Thales Alenia Space-Italy takes up GMV’s mission planning system for the second generation of COSMO-SkyMed satellites

In 2016 Thales Alenia Space was chosen by the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana: ASI) to prime development of the program called COSMO-SkyMed (COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation) Second Generation, which includes
a two-satellite constellation for dual military and civil use. Each satellite comprises a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for taking earth-observation images.

GMV’s inhouse mission-planning system, flexplan, has recently been acquired by Thales Alenia Space to be evaluated as the mission-planning system for this second generation of earth-observation satellites. flexplan uses an algorithm generator that allows flight and mission rules to be
implemented, changed and vetted without recompilation. Due to this flexibility, it can be used for any type  of mission (interplanetary or terrestrial orbit) and can be configured, deployed and integrated swiftly in the mission’s ground segment. 

flexplan is an operational system already being used in missions similar to this program such as Sentinel-1, within the European Commission’s two-satellite Copernicus program, whose payload also comprises SAR instrumentation, or the PAZ satellite, which forms part of Spain’s National Earth-Observation Program (Programa Nacional de Observación de la Tierra: PNOTS) and is slated for launch and commencement of operations by the end of this year. 

This new acquisition means flexplan has now been taken up by yet another national space agency, to be added to  the longstanding clients of ESA, NASA, EUMETSAT and the Korean Space Agency, among others.