GROUND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

Emergent leverages its experience in Information Technology to provide next-generation ground system solutions that reduce cost through enhanced integration, improved situational awareness, and automation. Emergent provides specialized support for evaluating, prototyping, and benchmarking new technologies to help missions perform more effective assessments of the range of available solutions.   We use a mix of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), government off-the-shelf (COTS), free and open-source (FOSS), and custom applications to construct ground systems that best meet the needs of our customers.  Some of the sub-systems that Emergent has developed and/or integrated include:

  • Telemetry and Command Systems (ASIST)
  • Planning & Scheduling Systems
  • Flight Dynamics Systems
  • Trending & Analysis Systems
  • Automation
  • Situational Awareness

Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC)

Emergent has more than a decade of experience in the life-cycle development of open, modular, component-based ground systems and was one of the first contractors to support the definition, prototype and demonstration of the GMSEC middleware-based ground system architecture. We have a broad range of experience in the development and integration of spacecraft ground systems compliant with the GMSEC GSA. Our experience includes application (“app”) software development, deployment and sustainment; automation; message definition; and configuration management.

In the GMSEC architecture, the message bus provides the communications pipe used to carry information between software components or “apps”. Legacy software interface to the message bus using an adapter, or custom “glueware” that translates Legacy Component messages and/or message protocols to those that are GMSEC-compliant.

Multi-Mission Operations Centers

Emergent has developed technologies that are multi-mission capable and has been a crucial team member to re-engineer a set of independently-operated NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) missions into a single Multi-Mission Operations Center (MMOC). This task was accomplished with the GMSEC middleware-based ground system architecture. Emergent is identifying and proving new technologies demonstrated in other domains and is applying them to problems and short-comings that today’s missions struggle with.

The Space Science Mission Operations MMOC was used to demonstrate the ability to integrate multiple spacecraft ground systems via the GMSEC architecture for fleet-based operations.

Centralized Operations Facility (COF)

The COF is a NASA GSFC concept for leveraging new information technologies to reduce mission operations costs. A centralized mission operations center would provide a starting point in technology and processes for missions and a baseline for moving the mission technology forward. The study leverages the best practices of current missions to develop an architecture. Emerging technologies like cloud computing, SOAs, message-oriented middleware, and server virtualization are being studied to provide leverage for improving future space and earth science missions. Other trade studies to date have included: MOC shared services (configuration management, time synchronization, LDAP, etc.); operations automation; IT support automation; streamlined I&T; communities of practice; common interfaces; system governance; knowledge management and communities of practice.

The Centralized Operations Facility (COF) project is being used by NASA GSFC to explore new Information Technologies to reduce the cost of mission operations.