Lessons Learned from Development of Web-Based Mission Operations Software

The Laboratory for Advanced Space Systems at Illinois (LASSI) is responsible for the development of, and mission operations for, a series of student built CubeSats. The Steven R. Nagel Mission Operations Center (MOC) provides the facilities and software systems required to track and communicate withthe satellites. Mission operations software has been designed with a flexible and familiar user experience supporting not just traditional workstations but also mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. This paper discusses the motivation behind choosing a web-based architecture for the scalable, full-stack design underlying the MOC software system. Also presented is the deliberate selection of mainstream languages, tools, and frameworks for containerization and web-based delivery – a philosophy that enables future enhancements and fosters maintainability. Processes that facilitate student workflow patterns such as comprehensive code reviews and development operations (DevOps) automation are presented.