The computer architecture that controls European rocket launches at the Kourou space base has been updated by the Spanish company GTD. The Spanish company GTD has been responsible for digitizing the Jupiter 2 Control Center , the place from which the launch campaigns, takeoffs, and flight supervision of the European Ariane 5 and Vega rockets, as well as the Russian Soyuz, are controlled. These rockets depart for space from the European space base in Kourou, French Guiana. The challenge GTD faced was to renovate and modernize the entire IT architecture of the Jupiter 2 Room at the Control Center, without affecting, much less interrupting, the European space station's rigorous launch schedule. In the Jupiter 2 Lounge, all the engineers and technicians who play a key role in the launch schedule and assume responsibilities for the takeoff process take their seats. It is from there that the director of operations calls out the famous countdown sequence: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, liftoff!!! Under the direction of the director of operations, 60 people sit in the Jupiter 2 room, overseeing each and every one of the thousands of parameters that are part of the technical and environmental authorization process prior to takeoff , controlling the flight of the rocket during its ascent into space, and authorizing the undocking of the payload housed on top of the launcher. All technology has been replaced and adapted to the Digital 2.0 standard, and more than just an improvement, GTD has undergone a true metamorphosis of the operations system under the leadership of Ernest Cañamares, project director. "The most difficult part ," Cañamares emphasizes, " has been validating the proper functioning of the new Control Center , because it had to be carried out in the short interval between two launches." One of the requirements of the French Space Agency (CNES) was to ensure that the launch schedule was not affected in any way. To achieve this objective, a team of 18 GTD technicians designed and developed an advanced IT architecture, resulting in the dismantling of the old equipment and the installation of new equipment and its corresponding hardware... in just two weeks, the time between the launch of two rockets!!! The major innovation has been adapting the new computer system to the needs of users, not the other way around. For example, computer screens with drop-down menus have been eliminated, and instead, all technicians have modern touchscreens that provide the information each manager requires. The main innovation that GTD has introduced in the space sector is the development of a sophisticated smartphone application “ that allows the technician to view all the information from the Control Center in real time, whether he or she is inside or outside the Jupiter 2 Room ,” says Cañamares. Inaugurated in January 1996, the Jupiter 2 Hall's aging computer architecture has controlled the launches of 170 European Ariane 4, Ariane 5, Vega, and even Russian Soyuz rockets. Several years ago, the network began to show signs of obsolescence, so CNES assigned GTD to develop a new computer system and assume its maintenance for the coming years. The last four launches from the Kuru space station – three Ariane 5 launches and one Soyuz launch – have already been conducted using the new technological architecture of the Jupiter 2 launch hall. Source: FLYNEWS
