Command and Data Handling Flight Software test framework: A Radiation Belt Storm Probes practice

During the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission, a test framework was developed by the Embedded Applications Group in the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). The test framework is implemented for verification of the Command and Data Handling (C&DH) Flight Software. The RBSP C&DH Flight Software consists of applications developed for use with Goddard Space Flight Center´s core Flight Executive (cFE) architecture. The test framework´s initial concept originated with tests developed for verification of the Autonomy rules that execute with the Autonomy Engine application of the RBSP C&DH Flight Software. The test framework was adopted and expanded for system and requirements verification of the RBSP C&DH Flight Software. During the evolution of the RBSP C&DH Flight Software test framework design, a set of script conventions and a script library were developed. The script conventions and library eased integration of system and requirements verification tests into a comprehensive automated test suite. The comprehensive test suite is currently being used to verify releases of the RBSP C&DH Flight Software. In addition to providing the details and benefits of the test framework, the discussion will include several lessons learned throughout the verification process of RBSP C&DH Flight Software. Our next mission, Solar Probe Plus (SPP), will use the cFE architecture for the C&DH Flight Software. SPP also plans to use the same ground system as RBSP. Many of the RBSP C&DH Flight Software applications are reusable on the SPP mission, therefore there is potential for test design and test framework reuse for system and requirements verification.