Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, a technology company in Defense, National Security and Global Markets, announced the successful completion of factory acceptance testing between its EPOCH Command and Control (C2) software and Airbus’ OneSat next-generation software-defined satellite platform.

Unlike traditional fixed satellite systems, Airbus’ OneSat software-defined satellite platform offers dynamic, in-orbit reconfiguration capabilities, dramatically enhancing mission flexibility. These advances, however, introduce new levels of complexity for the ground control systems that manage them.

Addressing this need, Kratos added new capabilities to a recent release of the EPOCH C2 software to support the dynamic nature of the OneSat satellite platform. This included the ability to work in tandem with OneSat’s highly dynamic configurations, frequent updates, and greater autonomy onboard the software-defined spacecraft.

“This successful milestone reflects the close collaboration we’ve established with Airbus in developing software-defined space capabilities,” said Maurizio Scotta, President of Kratos Communications. "The flexibility of our EPOCH command and control system design and the experience of our personnel allows us to work with Airbus to unlock the full potential of the OneSat Platform — enabling greater flexibility, faster reconfiguration, and smarter operations for our mutual customers.”

The factory acceptance test demonstrated the compatibility of EPOCH’s C2 system with Airbus’ OneSat Platform. During this process, Kratos and Airbus engineers verified that the EPOCH system’s hardware and software functioned as designed, could communicate with a simulated satellite, and met all safety and redundancy requirements. With all mission scenarios successfully tested, the system was accepted by Airbus, confirming its readiness for delivery and operational use.

Elodie Viau, Senior Vice President of Telecommunication and Navigation for Airbus Defence and Space, said, “This achievement gives us full confidence in the reliability and performance of the EPOCH system that will operate our satellites in orbit. It’s an important step forward as we prepare for launch and continue delivering innovative software-defined satellites to our customers.”

Kratos has been providing industry-leading satellite command and control systems to customers for over 20 years. This milestone demonstrates Kratos’ advancements in the ground system to support software-defined satellites. Beyond command and control, Kratos has also developed new advanced ground capabilities for traffic planning, resource orchestration, and performance monitoring to support software-defined satellites.

Click here to learn more about Satellite Bus and Platforms on SATNow