simulations and Trainings at ESOC

At ESOC, this training we provide consists of conducting approximately 30 pre-launch simulations (8 hours in duration) using the mission’s operational simulator as a data source and involving the full MCT of ~50 participants from 7 teams distributed in multiple control rooms throughout ESOC. Failures and contingencies are injected by the simulation officers via simulator or other means during these simulations, in order to train the team’s reaction to anomalous situations and enable them to exercise their contingency procedures.

Additional specific skill training is given to those ESOC-external participants from ESA project and industry teams in communications via voice loop and mission control system (MCS) operation prior to the inauguration of a simulation campaign.

For missions with other later critical phases, shorter dedicated simulation campaigns of 5-10 days are organised for the teams for those specific critical operations.

We also conduct proficiency training for the Flight Control Teams (FCTs) of many missions during the routine phase throughout the spacecraft lifetime.

Copernicus Operational Services

Telespazio has been selected, along with Deimos and CS, to support Serco as the prime companies in delivering full services to the Copernicus programme at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.

Telespazio Germany is responsible for the following services:

  • Sentinel-2 Operations routine operations of the S2a and S2b satellites, with preparation on-going for the S2c satellite, planned for launch in 2024
  • Sentinel-5P operations routine operations of a single satellite
  • Copernicus Data Systems all Sentinel missions operated from ESOC, 1st-Line support for the Mission Control Systems, the Simulators and other Ancillary systems, such as the Mission Planning Systems

EUMETSAT Mission Services

The Operations and Engineering Division in Darmstadt has been supporting EUMETSAT for almost 30 years. Our staff support EUMETSAT in a broad range of technical domains with a variety of services, supported by commercial partners.

The EUMETSAT divisions supported by our services include:

  • Generic Systems & Infrastructure
  • Remote Sensing & Products 
  • Systems Engineering & Projects 
  • Product Assurance & Management
  • Flight Operations 
  • Real-Time Services & System Operations
  • User Support & Climate Services
  • LEO & GEO Programmes
Payload Systems
Payload Data Processing System and Algorithm Development
Remote Sensing Products & Algorithms