The Differences are Not So Great: High Altitude Balloon and Small Spacecraft Software Development

Previous work discussed critical differences in planning, developing hardware for and executing a high altitude balloon (HAB) mission. One area where this difference is less pronounced is in software development, allowing HABs to be utilized as a ‘software testbed’ for many orbital missions. This paper provides an overview of the software development process for both orbital and HAB craft, highlighting differences between the two processes and the numerous similarities. It concludes by presenting a framework for analyzing the suitability of HAB testing for small satellite software.

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