30 Nov 2009
SSF to execute ISVV for BepiColombo
Space Systems Finland has been selected by Astrium GmbH, the Prime Contractor for the BepiColombo satellite, to perform the Independent Software Verification and Validation of the BepiColombo On-Board Software.Being one of ESA's cornerstone missions, BepiColombo will study and understand the composition, geophysics, atmosphere, magnetosphere and history of Mercury, the least explored planet in the inner Solar System.
BepiColombo consists of two individual orbiters: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), that will map the planet, and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), that will investigate its magnetosphere. It will be launched in 2014 for its journey towards Mercury, which will be reached six year later.
The exceptionally challenging characteristics of the mission are reflected in its core, the On-Board Software. The BepiColombo OBSW should provide reliable and safe operation throughout the mission. The purpose of the Independent Software Verification and Validation (ISVV) is to ensure that these highly critical characteristics are met. The ISVV campaign aims at overseeing the verification and validation activities of the development project, providing an independent assessment of the specification, design and implementation of the OBSW, and focusing on robustness and reliability of the software rather than simply validating that expected functionality has been implemented. Thus it adds value by performing additional and complementary verification and validation to that performed by the software developers and increases the confidence in the quality of the OBSW.
