Eumetsat Polar System: Earth Observation
VEGA supported Eumetsat within their EPS programme
team and performed the operations preparation activities for
the EPS payload.
“The [VEGA] teams worked on Saturday and on Sunday, over the
night, to achieve readiness, team members found solutions to cope
with troubles, and at the same time, to achieve the major
objectives of SSVT. It is for me a great pleasure to work with such
teams, who want to move forward.”
Lionel de la Taille, EU
Challenge
The Eumetsat Polar System (EPS) is an international initiative
for the provision of operational meteorology and climate monitoring
from satellites in polar orbit. EPS is the European contribution to
a joint US-European co-operating system that also involves the US
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The EPS system consists of a series of 3 polar orbiting “Metop”
spacecraft, and a supporting ground segment that covers both
satellite monitoring and control, and processing and dissemination
of the data produced by the satellite instruments. The Metop
satellites each carry many separate instruments (the “payload”)
which means that the overall EPS system is large and complex. The
operations of the EPS satellite platform and its payload are
correspondingly complex. As a result, Eumetsat identified the need
for integrated support within their EPS programme team to perform
the operations preparation activities for the EPS payload.
How VEGA helped
VEGA was chosen because it has a proven track record in
providing operations support for earth observation satellites to
similar organisations, most noticeably at the European Space
Operations Centre, and we were able to offer a complete package of
expert support. Our approach is based on VEGA teams focusing on
groups of related instruments – optical, microwave and interface
units. A major factor in our success is the professionalism and
enthusiasm of our people.
Value Delivered
The range of instrument operations preparation activities
performed by the VEGA teams include:
- Definition, production and validation of the operational
procedures needed to operate each of the onboard instruments and
their supporting subsystems for power, thermal and data
handling
- Test and validation of the spacecraft control system
- Planning, execution and reporting of satellite system
validation tests (SSVT)
- Participation in simulations campaigns and end to end system
testing
- Validation of spacecraft and payload database and modification
for operations