SPACE STATION FREEDOM GROUND SYSTEMS PROGRAM - A SURVEY

The Space Station Freedom will be a permanently manned, low-Earth orbi t research facility, elements of which are being provided by the Unite d States, Canada, countries of the European Space Agency and Japan. Th e facility will be assembled in space and operated well into the twent y-first century. The ground infrastructure must be able to support bot h assembly and long-term operations. The infrastructure will consist o f ground facilities, support systems and the associated planning and m anagement procedures. The key facilities identified to support Space S tation Freedom Program (SSFP) integrated operations and their SSFP rol es will be described in detail in this paper. Requirements for the int egrated ground infrastructure are developed and controlled within the SSFP requirements documentation and baselining processes. A Ground Sys tems Program directive summarizes key operations functions, roles and responsibilities of the various program participants. During 1992, the SSFP is conducting a major program review of the ground infrastructur e including the definition of all facility and support system function al capabilities, interfaces and dataflow requirements. Operations func tionality and interface verification tests are being identified and op erations readiness dates are being established.