The Packet Utilisation Standard training course is an in-depth, two days course covering the ECSS E-ST-70-41-C standard. It will take place at ESTEC/ESTEC (Noordwijk, The Netherlands), remote participation is not possible.

This standard is the one defining the application level interface between space and ground, and has a significant impact on on-board system architectures. It functionally defines a set of standardized services, the interface to interact with them, as well as the rules governing their tailoring and extension according ot mission needs.

This course provides an introduction followed by a deep dive on the standard in an operational and system driven way allowing to get a good grasp at all the functionalities it provides, as well as understanding how to properly tailor it depending on mission needs. It is targeted at system, operations or software engineers having to apply this standard to their missions, focusing on the design and development phases (through the tailoring and deployment processes).

The following topics are discussed during this training:

• Part I – The Context of the Standard
  • What is this standard
  • Its role on board and on ground
  • Its relationship with other CCSDS and ECSS standards
  • Its interactions with the other communication layers (transport and below)
• Part II – The Contents of the Standard
  • The foundation model
  • The standardized service types, and for each of them
    • The definitions it introduces;
    • The standardized requests and reports;
    • The tailoring and deployment rules;
    • Some guidelines for implementing the related functionality;
    • The evolutions between the previous and current version.

Ample time is left to questions and interactions, allowing for discussions based on the actual needs of the participants, e.g. tailoring recommendations for a specific mission, or specific implementation recommendations.

Specifics for this session

This session of the PUS-C training will be partially targeted at members of the CubeSat community. While the full extent of the standard will be presented, there will be a special focus on tailoring it to small missions or units, as well as potential bridges between the PUS-C standard and the CSP (CubeSat Protocol).

Please note that 9 places for participants from Small and Medium-sized Enterprsises are available.

The course is free of charge. Participants are expected to cover their own travel, meal and accomodation costs.

ESA Flight Software System Section

Please inform the organisers at your earliest convenience if you cannot take part in the course by sending an email to: sme-office@esa.int

No-shows on the day will be excluded from future courses and events.