Test of a European Space Brain

Are we extending to the stars?

 First Test of Europe's Space Brain

European Space Agency, in CACM, July 28, 2021

The European Space Agency (ESA) operated a spacecraft successfully using a next-generation mission control system. Current missions are being converted to the European Ground System-Common Core (EGS-CC), which will function as the "brain" of all European spaceflight operations by 2025. Freely available to all European entities, the EGS-CC was used to monitor and control ESA's OPS-SAT Space Lab, a 30-centimeter (12-inch) satellite created to test and validate new mission control techniques and on-board systems. OPS-SAT mission manager Dave Evans said during the test, ESA's European Space Operations Center used the software to send routine commands to the spacecraft and to receive data from the mission. EGOS-CC project manager Klara Widegard said, “This has been a hugely successful validation of this new versatile control system, demonstrating the exciting future of mission control technologies and Europe’s leading position in space.”