Spacecraft autonomy and reliability in MTG satellite via On-board Control Procedures

On-board Control Procedures (OBCPs) provide a useful mean to implement functional as well as operational flight procedures (e.g. payload switch-on/switch-off and spacecraft mode management) which can be modified, if necessary, even during the mission itself. This paper addresses the OBCP implementation in Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) satellite, where OBCPs are written in a specific language called On-board Command Language (OCL) and executed by a virtual machine installed into the spacecraft on-board SW. Before being uploaded, OBCPs are implemented and tested on ground by means of a dedicated OBCP development environment. Thanks to the OCL features and OBCP operational approach, OBCP usage can help in raising spacecraft robustness against environmental changes, reliability and autonomy capabilities.