The Mission-Critical Intranet for Multi-Mission Operations at the German Space Operations Center (GSOC)

The German Space operations center (GSOC) is a part of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). GSOC is conducting space operations for LEOP and routine missions, for commercial and scientific customers, for crewed and robotic missions. Its beginnings reach back to the first German science missions at the end of the 1960s. For ESA it will conduct the mission operations and part of the payload operations of the Columbus module on the International Space Station. For decades new techniques have been used at GSOC to improve collaborations in space operations. The boom of the World Wide Web (WWW) has brought along many new tools and possibilities at a fraction of traditional effort and cost. The technology was not invented for the space business. Therefore the adaptation to special space operations requirements has to be done carefully. World Wide Web techniques have been applied for some years now on an experimental basis. As part of the Mission Operations System the established WWW-intranet system at GSOC has been termed “OpsWeb”. The system has been very successful but has also encountered some shortcomings. In general the intranet system has been considered a good approach to improving spacecraft operations. Recently, it was decided to advance the system to a high level of reliability. This report shows the underlying motives and considerations, the methods and tools used in developing the advanced intranet system, and demonstrates some applications and aspects.