ESA awards GMV the Mission Control System of the ExoMars

ExoMars will demonstrate key flight and in-situ enabling technologies in support of European ambitions for future exploration missions and will carry out fundamental scientific research.

The first ExoMars mission, consisting of the Trace Gas Orbiter and a demonstrator Entry and Descent Module, was launched in 2016. The second mission, scheduled for 2020, will consist of the ExoMars RSP mission. The launch configuration is the SCC (S/C Composite), comprising the Carrier Module (CM) and the Descent Module (DM). The CM is jettisoned upon arrival at Mars, and the DM will enter the Mars atmosphere and land. The DM carries inside it the two scientific elements: the Surface Platform (SP) and the Rover. The Carrier and Rover are being developed by ESA while the Descent Module and Surface Platform are being developed by Roscosmos with ESA contributions, drawing on some of the key technology developments and the demonstration performed with the 2016 ExoMars EDM.

The ExoMars RSP will be operated by ESA Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt (Germany) which has recently awarded GMV a contract for the development and subsequent maintenance of the Mission Control System (MCS), which is responsible for spacecraft monitoring and control functionality within the ground segment.

This contract reinforces the lead position of GMV in the provision of satellite MCSs not only for ESOC (where GMV is provider for most of ESA’s Earth Observation missions and also of planetary exploration missions like Bepi-Colombo and Solar Orbiter), but also in the European institutional market (where GMV is also provider for the EUMETSAT Sentinel-3, MTG and EPS-SG missions). This predominant position in the institutional market complements GMV’s prime position in satellite operators’ commercial market worldwide.

The RSP MCS project adds to other important developments GMV is carrying out for the ExoMars 2020 mission, namely the Rover Operations Control Centre for the rover operator Altec, in Turin, as well as space segment projects like the application Software and its SW Verification Facility (SVF) of the onboard Guidance Navigation and Control, Power and Thermal subsystems, among others.