Airbus Defence and Space selected our TM/TC Front End equipment for Copernicus CRISTAL & LSTM Mission spacecrafts.
The purpose of the TM/TC Front End is to act as a gateway for the telecommands to the on-board system and for the telemetry issued by the spacecraft. Equipment connects to the on-board computer via digital bypass interfaces also called the launch pad umbilical interfaces; to the S-Band SCOE via serial line interfaces; to the ESA/ESOC provided Network Data Interface Unit (NDIU).
Also TMTC FE acts as a gateway between Spacecraft side and EGSE side, providing the following functionalities: Translation of TM from the Transfer Frame Layer on the Spacecraft side to CCSDS packets or TM TF contained in stream socket based TCP/IP messages on the EGSE side (CCS or NDIU lite); Translation of TC to the Transfer Frame Layer on the Spacecraft side
About Copernicus CRISTASL & LSTM Mission
Copernicus is the European Union's Earth Observation Programme, looking at our planet and its environment for the benefit of Europe's citizens. Land Surface Temperature Monitoring (LSTM) is part of Copernicus, the European Union's Earth observation programme for global monitoring. It is one of the six new missions, expanding the capabilities of the current Copernicus space component. The contract is valued at € 380 million which includes the development and building of two LSTM satellites. The main objective of LSTM is to deliver global high spatio-temporal day- and night-time land surface temperature measurements. Satellite data analysis for mapping, monitoring and forecasting the Earth's natural resources helps to understand what, when and where changes are taking place. In particular, this mission will respond to the needs of European farmers to make agricultural production on individual farms more sustainable, as water shortages increase and changes in the environment take place. Specialists will be able to calculate in real time how much water different plants require in different areas, and how often those plants need to be irrigated.
With a launch planned in 2027, the Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter, CRISTAL, mission will carry, for the first time, a dual-frequency radar altimeter, and microwave radiometer, that will measure and monitor sea-ice thickness, overlying snow depth and ice-sheet elevations. These data will support maritime operations in the polar oceans and contribute to a better understanding of climate processes. CRISTAL will also support applications related to coastal and inland waters, as well as providing observations of ocean topography.