Methodology for designing highly reliable Fault Tolerance Space Systems based on COTS devices

The use of microsatellites for remote sensing missions is becoming more attractive. The cost-reliability issue is still a constraint. In this work we present a methodology for the development of Fault Tolerant Space Systems (FTSS) focusing on the On Board Data Handling (OBDH) system for microsatellite's remote sensing payloads with COTS components. The methodology presented is based on Fault Tolerance Techniques applied to Field Programmable Gate Arrays. The proposed methodology ends with a guideline for simulating the system reliability, providing statistics to support decisions regarding the necessary techniques to be implemented.