Wireless Telecommand and Telemetry System for Satellite

The telecommand and telemetry (TC-TM) subsystems are a vital component of any spacecraft and requires an interconnection between all other subsystems, in addition to the RF link to the ground segment. Traditionally all these on-board data communication requirements have been met by some combination of IEEE-1553 or RS-232 links. Currently, standards such as the CAN bus, Space wire based on IEEE-1335 and optical interconnection based on IEEE-1773 are also being used. All these rely on some form of physical link, either copper wire or fiber optic, between the communicating subsystems. The paper presents the architecture of Wireless Telecommand and Telemetry system. It evolutes the feasibility of potential technology like ZigBee & Bluetooth for this purpose. It also highlights the advantage and difficulties in implementing a wireless system in spacecraft.