---
title: "In-Space Missions case study: Mission control in a browser"
description: "In-Space Missions needed software that let customers control their satellites, and no existing system fitted their business rules. Its customer data portal went live before the Faraday-1 satellite launched."
url: https://www.pivale.co/work/in-space-missions/
publisher: Pivale (https://www.pivale.co)
---

# In-Space Missions case study: Mission control in a browser

In-Space Missions needed software that let customers control their satellites, and no existing system fitted their business rules. Its customer data portal went live before the Faraday-1 satellite launched.

The problem: Customers needed to control their satellites, and no existing software fitted In-Space's business rules. The solution: An API-first customer data portal with a web interface, a REST API and automated access tests. The outcome: Live before the Faraday-1 satellite launched, with changes released in minutes.

| | |
|---|---|
| Client | In-Space Missions, space mission specialists |
| Sector | Space and satellites |
| Services | Web application, API design, automated testing, CI/CD, infrastructure, hosting, support |
| Engagement | January 2019 to launch in January 2020, then support until BAE Systems bought In-Space |

## Outcomes

- **Live** before the first Faraday-1 satellite launch
- **Minutes** to roll out a change once the team has verified it

## The challenge: No software fitted.

In-Space Missions needed their customers to send control requests to their satellites and get the responses back. No existing software could handle their business rules.

In-Space Missions designs, builds and operates space missions for global customers from their UK site. As a start-up in the UK's New Space sector, they schedule shared satellite resources for several customers, so each customer's data has to stay private.

Pivale and In-Space defined the baseline architecture in early 2019, knowing some requirements would only surface later. The two teams worked in short iterations, testing assumptions with a proof of concept and changing course in small steps.

## What we built: An API-first customer data portal.

### AdonisJS and Nuxt

The API runs on AdonisJS, a Node.js framework, and the web interface on Nuxt, with no content management system.

### Web interface or API

Customers send control requests and read their satellite's responses in the browser or through a REST API documented to the OpenAPI standard.

### Queued for scheduling

The portal queues each request for In-Space's downstream systems, which schedule shared satellite resources and send the payload responses back.

### Access control tested on each build

A suite of access control tests runs with each build, so In-Space can change the system without regressions or data leaks.

### Changes live in minutes

In-Space tests changes in secure Platform.sh staging environments, then rolls them out in a few minutes.

## What the client said

> Pivale have been excellent at working in partnership with us to design our customer facing frontend in an agile manner that has been shaped during the development and operational phase. They have helped identify the appropriate technologies at each stage and have provided a pragmatic, cost-effective solution that we have been able to build together to deliver value to our customers.

— Andy Schofield, Principal Ground Systems Engineer, In-Space Missions

## Results: Ready for launch, still growing.

### Live before Faraday-1

Customers could test the portal and give feedback before In-Space's first Faraday-1 satellite launch.

### Two ways in

Customers choose the web interface or the documented REST API to send their requests.

### Big changes with confidence

Automated tests and staging environments let In-Space make large changes to the core API, then release them in minutes.

### Built on since launch

In-Space added two-factor authentication, API tokens and geo-location (TLE) data after launch. Pivale supported the portal until BAE Systems bought In-Space and took their software in house.

## Related solutions and services

- [Portals & intranets](https://www.pivale.co/solutions/portals-intranets): Custom systems that support daily operations.
- [Web app development](https://www.pivale.co/services/web-apps): When off-the-shelf doesn’t cut it.
- [Support & security](https://www.pivale.co/services/support): Responsive support that grows with you.

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Source: https://www.pivale.co/work/in-space-missions/. Pivale is a UK digital consultancy. Book a 30-minute call at https://www.pivale.co/contact/ or email hello@pivale.co.