Case study: Astral
Astral is Starion’s flexible, component-based ground segment solution which provides all the key elements for space mission operations, with a high degree of automation. It supports multiple spacecraft and can be integrated with third-party components.
Timeline and milestones
- 1997 – Mission Operations Information System (MOIS) tool suite was launched: the company’s original operations support solution and now a component within Astral (Astral Prepare). Trusted for numerous institutional and commercial missions.
- 2003 – First use of MOIS to automate mission operations on the SMART-1 lunar mission.
- 2021 – Astral launched built around a new version of MOIS plus additional components. First operational use of Astral, deployed in a cloud environment.
- 2025 – Additional components added to support constellations and enhanced automation.
Objectives
Astral was developed to build on Starion’s longstanding operational heritage in ground segment development, mission automation and operations preparation.
The objective was to use a modular design that would allow users to use the best components to meet the specific requirements of their ground segment operations. Astral is designed to be highly customisable and components can be integrated in different ways according to each mission’s needs, and used for single satellites or constellations/fleets. It can be deployed on a dedicated server, or on a private or public cloud.
The objective was to enable end-to-end support, from preparation to operations, with the same toolset providing:
- Low learning curve for users avoiding having to learn different systems
- Complete end-to-end configuration of the mission support via a single system
- Well-defined and standardised interfaces between Astral components and external systems, where required
- Cloud enabled with integrated security by design.
Existing deployments of Astral already integrate with third-party software systems such as mission planning, flight dynamics, payload processing, operations simulators and flatsats, and third-party control systems.
Through Astral-Exchange, Astral supports multiple industry standards and ground station interfaces.
Innovation and implementation
Astral is regularly updated with new components that expand the capabilities of the overall solution. In 2024, for example, Starion started development of two components in a 14-month project for ESA to enhance provision of spacecraft ‘operations as a service’.
Outputs of the ‘C2SOS: Monitoring and Control of Constellations and Fleets of Satellites’ project included a configurable dashboard, Astral-Dash, and Astral-Deploy to demonstrate how the European Ground Systems – Common Core (EGS-CC) system can be used for monitoring and control of multiple spacecraft within a constellation or fleet.
Astral’s development has mainly been funded through ESA-funded projects, including the General Support Technology Programme (GSTP) and Technology Development Element (TDE), complemented by commercial space projects such as Astroscale’s ELSA-D and ADRAS-J.
Results and impact
Automation is key when operating many satellites as part of a constellation to avoid having to manually run the procedures for each one individually. Argotec, for example, is using Astral’s preparation, planning and automation components to fully automate the operations of its Hawk for Earth Observation (HEO) constellations, integrating them with its existing ground segment environment:
“Software specifically designed for constellations provides major advantages. It enables automation, efficient resource allocation and streamlined operations at scale. Most importantly, it allows us to manage multiple spacecraft with the same level of confidence and responsiveness as a single satellite – ensuring mission success, reducing operational overhead and increasing overall reliability.”
– OpenSpace magazine, September 2025
Astral users also include Astroscale, which uses Astral to support its ELSA-d, ADRAS-J and ELSA-M spacecraft – pioneering missions in the quest to remove space debris.
The Astral-Prepare component has been used for over 120 missions under its standalone name of Mission Operations Information System (MOIS) tool suite to optimise the processes of procedure preparation for spacecraft validation and mission operations.
What’s next?
Astral has evolved over the years to meet the changing needs of the spacecraft operators while still supporting missions that have in some cases operated for several decades.
Astral supports integrations with control systems such as SCOS-2000, EGS-CC and CCS5. In future, plans include closer integration with CS Group’s GOSMIC ground segment software, which can support mega constellations. Astral Analytics will be extended to further integrate artificial intelligence into Astral to support operations and mission operations knowledge retention.
Appendix – Astral components overview
Astral-Dash
A high-level, web-based dashboard providing a consolidated view of the overall spacecraft constellation and ground segment status.
Astral-Prepare
Provides management and editing of operational procedures as well as validation against the spacecraft database. Procedures can be edited in multiple formats as well as visualised as flowcharts.
Astral-Orbit
An integration of GMAT, a third-party flight dynamics package supporting the automation process. Third-party flight dynamics packages have been integrated for some missions.
Astral-Plan
Mission planning system enabling constraint-based planning and optimisation for platform and payload operations.
Astral-Automate
Supports the automated execution of procedures and of the schedule generated from Astral-Prepare and Astral-Plan.
Astral-Control
Provides monitoring and control capabilities. Designed to be agnostic with respect to the mission control system kernel.
Astral-Watch
Provides system monitoring and control, including local security monitoring.
Astral-Verify
Enables early testing and end-to-end testing of the monitoring and control chain.
Astral-Secure
Protects components from unauthorised access when deployed in a cloud.
Astral-Analytics
Provides an integrated AI/ML framework and tools to support operational activities.
Astral-Aware
Provides space situational awareness capabilities and collision avoidance inputs to the planning system.
Astral-Archive
Provides long-term storage functionalities for the mission.
Astral-Payload
Tailored support for mission-specific data processing and payload activities.
Find out more
- Starion ground segment systems
- Starion mission operations solutions
- Contact us for more details