Fault tolerance and COTS: Next generation of high performance satellite computers

The increasing complexity of future satellite missions requires adequately powerful on- board computer systems. The obvious performance gap between state-of-the-art micro- processor technology ("commercial-off-the-shelf", COTS) and available radiation hard components already impedes the realization of innovative satellite applications requiring high performance on-board data processing. In the paper we emphasize the advantages of the COTS approach for future OBCS and we show why we are convinced that this approach is feasible. We present the architecture of the fault tolerant control computer of the BIRD satellite and finally we show some results of the BIRD mission after 20 months in orbit, especially the experience with its COTS based control computer.