GTD is currently participating in the functional validation of the SolO on-board software. Previously, GTD participated in the development of the SolO on-board software through its UK subsidiary (GTD UK). Now, GTD team located in our French premises in Toulouse is validating this software. Our customer Airbus Defense & Space is trusting GTD’s On Board Software engineers for the last 18 years by subcontracting diverse software packages mainly for scientific payloads (Gaia, ATV, Bepicolombo, Sentinel 2, EarthCARE, SEOSAT, Envisat, Integral, XMM, SMART1, …) Solar Orbiter (SolO) is a planned Sun-observing satellite, under development by the European Space Agency (ESA). The mission will be launched with an Atlas V from the Cape Canaveral AFS in Florida in 2020. SolO is intended to perform detailed measurements of the inner heliosphere and nascent solar wind, and perform close observations of the polar regions of the Sun, which is difficult to do from Earth, both serving to answer the question 'How does the Sun create and control the heliosphere?' SolO is a mission selected as the first medium-class mission of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Programme. The programme outlines key scientific questions which need to be answered about the development of planets and the emergence of life, how the Solar System works, the origins of the Universe, and the fundamental physics at work in the Universe. The spacecraft will make a close approach to the Sun every five months. The closest approach will be positioned to allow a repeated study of the same region of the solar atmosphere. Solar Orbiter will be able to watch magnetic activity building up in the atmosphere that can lead to powerful solar flares or eruptions.
