How to Run Two Ground Stations in NOS3 Simulation?

[tbouvencourt]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently working with NOS3 and I have a question about Ground Stations. Is it possible to run two separate Ground Stations simultaneously within the NOS3 simulation?

If it is possible, could someone guide me on the correct approach or configuration needed to set it up?

If it’s not directly supported, I would also appreciate any ideas or workarounds on how one could implement a second Ground Station to interact with the simulated satellites.

Thanks in advance for any guidance or suggestions!

[zlynch2]

HI @tbouvencourt !

I would follow up with asking you a couple questions.

What ground stations are you trying to use in NOS3? it may be easier to define multiple interfaces in one ground station that connect to different IPs and Ports. Again this depends on what you are doing so maybe some more info could help.

Second, NOS3 utilizes docker which can be tricky, however the gsw container is connnected to each Spacecraft docker network during launch. Refer to the fsw_cfs_launch.sh script found here: scripts/fsw/fsw_cfs_launch.sh

let me know if that makes sense.

[tbouvencourt]

My goal is to have my satellite communicate with two different ground stations. The idea is to simulate data exfiltration through two independent GS links. For now I’m using COSMOS 4, but I can work with any other GSW if needed.

The approach I’m considering is:

1. creating a new Docker instance to represent the second ground station,

2. attaching it to a separate IP and Port, and allowing the satellite container to communicate with either ground station.

Yes, that makes sense. For now, I’m looking into the launch scripts to duplicate the GS part and observe the behavior (with a new IP/Port).

[zlynch2]

Ok that make sense.

Your approach I think is definitely reasonable. Separating the GSW into separate containers with different IPs and ports so that there is no overlap is a step in the right direction. The launch Scripts I would be concerned about if you are using Cosmos 4.5 and cFS would be the fsw_cfs_launch.sh and the gsw_cosmos_launch.sh scritpts. Here you will see how the containers are being created and connected. Note, cosmos is connected to the nos3-core network, and cFS is part of the nos3-sc01 network. So you will need to connect your FSW to the new cosmos 4.5 accordingly (see the cfs launch script).

If you have more questions let us know. Thanks!

[tbouvencourt]

Thanks for the clarifications @zlynch2 !

On my side, I’ve set up a second ground station. The first one receives the telemetry during even minutes, and the exfiltration is then performed through GS2 using the debug interface.

I’m currently working on adapting this mechanism so it also works with the radio.

Do you think it would be useful to have an official scenario with two ground stations, or maybe a fork that provides an easy way to set up a 2-GS configuration?
Or is this not something you would be particularly interested in having me push?

Thanks again for your feedback!

[zlynch2]

Feel free to create a public fork! you can reply in this issue to where it lives and we can check it out. Historically, most missions only use 1 GDS for simplicity, but it is possible for different GDS's to be used.

[zlynch2]

closing, as question seems answered. If anything else comes up feel free to ask another question. Thanks!