Operational Considerations in the Development of the RADARSAT-2 Order Handling/Mission Planning Functions

Abstract

Order Handling provides the functions necessary to:• Capture a User's needs (e.g. new image acquisitions, products, services) in the form of an order.• Execute the steps required to "manufacture" and deliver the products and service. This involves interfacing to several other subsystems within the Ground Segment.• Track progress of the User's order and provide feedback on the execution status to the User.• Facilitate the accounting (support billing, track usage, etc.) and provide management reports.Mission Planning provides the functions to:• Translate the User requests into a schedule of activities that can be practically and safely executed by the mission's resources (both space and ground).• Model use of resources.• Identify all resource conflicts that occur and allow these to be resolved.Past history has shown that building systems to effectively perform these functions is not easy. The resulting systems are often not capable of fully supporting the user community at launch. Significant rework is required in many cases.The reasons why these systems are so difficult to build and why they often fail to meet expectations are numerous:• Programs are dominated by the Space Segment. The vast majority of the program staff (and the managers) are focussed on the challenges related to getting the spacecraft built, with little attention paid to the end user's operational needs. To further aggravate the problem, budgets are often diverted from the Ground Segment to cover cost overruns in the Space Segment. "Non-core" areas, such as order handling are hit the hardest.• The "market" for the mission's data and products is not developed and is constantly evolving.• The way the mission will conduct business (Business Model) is not developed or understood.• Users don't know enough about the mission to know what to ask for.