ARCHEO-E2E: A Reference Architecture for Earth Observation end-to-end Mission Performance Simulators

End-to-end mission performance simulators for Earth Observation missions are a useful tool to assess the mission performance and support the consolidation of the technical requirements and conceptual design, as well as to allow end-users assessing the fulfilment of requirements by the mission. ESA is currently starting the development of these end-to-end simulators during the mission feasibility studies, so that if the mission is approved, the simulator will evolve into a support tool for the detailed design definition, preparation and validation of operations, data processing and higher-level mission products generation. However, at this stage, the evolution of the design and the processing algorithms may require modifying or even replacing the components of the original simulator, what usually translates into a complex and costly reengineering process. ESA has promoted several activities in order to reduce this reengineering process, such as for example a simulation framework able to support the development of the simulator throughout the mission life cycle. The ARCHEO-E2E activity, presented in this paper, is framed into this context, and it has the main objective of defining a Reference Architecture for Earth Observation end-to-end mission simulators. The rationale behind this Reference Architecture is promoting reuse in the development of mission performance simulators by: Categorising past, current and planned Earth Observation missions to identify the main elements affecting mission performance and impacting the simulator architecture.