Optimizing satellite, network, and ground station operations with next generation data visualization

With the ever increasing size and complexity of constellations and ground station networks, monitoring and control continues to challenge satellite operators. Traditional monitoring tools, originally designed for single-satellite or small network operations, do not scale sufficiently well to accommodate increasingly large amounts of data. An entirely new approach to data monitoring is required. The solution to this problem is not to add staff, but to take advantage of new 3-D visual monitoring technology that provides instant access to alarm distributions and severities. This technology employs limit alarms, trend alarms, count alarms, and alarms set on derived parameters to alert the operator to problems before they happen. The environment is fully visual and can accommodate single-click access to over 100,000 parameters in a single display. Visual data monitoring gives the operations team a qualitative high-level view of the entire constellation, ground station network, and/or individual satellites or ground stations. The management and engineering staff can also monitor data remotely, giving them a direct interface to the satellite operations center from any location. In addition to reducing staffing requirements, remote monitoring supports lights out operations because it allows engineering and operations personnel to receive alarm notification via pager or email. The training requirements for visual monitoring are minimal; in fact, most users can be trained in less than one day.