NGC specialises in autonomy-enabling Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) software for satellites and offers a wide range of satellite guidance, navigation and control (GNC) solutions and services.
NGC specialises in autonomy-enabling Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) software for satellites and offers a wide range of satellite guidance, navigation and control (GNC) solutions and services.
NGC’s satellite GNC solutions and services include:
The company specialises in the development of cost-effective design and validation of high-quality GNC software which provides a high level of autonomy to satellites while increasing their performance, reliability and safety and, at the same time, reducing their operational costs.
NGC’s AOCS software technology, starting with the PROBA satellites, pioneered a new generation of satellites which integrates on-board intelligence and autonomy in the operation of scientific and Earth-observation satellites. This flight-proven AOCS software technology ensures fully autonomous operations with little involvement from the ground control station thus significantly reducing operational costs. In another breakthrough innovation, NGC has also dramatically reduced the cost of GNC software development as its design, implementation and validation are realised using model-based design with computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools (e.g. MATLAB/SimulinkTM, MATRIXx/SystemBuildTM), including the automatic generation of the flight code.
Although NGC’s AOCS software technology is flight-proven, NGC is continuously innovating with new or improved GNC algorithms, software and simulators.
The PROBA-V Satellite Controlled by NGC’s AOCS Software (Copyright: ESA-P.Carril, Source)
The PROBA-2 Satellite Flying NGC’s AOCS Software (Copyright: ESA-P.Carril 2009, Source)
PROBA-3 formation flying mission will rely on spacecraft GNC software developped by NGC (Copyright: ESA – P.Carril, 2013, Source)
NGC’s AOCS software autonomously controls the PROBA-1 satellite orientation to take images (Copyright ESA, Source)
NGC’s expertise in the field of GNC for satellites includes:
Navigation
Guidance
Control
Failure Detection and Identification (FDI)