Astrium has selected American software solutions group AdaCore to provide its programming language for use on the Sentinel-1 environmental monitoring satellite.
Astrium will use Ada’s GNAT Pro to implement the application software for the SAR Electronics Sub-system, which is used to control Sentinel-1’s C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).
As part of the project, AdaCore will also ensure that GNAT Pro is compliant with the European Space Agency’s ECSS-E-40B and ECSS-Q-80B space engineering and product assurance standards.
Paul Southwood, software technical engineer for the Sentinel-1 Onboard Software project, said: ‘Sentinel-1 is a large-scale project that promises to deliver superior environmental monitoring capabilities. We selected Ada based on its reliability and reusability and its strong track record in space applications. We also wanted a development partner that could provide the knowledge, flexibility and responsiveness to meet our specific needs and tight timescales.
‘Astrium has worked with AdaCore on a number of successful satellite and space projects, including the TerraSAR-X, which was the first German radar satellite for Earth observation. This experience combined with company’s partnership approach and support capabilities made AdaCore the perfect choice for the Sentinel-1 project.’
Sentinel-1 is the first of five satellite families being developed for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program - a joint initiative of the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The project is scheduled for completion in October 2011.
PM outlines action plan for artificial intelligence
Orwellian! We are living post 1984 too.