Satellite preparation professional fields

Among the different professional fields required for satellite preparation, five managers play particularly important roles. They intervene in different spheres: general coordination, telecommunications, logistics, security and customer relations.

The Director of Operations.

He is responsible for campaign preparation and planning and overall coordination of campaign operations at the launch base. He needs to be fully familiar with all aspects of the Space Centre, and to have a taste for operations, customer relations and project management. he is above all specialised in coordination and team management. The function comes into play at different phases: satellite preparation, meetings with customers, launch zone preparation, launcher scheduling and managing the countdown in the Jupiter Room. He must also report constantly to the Space Centre management about how the campaign is progressing.

The Telecommunications Manager.

His work involves preparing both the satellite and the launch zone. During satellite preparation campaigns he coordinates the configuration of the communications resources necessary for the satellite teams. At the customer's request he can install telephone, fax or leased lines to enable data transmission to the satellite builder or operator.

He also links up the checkout equipment with the satellite at the Space Centre. These links function throughout the satellite preparation phase until lift-off. They keep operators informed of the satellite’s state of health and enable any problems to be identified rapidly.

The Payload Facilities Manager.

He makes sure that all support resources requested by the customer are available for satellite preparation, validation and fuelling operations. The customer's requirements are generally known in advance, but new requirements can arise in the course of a campaign.

The Payload Facilities Manager also holds a ‘daily meeting’ with customer teams. During these meetings all the customer's needs are reviewed as well as those for the coming days.

The Payload Safety Officer.

He verifies that the systems installed on the satellite conform to legislation in force. This requires that the customer declare any potentially dangerous systems on the satellite, usually the propulsion system. The Payload Safety Officer conducts tests to ensure compliance with safety regulations, in other words with regulations covering the safety of lives and property.

During critical phases (satellite fuelling, etc.) he decides on the means to be applied in order to minimise the danger and applies the appropriate safety measures. Lastly, he ensures that the customer satellite teams receive range safety training. During this training he informs the teams about risks at the workplace and the safety arrangements (staged withdrawal buildings, alarms and so on).

The Mission Director.

He coordinates the activities performed on the launcher with those carried out by the customer on his satellite. He keeps all parties informed about any hazard that might arise that could jeopardise the launch preparation operations, with a view to avoiding the problem. He works closely with the Director of Operations.

The most important part of his work, however, remains his relationship with the customer. He looks after the customer from the decision to sign the contract, some two years before launch, throughout the preparation campaign. He continues to inform and advise the customer on launch day in the Jupiter Room.

Operations managers at CNES/CSG: who does what?

AOCU : (Adjoint Opérations Charge Utile) Payload Operations Assistant: prepares the satellite campaign schedule and monitors the relevant operations in real time.

AQO : (Adjoint Qualité Opérations) Operations Quality Assistant: ensures that CNES/CSG mission requirements for the launch are satisfied, that Centre preparation activities and applications conform to mandatory procedures and that the rules applicable to operational activities concerning quality assurance and control are respected for any services performed for the benefit of the satellite teams. He keeps track of non-conformances and malfunctions and submits them for processing by risk analysis.

DDO : (Directeur des Opérations) Director of Operations: is responsible for preparing and scheduling the campaign, coordinating satellite preparation activities, preparing the Centre’s resources and general coordination of operations during countdown.

ISCU : (Ingénieur Sauvegarde Charge Utile) Payload Safety Officer: ensures that security and range safety rules are observed for all operations performed on ELA 3.

RCOS : (Responsable Coordination des Opérations Satellite): Satellite Operations Coordination Manager: coordinates satellite preparation operations on a day-to-day basis.

ReTT : (Responsable Transport-Transit) Freight Forwarding and Transport Manager, liaising with RMCU: prepares and coordinates transport and transit activities concerning satellites and their associated equipment.

RMCU : (Responsable Moyens Charge Utile) Payload Facilities Manager: ensures the organisation and availability of all resources specific to the satellite preparation facilities, laboratories and transport necessary for satellite launch preparation.

ROMS : (Responsable Optronique et Moyens Spécialisés) Optronics and Special Resources Manager: is responsible for coordinating the configuration and operation of optical and video resources.

RSP : (Responsable Sûreté–Protection) Protective Security Manager: guarantees the safety of lives and property throughout the Centre and is the principal contact for the Protective Security delegate of the satellite teams.

RTEL : (Responsable Télécommunications) Telecommunications Manager: is responsible for coordinating the configuration and deployment of telecom resources.