Robust Software Development for University-Built Satellites

Satellites and other complex systems now become more and more software dependent. Even nano satellites have complexity that can be compared to scientific instruments launched to Mars. COTS components and subsystems may now be purchased to support payload development. On the contrary, the software has to be adapted to the the new payload and, consequently, hardware architecture selected for the satellite. There is not a rigorous and robust way to design software for CubeSats or small satellites yet. In this paper, we will briefly review some existing systems and present our approach, which based on Behaviour-Interaction-Priority (BIP) framework. We will describe our experience in implementing fight software simulation and testing in the Swiss CubETH CubeSat project. We will conclude with lessons learned and future utilization of BIP for hardware testing and simulation.