COLUMBUS ORBITAL FACILITY AND AUTOMATED TRANSFER VEHICLE - A CHALLENGE FOR AGENCY AND INDUSTRY

Long term continuous operation of the COLUMBUS Orbital Facility (COF) flight- and ground segment requires continuous mission control and ope rations support capability to ensure proper operation and configuratio n of the COF systems in support of ongoing science and technology payl oads. The ISS logistics scenario will be supported by the Automated Tr ansfer Vehicle (ATV). These operational needs require the built-up of a new ground infrastructure in Europe and USA, enabling an efficient o perations for preparation, planning and mission execution. The challen ge for the European space community consists in the development and op eration of a user friendly operational environment but keeping costs w ithin budgetary constraints. Results of detailed definition studies pe rformed by both agency and industry for the ground infrastructure indi cate solutions to those technical and programmatic requirements by usi ng of existing centers and facilities, re-use of C/D phase products (H ardware, Software) and COTS equipment to avoid costly new developments , using engineering expertise of the industrial personnel from flight element phase C/D. The concept for operations execution defines the ta sk sharing between Operations Control Facilities (OCF), Operations Sup port Facilities and User Operations Sires. Operations support consists of on-line engineering support, off-line engineering support, payload integration, logistics support and crew training support performed by industry. DASA RI has made internal investments in organizational con cepts for mission operations as well as in mission technologies and to ols based on the standard COLUMBUS Ground Software (CGS) tool set and on knowledge based systems to enable an efficient industrial operation s support. These tools are available as prototypes being evaluated in operational environment. (C) 1998 International Astronautical Federati on. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.