Mission and Payload Operations
Marshall Space Flight Center is the leader in conducting end-to-end mission operations for science payloads in low-Earth orbit, in cislunar space, on the lunar surface and beyond.
Encyclopedia
Updated Apr 4, 2025
A look inside the International Space Station Payload Operations Integration Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.
Contents
Overview
Mission Operations Integration and Planning
- Autonomous and crewed spacecraft science mission operations concept development
- Expertise in Integrating requirements for multiple experiments into a cohesive schedule of on-orbit activities
- Developing safe and efficient on-orbit and ground command procedures
- Logistics during all flight phases across various delivery schedules and vehicles
- Use of automated tools in support of turnkey mission planning solutions
- Creating individual experiment plans based on specific customers’ needs
Mission Operations Training and Execution
- Development of science operations curriculum and related instructional design
- Flight and ground controller training and certification
- Payload instructor assessment and training
- Remote science user, ground systems interface and NASA tools training
- Critical thinking, situational awareness, and anomaly response training
- XR (virtual and augmented) training assessment
- Simulation Model Development
State of the Art Distributed Ground Systems
- Multiple configurable control rooms to meet the specific needs of any mission, including commercial and international partners.
- Turnkey operations areas, complete connectivity to offsite locations, and ability to host customers’ systems onsite
- State-of-the-art Command and Control, Telemetry, Voice, Video services
- Providing the communications solution and connectivity utilizing established NASA communication assets (e.g. NSN, DSN) and capabilities to expand to commercial vendors
- Cyber Security to include In-house IT/security specialists
- Lights-out automated services for routine command and control operational services
- Data Storage Data Management Facility
- Telescience Resource Kit (TReK) that provides remote command and control services anywhere in the world with an internet connection.
- Exception monitoring and notification
- Remote systems access
- Distributed ground systems routing data to multiple remote sites
Autonomous Systems and Turnkey Science Utilization
- Centralized operations and integration capabilities to maximize return on science investment.
Do Business with Us
MSFC Partnerships Office
Nick Case
nicholas.l.case@nasa.gov
256.544.8789
