A Virtual Machine for Spacecraft Computers

Spacecraft on-board computer (OBC) controls spacecraft's operation. Since flight software on the OBC becomes complex and processors are changing frequently, need for reusing highly reliable flight software inherited from previous missions is increasing. In this research, we developed a virtual machine to improve software reusability for spacecraft. Our virtual machine is similar to Java VM and called as SpaceApp VM. SpaceApp is a simple program executed by the SpaceApp VM. In this paper, we explain on the design and implementation of SpaceApp VM.