Collection Planning Manager

Lights-Out Automation

Current and future imaging satellite systems provide so much image gathering capability and have such short planning timelines that automation is required for the systems to achieve their full potential.  The Collection Planning Manager includes an Automation Manager which allows complete lights-out automation of the planning process.  The Automation Manager communicates with the rest of the ground control system and remote customer's systems defining tasking windows, uplink/downlink assignments, and approved collection plans.  Within the overall Orbit Logic system solution, the Automation Manager on the Collection Planning Manager manages mutiple CPAW workstations as they perform the actual collection planning.  Some of the functions that are automated follow:

  • Receive collection orders
  • Receive tasking window requests
  • Receive and process order feasibility requests
  • Generate and optimize tasking window schedules
  • Task CPAW workstations to generate collection plans
  • Merge workstation collection plans into a master plan
  • Generate uplink/downlink schedules
  • Generate data recorder downlink/delete plans
  • Validate collection plans
  • Process weather data