KOSMOS

A flight software facilitating space missions

KOSMOS, a flight software facilitating space missions

Operating a satellite means ensuring a multitude of functions coexist harmoniously to successfully complete a mission. From solar panels to payload instruments (cameras, spectrometers, etc.), from communications antennas to onboard computing, the diversity and complexity of technologies that can be embedded on board continues to grow.

At the heart of this environment, the processor(s) constitute(s) the "brain" of the satellite, connecting various mechanical and electronic components and housing the spacecraft’s intelligence: the Flight Software, the conductor of our spacecraft.

 

One Flight software has multiple objectives.

  • Some are mission-specific: complex scientific algorithms for detecting astronomical phenomena, the ability to move a rover across a planet's surface, for example;
  • Others, however, are recurrent regardless of the mission: ensuring communication with the Earth and various equipment, detecting potential anomalies, etc.

All of this must be orchestrated while respecting often strict real-time constraints and a demanding level of quality, guaranteeing the mission's desired level of criticality.

 

KOSMOS (Kit for Onboard Software in Modular Oriented Systems) is a generic software infrastructure (i.e., generic Flight Software) that eliminates the need to reinvent the wheel for each new project.

  • KOSMOS integrates and standardizes the essential functions required by Flight Software (interface management, memory management, fault management, and management of the communication link between the satellite and the ground), eliminating the need to start from scratch when preparing for a new mission.
  • KOSMOS provides pre-qualified components (European ECSS Level B standards), guaranteeing a level of quality compatible with demanding missions.
  • Thanks to its partitioned architecture, KOSMOS allows users (scientists, industrials, institutions) to focus on the added value of the space mission.
  • Thanks to its modularity, KOSMOS allows parallel developments between several suppliers, before easily integrating them into a complete and coherent flight software, like Lego© bricks.

 

KOSMOS is already widely adopted in the space ecosystem, both industrial (USpace, Hemeria, etc.), scientific (IJClab, CEA, LATMOS, etc.), academic (Nanolab Academy) and institutional (CNES, ESA, etc.). It has been flying since 2019 (Eyesat) on missions of all kinds, from nanosatellites (e.g. KINEIS) to large institutional satellites (e.g. Juice, SVOM, etc.) and rovers (e.g. Idefix) for platform applications, payloads or specialized equipment.

 

Contact us

By email: l-kosmos@cnes.fr