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The Gaia spacecraft, due for launch in mid-2010 and with an operational lifetime of five years, will be controlled by the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany). The mandate of the European Space Operations Centre is to operate ESA satellites and to establish, operate and maintain the necessary ground infrastructure. Experts from ESOC are involved at the earliest phases in the life of a mission, for example providing input to determine the most appropriate orbit for the mission, and investigating any mission critical aspects, such as eclipses. Following the acceptance of a mission ESOC activities are mostly concentrated on the preparation of satellite navigation plans and developing the operations concept. Software and hardware systems may be developed or modified to monitor and control the satellite. Software simulators are used to allow the operations team to fully test and validate the mission's systems and procedures. Prior to launch all operational systems supporting the spacecraft are integrated and tested. Once the satellite has separated from the launcher ESOC takes over mission operations. From this time until the end of the mission ESOC is responsible for monitoring and controlling the spacecraft, and for ensuring that the mission products are delivered to the end users. To learn more about ESOC visit their web pages.
[Published: 04/08/2003 ]
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