Timing Analysis of the UPMSat-2 Communications Subsystem ⁎ ⁎This work has been partially funded by the Spanish National R&D&I plan (project M2C2, TIN2014-56158-C4-3-P).

Abstract Communication between satellites and ground stations is a critical element of all satellite missions. Limitations in bandwidth and coverage may restrict the capability of ground operators to control the position and functionality of the satellite and to recover platform and mission data collected on board. In this context, analysing the link budgets, i.e. the amount of information that can be transmitted on each orbit, is an effective part of the system design process, providing scope for modifications before the development of the system is completed. In this paper an approach to computing link budgets based on response-time analysis is described. The analysis provides estimates of worst-case response times for on-board software tasks, which are subsequently used to compute effective link budgets. The approach has been used in the analysis of the communications subsystem of an experimental satellite mission.