With the advent of Operationally Responsive Space and the development of tactical satellites, comes the issue of providing access to those assets to the warfighter. The PTR Group, working with the US Naval Research Lab (NRL) and the Office of Force Transformation, has developed the Virtual Mission Operation Center (VMOC). VMOC provides a rigorous interface for tactical users to generate satellite tasking. Using PTR’s knowledge of satellites and satellite systems, PTR engineers have developed an autonomous system for satellite tasking. Using satellite telemetry, ephemeris and a defined rule-set, the VMOC matches a users tasking request with satellite/sensor availability to create satellite command loads.

PTR Group is a key solution provider to the Tacsat-1 program developed at the US Naval Research Lab (NRL). The Tacsat-1 spacecraft, due to be launched in 2007, will enable responsive real-time imagery and data to be collected and distributed directly to US military commands. The PTR Group has been key in supporting, and developing solutions for the VxWorks-based spacecraft software, Linux based payload software, and other mission control systems.

Our role continues to expand with the development follow on generations of this satellite platform, TacSat-2, and TacSat-4.

See the TacSat PTR Group showcase for more information on TacSat-1 and the work PTR Group performed.

Orbcomm has entrusted The PTR Group with maintaining the network software on their current satellite constellation, as well as new development for the final first generation satellites scheduled for launch in 2007, and Orbcomm's next generation of satellites.

See the Orbcomm PTR Group showcase for a detailed description of the work PTR Group performed.

PTR has also successfully supported for Linux integration efforts for a Xilinx ML300 based solution for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. This was in support of the latest Martian Rover project. The PTR Group solved a hardware and software interface problem that was resulting in an inoperable firewire interface that prevented a camera system from operating properly. The PTR Group also configured the development environment for JPL on this project.

IBEX is a NASA Small Explorer Mission designed to observe and map the shock front formed at the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission will be launched in 2008 and will make its observations from a highly elliptical (37 RE x 7000 km) orbit that takes it beyond the interference of the Earth's magnetosphere.

The PTR Group is working directly with the Orbital Sciences Corporation to design, develop, and test flight software for the bus portion of the IBEX spacecraft. PTR Engineers are using their expertise with the Orbital Microstar product line to implement software interfaces to attitude determination instruments using the VxWorks operating system.

Space Technology 8 (ST8) is a NASA New Millennium Project Mission designed to validate new subsystem-level technologies that have never been operated in a space environment. The ST8 spacecraft will be launched in 2009 into a near-polar, elliptical (1300 km x 300 km) orbit.

The PTR Group is working directly with the Orbital Sciences Corporation to design, develop, and test flight software for the bus portion of the ST8 spacecraft. PTR Engineers are using their expertise with the Orbital Microstar product line to implement command handling, telemetry collection, and payload interface software. This software consists of device driver, control, and monitoring tasks within the VxWorks operating system.

For the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) program, The PTR Group developed software for the instrument payload in the areas of primary boot, CPU monitor, memory access, and instrument mode control. This software required significant interaction with the spacecraft bus in terms of validating and interpreting commands from the spacecraft and creating and sending telemetry. Multiple platforms were used to develop and test this code, including both embedded and desktop systems.

See the GLAST PTR Group showcase for a detailed description of the work PTR Group performed.

SECCHI is a suite of scientific telescopes that observe the solar corona and inner heliosphere spanning the distance from the surface of the Sun to the orbit of Earth. These observations are made in stereo from NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, STEREO, which was launched in the fall of 2006. STEREO is a 2-year mission employing two nearly identical observatories to provide 3-D measurements of the Sun to study the nature of coronal mass ejections.

The PTR Group worked with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to investigate anomalies encountered during pre-flight testing of the SECCHI instruments. For this investigation, PTR analyzed RAD750 CPU boot code and developed procedures for using a Corelis JTAG in-circuit emulator to monitor Power PCI bridge chip registers during the boot process.

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Contact us directly: aerospace@ThePTRGroup.com