From the initial development of the packet telemetry standard to the protocols that will be used for the Mars communications infrastructure, CCSDS has developed and published 30 Recommendations for Space Data Systems Standards. CCSDS attributes its success to the cooperation among its diverse membership.

The 2002 Space Ops conference has noted this special milestone by scheduling a special plenary session titled "CCSDS; 20 Years in Review" on October 9. SpaceOps is an international spacecraft operations conference that promotes continuous technical interchange for all aspects of space mission operations and ground data systems.

To date more than 200 satellite missions have elected to fly using CCSDS protocols. The majority of these missions utilize the CCSDS Recommendations for Packet Telemetry and Telecommand data formats and Radio Frequency Modulation Systems. Many of these missions also follow recommendations for data archiving, Space Link Extension (SLE) services, Time Code Formats, and Lossless Data Compression.

Recent accomplishments of CCSDS include the development of protocols that adapt new communication technologies for use in space. The CCSDS File Delivery Protocol is slated for use in future missions to Mars. This standard will facilitate interoperability between rovers, landers, and orbiters that will be launched by different international space agencies.

Commercial product developments are also using new CCSDS networking protocols that allow spacecraft and their instruments to operate like nodes on the Internet.

The CCSDS was formed in 1982 by the major space agencies of the world to provide a forum for discussion of common problems in the development and operation of space data systems. Its mission is to provide the means whereby space agencies can reach voluntary consensus on standard techniques for handling space data that enhance cross support, interoperability, and science information interchange.

These standards reduce operations costs by sharing facilities, and eliminating unjustified project-unique design and development. Since its inception, participation in the CCSDS has steadily increased and it is currently composed of ten member agencies and twenty-four observer agencies.

The member space agencies represent the US, Europe, Japan, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Europe, Brazil, Russia, and Canada. Additionally, over 100 worldwide industrial associates participate in CCSDS and have developed compatible products to meet the requirements of missions and ground-support complexes.

CCSDS products are data- and information-systems Recommendations called Blue Books. These Recommendations, developed jointly by the experts of the member agencies with contributions from the observer agencies and industry, serve as baseline documents for the applicable standards of the participating agencies.

CCSDS Recommendations are routinely submitted to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for adoption as international standards. CCSDS also publishes Reports (Green Books), which provide additional material to support the implementation of Recommendations. CCSDS Recommendations and Reports are available free of charge at the CCSDS website.

As the space age evolved in the 1960s and 1970s, space agencies grew increasingly interested in international cooperative activities for space science. This gradually led to a desire for cross support between the respective communications and space data systems of the agencies.

During those early days, in the absence of any internationally agreed space data standards, cross support was generally handled by the introduction of "black boxes" to establish compatibility at the interfaces. These "black boxes" were uniquely designed for each individual case.

As the space program moved into the 1980s, technological advances in onboard computation and memory made available new capabilities for space data systems. At the same time, the costs of implementing and operating these systems were increasing significantly.

In the autumn of 1982, the CCSDS with its panel structure was formally established at a meeting in Toulouse, France. Technical panels were formed to develop Recommendations in various space data system areas. The following structure was adopted:

• Panel 1 - Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (now Space Communications),
• Panel 2 - Information Interchange Processes,
• Panel 3 - Cross Support Operations, and
• Panel 4 - Radio-metric and Orbit Data (no longer active; Panel 1 is now responsible for this activity).

The space-ground link was the first part of the data system to be addressed by CCSDS, primarily because it was unique to space activities and was constrained by rather severe problems. CCSDS Panel 1 soon presented concrete results in the form of a CCSDS Recommendation on Packet Telemetry.

This document contains recommendations on telemetry data structures for what has been called "conventional spacecraft," and these recommendations have subsequently been used to produce agency telemetry standards for application to a number of flight projects.

The quick production of the completed Recommendation was in a large part due to the great progress made in this field prior to 1982 by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Around 1990, the CCSDS entered into a cooperative arrangement with Sub-Committee 13 under Technical Committee 20 of ISO. Under this arrangement, CCSDS-developed Recommendations are advanced to SC-13 where they are progressed, via the normal ISO procedures of review and voting, into ISO/CCSDS Standards.

Additionally, CCSDS technical panels have become more involved with other Standards Developing Organizations through liaison activities. Typical of these are Committee for Earth Observing Systems (CEOS), US Department of Defense (DoD), and others.

Although the growing acceptance of CCSDS Recommendations is testimony to the quality of the work, there remains much to be done.

Credit for the success of the CCSDS must be given to many people in many places: the fine technical staffs of the member agencies which form the core of the activity, the flight project managers who showed fairness in their analysis and acceptance of the CCSDS products, and management of the member agencies who support the CCSDS efforts.

Through the CCSDS, space agencies worldwide continue to work for cooperative solutions to the space data problems that allow us to do more in better and cheaper ways for the benefit of all humankind.

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