Coimbra, 19th March 2009 – After several delays, the European Space Agency has just put GOCE satellite into orbit. Critical Software worked with ESA in the development of the GOCE satellite which will measure the gravity field and represent models of the Earth with extremely high accuracy and spatial resolution, allowing us to significantly improve our knowledge about solid Earth physics and climate research. The module tests on the software onboard the satellite were performed by Critical.
The GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) satellite is part of ESA’s fleet of Earth Explorers, which will perform research missions for the Living Planet Programme. These missions focus on the key components of our planet, such as the geosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. The aim is to make space-based global measurements to advance our understanding of the interactions between these components and the impact that human activity is having on natural Earth processes. The GOCE mission will therefore improve our knowledge of Earth interior processes such as earthquakes and volcanism but also of ocean circulation, which plays a crucial role in energy exchanges around the globe, and sea-level change.
The GOCE satellite will improve knowledge about the impact that human activity is having on Earth
The development of the GOCE satellite was carried out by an industrial consortium of 45 companies, distributed over 13 European countries, which encompasses Critical Software, requested to support the GOCE Platform Application software Module Test. “As a software testing expert company, Critical has once again demonstrated its abilities to perform software verification and validation, an area in which it has earn respect from other Space industry players in Europe”, says Paulo Guedes, Business Development Manager for Aeronautics and Defence markets from Critical Software.
About Critical Software
Critical is a leading provider of solutions, services and technologies for mission and business critical information systems. From offices in Portugal, USA, UK, Romania and Brazil our global market focus and multinational culture have taken us to penetrate in markets around the globe, enabled us to adapt to the most demanding contexts and made it possible to better understand customer needs and business requirements. Working within a diverse array of sectors we deliver high-quality, expert staff who help our customers achieve and sustain success in all their IT ventures. Time and again, our customers value our honesty, in-depth knowledge and partnership approach, which together ensure excellent results. Being vendor-independent, enables us to accurately select and recommend the most suitable and costeffective third-party technologies to each customer specific requirements. The company operates a quality management system certified to CMMI® Level3, ISO 9001:2000 Tick-IT, ISO 15504, NATO AQAP 150, AQAP 2120 and EN9100.
SOURCE CRITICAL