#39: Demystifying Spacecraft Operations for Exploration and Earth Observation Missions - Thomas Ormston, ESA

Today, I am speaking with Thomas Ormston, Deputy Spacecraft Operations Manager for the Sentinel-1 mission at the European Space Agency. Thomas has over 15 years of experience in spacecraft operations from being part of the operations team for the Mars Express mission to then becoming the spacecraft operations engineer for EarthCARE and Sentinel-1 missions.

In this episode, we discuss the role of a spacecraft operations engineer, his experience flying a spacecraft in Mars orbit, the differences with operating Earth observation missions, the Sentinel-1B incident, the growth of the space sustainability market and more.

- ESA Operations on Twitter

- Thomas on Twitter

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01:06: Thomas's story and intro to ESA Operations

05:20: The role of a Spacecraft Operations Engineer

11:31: Operating a spacecraft in Mars orbit

17:29: Transitioning to operating an Earth observation satellite

19:12: Rosetta mission

21:14: Working on ESA's EarthCARE mission pre-launch

29:30: Operating the Sentinel-1 mission (Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B)

35:10: The Sentinel-1B incident

42:00: The growth of the space sustainability market

47:01: The impact of satellite megaconstellations

51:08: Wrap-up