Legacy Systems: Keeping Older Satellite Systems Operating

The launch of a new, more powerful satellite is exciting, as it opens the door to a range of new services and capabilities. But many satellite customers are quite satisfied with their current services and equipment, and as a result, satellite operators and ground equipment vendors alike must be creative in terms of offering next-generation solutions while at the same time maintaining and sustaining older legacy systems for established customers.

For the satellite industry, many compelling reasons can propel companies to leap ahead and embrace new satellite technology, both in space and on the ground. Still, customers often are reluctant to abandon a satellite-based solution that has provided cost-effective and reliable performance year after year.

When evaluating the pros and cons of sustaining legacy systems versus upgrading them or purchasing new ground and space systems, cost is the guiding force, says Andrea Maleter, technical director at Maryland-based Futron Corp. “In some ways, the biggest impediment to the adoption of new technology is concerns over the potential for this to impact insurance coverage either by raising rates or having large policy exclusions,” she says.

Paul Welsh, vice president of business development at Pennsylvania-based Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI) agrees that cost is always a factor in the decision-making process, and that while conversion/upgrade costs are highly tangible, benefits are harder to define. “Also, less visible to a decisionmaker are the costs of not upgrading — deferred efficiency improvements and prolonged capability shortfalls,” he says. “Too often operators think only about upfront costs without realizing the back-end implications of their decisions. Certain costs and uncertain benefits are at the heart of all upgrade/sustainment decisions. The challenges of sustaining legacy systems are personnel training and turnover as well as technical obsolescence. If the system is a unique or homegrown application, it can be expensive to maintain and extremely difficult to modify when new requirements are identified.”

At the same time, a decision to discontinue the production of vital satellite components can negatively impact legacy satellite programs going forward. Parts that have been around for years can sometimes simply disappear, leaving a substantial void in the process.

In July, BAE Systems announced that it would begin manufacturing radiation-hardened, field programmable gate array (FPGA) semiconductors for legacy satellite systems. BAE was the original equipment manufacturer of the FPGAs, which were produced from 1996 through 2006, and is the only manufacturer of the new part. In resurrecting the component, BAE Systems identified a critical customer need, and its revival of the FPGA will enable producers of satellite payloads and instruments to avoid time-consuming and costly redesigns, BAE said.

BAE has migrated all the requisite FPGA designs, processes and supporting software toolsets to its U.S. government-funded chip foundry in Manassas, Va., says Vic Scuderi, BAE Systems’ business area manager for space products. This facility is supported by agencies such as U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency, U.S. Air Force Research Lab and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency with the intention of advancing next-generation technology for space. BAE Systems is using the foundry for advanced technologies as well as insuring government programs can maintain legacy programs with older technologies. “In this instance, our customers and end users were demanding a specific spaceflight heritage part because without it, they faced millions in added redesign costs,” says Scuderi. “The bottom line is that whenever someone touches any circuit board, it has an immediate $7 million to $10 million impact on the satellite program in question.”

Scuderi labels the process of mapping the graphical image of the legacy product and the successful transitioning of that product into the new software toolset domain as the real challenge. Once fabricated, the legacy chip will proceed through a rigorous qualification program. “Recent events in space including significant failures have triggered the creation of a new set of more rigorous component testing procedures and processes,” he says. “This activity has been driven by Aerospace Corp. acting on behalf of the government, and it will help to establish a trend with respect to legacy radiation hardened components going forward. There will be more pressure on satellite designers to justify the added expense of qualifying redesigned circuit cards using new components. Legacy products suddenly have a much bigger role in the design trade space.”