SENER Aerospace is leading AURORA, a project funded by the European Union through its Horizon 2020 Space program, to develop self-coding flight software. The ultimate goal is to foster competitiveness, independence, and innovation in the European space sector and to drive its technological advancements. The AURORA project provides a suite of European tools for the development and validation of self-coding flight software, optimizing interoperability and information exchange on the platform. Simplifying the process results in greater solution reliability, significantly shorter software development times, and reduced production costs. Self-coding flight software would have applications in both scientific and commercial missions, including the telecommunications market and the NewSpace sector.
SENER Aerospace is applying its expertise in guidance, navigation, and control programs to AURORA, particularly its AOCS (Attitude and Orbit Control Systems) which it has successfully developed for European Space Agency (ESA) satellites such as Euclid, Herschel & Planck, and NAVIGA, among others. The Polytechnic University of Madrid and two European companies are also participating in AURORA.
The programming code for an AOCS system is generated by applying model-based engineering (MBSE), which simulates different scenarios, conditions, and potential errors, producing various system programs. The next phase involves translating these models into source code, specific to each spacecraft, to create the guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) software. Currently, this process requires exhaustive verification and multiple manual tests, resulting in high costs.
The AURORA solution validates the capabilities of the QGEN tool to transform models into source code integrated directly into the flight software. The technology demonstration is performed by exercising the automated code in AURORA with the already validated and verified results of the self-generated code from the Euclid mission. The demonstration process will utilize the validation and verification test cases designed for the formal Euclid AOCS/GNC campaign, with tests conducted in the actual test environment (MIL, SIL, PIL [open-loop emulator], and HIL [SCOE for open-loop testing]). This approach facilitates technology assessment through a higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL). This means that the most advanced modeling standards and guidelines are applied to the autocoding generation and validation process.
Furthermore, AURORA will ensure the solution's interoperability by specifying component interfaces (APIs) for integrating components, both for hand-coded and auto-generated code. It incorporates innovative solutions such as NASA's core Flight System (cFS).
Supported by a suite of certified tools, AURORA proposes a self-coding flight software lifecycle process and a methodology for specifying, developing, and validating such software. These processes will adhere to the principles of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), including Component-Based Architecture, Model-Driven Architecture (MDA), and Model-to-Test transformation.
AURORA will conclude with a demonstration of the toolset's feasibility and the reduction of non-recurring costs associated with software generation and verification.
