GMV has been chosen by EUMETSAT for designing, developing, validating and deploying the Mission Control and Operations (MCO) sub-segment of the ground system of the EUMETSAT Polar System Second Generation (EPS-SG) Programme.

EPS-SG is Europe’s contribution to the Joint Polar System (JPS), which EUMETSAT establishes jointly with USA’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The EPS-SG will play a key role in weather forecast and climate observation, by enhancing observations of the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models.

EPS-SG will comprise two parallel series of three satellites (Metop-SG A and Metop-SG B) carrying different instrumentation. In the framework of a cooperation arrangement with EUMETSAT, the satellites including a number of instruments will be developed and procured by the European Space Agency (ESA), with contributions from the French and German space agencies, CNES and DLR, respectively. EUMETSAT, for its part, is the EPS-SG System Authority and responsible for the procurement of the Overall Ground Segment, Launch and LEOP (Launch and Early Orbit Phase) services and for operating the satellites for 21 years from 2021 onwards.

Within the contract awarded by EUMETSAT, GMV has full end-to-end responsibility for the MCO, leading a consortium in which Zodiac Data Systems, European leader in TT&C stations, is responsible for the antenna; SCISYS inputs its experience in the rollout of operation-automation solutions for satellite control systems; while CELIS’s particular contribution stems from its in-orbit test (IOT) systems experience.

As prime contractor and consortium leader, GMV is responsible both for the subsystems making up the core of the MCO (Mission Control; Flight Dynamics; Mission Planning; Mission Operations Component Local Monitoring and Control, Generic Satellite Simulator, to be deployed at the TTC station for end-to-end data flow tests, and TT&C antenna monitoring and control) and the integration, validation and rollout of the whole system.

The MCO, together with the Payload Data Acquisition and Processing (PDAP) and the Multi-Mission Elements (MME), is one of the major building blocks of the EPS-SG’s Overall Ground Segment (OGS).

The MCO will be responsible for the monitoring and control of the two Metop-SG satellite series. To implement this function, the MCO will consist of two components, firstly the S band station for Telemetry Tracking and Control (TT&C), located in Svalbard, and secondly, the Mission Operations Component (MOC) in Darmstadt (with a back-up system in Madrid).
The award of this contract consolidates GMV’s position as system integrating firm, an activity destined to play an increasingly important role in the space industry.