Technology harmonization - developing a reference architecture for the ground segment software

The characteristics of the systems demanded the specification of the architecture to be based in a framework for distributed systems. The framework adopted, based in on the RM-ODP (reference model for open distributed processing) standard and on the RASDS (reference architecture for space data systems) initiative, was customized in order to follow the current service oriented architecture (SOA) technological trend. This framework has been applied to the ground systems software with the support of an UML modelling tool. In this process, four viewpoints were used to describe the reference architecture. The model created provides various advantages in new system developments. It enables a better interoperability and completeness of the systems being designed and developed and also greatly benefits the systems' maintainability namely the modularity, changeability and portability. Future developments and enhancements to this architecture include namely the specification of interfaces of key components, which enforces the compliance of new products with the reference architecture. The architecture is bringing direct benefits to harmonization process, especially by allowing true interoperability between European space segment initiatives