Visit of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly ACP-EU (EP) to the European Space Operations Centre ESA/ESOC (DRAFT)
Darmstadt, 27 June 2007
Programme
15:00 h Welcome and introduction by Gaele Winters, ESA Director for Operations and Infrastructure – and Head of ESA’s control centre in the Main Control Room/Briefing Room Presentation of the ACP / EU delegations’ members
15:05 h The European Space Agency ESA – a short overview (G. Winters)
ESA’s operations centre in Darmstadt (G. Winters/Dr. Manfred Warhaut, Head of Mission Operations Department) • Historic development and current missions • Focus: mission operations for Earth observation (Envisat, ERS 2) • Incubator for Galileo and GMES applications, planetary missions
15:30 h ESA’s Earth observation activities: Current applications for ESA / EU and examples for ACP states, introduction to GMES. By Dr. Frank Diekmann, Spacecraft Operations Manager Envisat and meteorologist.
16:00 h Coffee Break in the MCR Briefing Room
16:15 h Germany’s roadmap to reduce CO2 with special emphasis on the transportation sector. By Dr. Uwe Lahl, Bundesumweltministerium, Berlin.
16:35 h Guided tour through the control rooms of ESOC By Andreas Rudolph, Mission Operations Department
• Main Control Room – for the critical phases of the missions, especially LEOP (“Launch and Early Orbit Phase”) – incl. 5 min. photo session • Earth Observation Control Room Area : ENVISAT and ERS-2 • Rosetta Engineering Model • Navigation Facility: Expertise to the Galileo navigation system • Mars Express, Venus Express, Rosetta : Planetary Missions
17:30 h Coffee Break back in the MCR Briefing Room, Q & A / further discussions
18:00 h End of visit programme
1 Visit EU / ACP delegation to ESOC, 27 June 2007, V 2 - bvw
Executive Summary – What is the role of ESA/ESOC in Darmstadt?
The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) is the control centre of the European Space Agency (ESA) – “Europe’s Gateway to Space”. It is responsible for the operation of all ESA satellites, as well as for the development and maintenance of the global ESA ground stations network. Since its establishment in September 1967, ESOC has controlled 55 European satellites and supported numerous missions of other external organisations. Because of its highly developed technologies and specialised teams, ESOC is able to operate more than 10 satellites simultaneously in routine orbit and further satellites in LEOP. It has conducted significant satellite recovery missions and is a focal point for space debris studies.
Current Highlight Missions operated from ESOC
- Venus Express: Europe’s first mission to its neighbouring planet, investigating a mysterious atmosphere. - Mars Express: ESA’s first Mars mission, looking for traces of water and past or present life. - Rosetta: orbiting the nucleus of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014, after a 7 billion km flight. - Envisat: “Caring for the Earth” – Europe’s 8 ton Earth observation flagship, monitoring global air pollution, oceans, ozone layer, polar ice caps, etc. as well as sudden natural disasters.
Mission Analysis
ESOC’s involvement in a satellite mission starts early with the selection and calculation of possible orbits, of rocket trajectory and of the launch window.
Flight Dynamics
ESOC experts calculate the position, speed and the configuration of satellites in space. This activity is not only necessary during the planning phase, but also for satellite operations.
Control Centre
“Launch and Early Orbit Phase” (LEOP): ESOC takes over the operation of a satellite immediately after separation from the launcher. ESOC then conducts the manoeuvres required to move the satellite into its final orbit. As soon as the satellite has reached its routine orbit, operations are moved to a dedicated control room (DCR). Throughout this time, ESOC is in constant contact with the network of ESA ground stations.
Ground Stations
ESTRACK, a world-wide network of ground stations, is managed by ESOC. It includes 8 ESA ground stations located in Redu (Belgium), Kourou (French Guayana), Maspalomas, Cebreros + Villafranca (Spain), Kiruna (Sweden) und Perth + New Norcia (Australia). In addition, ESTRACK makes use of other ground stations in cooperation with organisations, such as CNES, NASA, JAXA and NSC. ESOC also offers its spare ground segment capacity to third-party customers under commercial conditions.
ESOC Software
ESOC develops specialised software for the operation of satellites (SCOS 2000), as well as for the processing of satellite data and the development of simulation programs (SIMSAT).
ESOC Web www.esa.int/esoc (German pages: www.esa.de )
Contact Communications Office ESA/ESOC Robert-Bosch-Str. 5 D - 64293 Darmstadt Tel: 06151- 90 2696
Employees In 2005, 280 permanent ESA staff and 520 contractors were working at ESOC.
2 Visit EU / ACP delegation to ESOC, 27 June 2007, V 2 - bvw