Satellite software

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.