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Paris, 12 March 2004

GFI Informatique involved in the Rosetta mission

On Tuesday 2 March 2004, the Ariane 5 launcher lifted off and
placed the Rosetta probe perfectly in its escape orbit

The aim of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission is to study the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, with which the Rosetta probe is to rendezvous in August 2014 for an observation period of about 18 months.

France's role in the Rosetta mission

France is involved in the Rosetta mission through:

• the necessary participation of the European Space Agency. As such, France's space industry is involved in construction of the main satellite
• participations in payload instruments, both on the main satellite and the lander
• participation in lander engineering, development, testing and operations

While French industry is developing part of the main satellite, the other French activities are being managed by the CNES space centre in Toulouse, which is coordinating the services of:

• 14 CNRS laboratories, P. Sabatier University in Toulouse and the Paris Observatory for the instrument-related contributions,
• the CNES's technical departments and industrial partners (Thales, Saft, Steel, Cisi, Realix and GFI Informatique) for the technical contributions.

GFI Informatique's contribution

GFI Informatique is involved in the CNES's contributions to the Rosetta mission, and specifically, its responsibility for the Science Operations and Navigation Centre (SONC) ground segment based at the Toulouse Space Centre. The SONC will enable the lander scientists to access the data collected throughout the voyage and will assist the CNES in the landing phase in 2014.

GFI Informatique personnel in Toulouse developed the SONC-DPS, which is the SONC's central processing system located in the CNES computer centre. The GFI team was selected for its expertise in the following fields:

• Scientific knowledge, providing scientific data to help produce the system's specifications,
• Experience of data processing centres, enabling selection priorities to be made,
• Specialist Java programming skills.

This service, which mobilised a team of 16 people, was provided to a particularly tight schedule, considering the importance of the project. Development of the SONC-DPS went smoothly, thanks to the dedication of the GFI Informatique team and the efforts of the CNES, which acted as customer, manager and operator.

Leading on from this project, GFI Informatique has been contracted to develop the ground segment for the Aspera science experiment on the Mars-Express satellite, and to develop the data processing centre for the Cassini Huygens probe.

Architecture of the Science Operations and Navigation Centre (SONC)

* operations support tools

About GFI Informatique

GFI Informatique is an international IT services group employing 7,000 people. The group recorded sales of 500 million euros in 2003. GFI Informatique provides its customers with expertise in four main areas: consulting, systems engineering and integration, software and outsourcing. The company covers all stages of the information system life cycle, designing, building, implementing and administering high added value applications, mainly for large companies, public bodies and local authorities. GFI Informatique has over 30 branches in France and 12 overseas subsidiaries.

For additional information, please contact:
Press Relations Manager : Martine Canaque
Email : - Phone: 33 (0)1 44 85 88 56