Cubesat Operations

This book covers the topic of satellite control centers for Cubesats. We'll take a look at some of the historical development of satellite control centers. Mention a spacecraft control center, and every one remembers the one from the movie Apollo-13. A cubesat control center can be implemented on a laptop. We'll look at the evolution of satellite control centers to understand how we got to where we are, and we'll look at evolving technology to see where we can go.

As technology advances, we have a better technology basis for control centers, as well as cheaper yet more capable hardware, and better and more available software. With the proliferation of inexpensive Cubesat projects, colleges and universities, high school, and even individuals are getting their Cubesats launched. They all need control centers. For lower cost missions, these can be shared facilities. Communicating with and operating a spacecraft in orbit or on another planet is challenging, but is an extension of operating any remote system. We have communications and bandwidth issues, speed-of-light communication limitations, and complexity. Remote debugging is a always a challenge.