"FileMaker Go and the iPad have opened up important new paths to us. Our ground operations team is now equipped with iPads and FileMaker Go." - Richard van Holtz, Operations Engineer at the ESOC

ESA, the European Space Agency, is Europe's gateway into space. Its objective is to develop, coordinate and promote European space travel. 19 member states currently belong to the ESA. By pooling the finances and expertise of the individual countries it is able to implement projects which none of the member states could afford individually.

Projects include researching the earth and its immediate environs, researching the solar system and the universe, developing technologies and services and promoting various European high-tech industries. The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt is responsible for ensuring that the necessary satellites find and remain in their correct orbits, and that everything runs smoothly.

And for monitoring and continuous documentation, ESOC employees use a FileMaker Go database with iPads.

A worldwide network of ground operations is centrally monitored and controlled from the ESOC control centre in Darmstadt

Satellites supply us with valuable information and facilitate important new findings. Thanks to the earth observation satellites for instance we can compare the dimensions of the earthquake and the tsunami in Japan and the before and after situations. This knowledge enables us to draw up strategies for dealing with disasters. Satellites supply us with important and objective information for example about the development of the rainforests over time or the melting of the icecaps and literally force us to act. The satellites require a massive amount of technology and equally massive control and monitoring apparatus.

The ESA ground operations around the world are imposing structures with massive 15- to 35-meter antennas as in Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Australia and French Guyana for example, where the satellites are launched into outer space. From the moment the satellites separate from the carrier rockets they are controlled by the ESOC in Darmstadt. Darmstadt maneuvers the satellites into their final orbits and subsequently conducts continuous monitoring to ensure that they remain in their designated flight path. "The control centre in Darmstadt is in constant contact with the whole of the ESA's ground operations network. From here we monitor the antennas which are used to get in touch with the satellites and initiate remote servicing if necessary. If for instance one of the deep space antennas suffers a failed compressor, which ensures that the reception amplifier is cooled constantly to below -20 degrees celsius, the operator on duty in Darmstadt follows a pre-determined action plan (procedure) to remedy the problem promptly" explains Richard van Holtz, Operations Engineer at the ESOC. It is absolutely essential that such steps take place in the right order and at the right time so that contact with the satellites is not affected .