ACHIEVING DATA TRANSFER AND SERVICE MANAGEMENT INTEROPERABILITY IN SATELLITE CONTROL NETWORKS

A critical area for achieving interoperability between satellite control networks is the means chosen to interconnect Satellite Operations Centers and remote antenna systems. The CCSDS Space Link Extension (SLE) services are good candidates for this purpose, but national security space activities have demanding requirements for accuracy of data transfer, controlled delay, and security, which may not be fully achievable with the existing recommendations. The US Air Force developed a test bed to evaluate the SLE protocols during live satellite contacts, for both data transfer and management functions such as scheduling, configuring ground resources, and status reporting. Performance was generally satisfactory, but several extensions were found to be necessary. The SLE services provide a promising basis for use in ground stations to support both legacy Air Force interfaces and newer standards based satellite control services.