Goddard Engineering and Technology Directorate

core Flight System News

  • The Orion spacecraft docked to the Gateway space station in lunar orbit. The software framework for Gateway, like other space agency programs, is NASA's core Flight System.

    NASA to Roll Out Major Update to core Flight Software

    NASA is preparing to roll out a significant update to its core Flight System (cFS), the reusable software the agency has relied on for 20 years. A government-only version of NASA cFS with enhanced security, artificial intelligence, robotics support and autonomy features will be…

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  • Dr. Ashok Prajapati stands next to the MSR-CCRS (Mars Sample Return - Capture Containment and Return System) prototype. It used cFS for Flight Software. Photo Credit: NASA

    Celebrating Twenty Years of Core Flight Software

    In 2004, Goddard software engineers made a practical decision when working on two concurrent missions that has shaped not only how NASA missions operate but has also how the global community approached the exploration, research, and commercialization…

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  • The next space station NASA builds with international partners, the lunar Gateway, will use an agency-developed open-source code to run many of its systems. Commercial space companies are also using the code along with apps developed by Red Canyon to operate planetary landers, satellites, and more.

    Commercial Space: NASA Has an App for That

    Research balloons, satellites, and planetary landers may have little in common, but NASA has written a program that can help operate all these craft and more. This open-source software framework, called core Flight System (cFS), is similar to a smartphone operating system…

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  • Gateway's habitation and logistics outpost with moon in background.

    Goddard’s Core Flight Software Chosen for NASA’s Lunar Gateway

    NASA is improving a flight software system to help create and certify essential software for the lunar Gateway. As part of the Artemis program, NASA will send astronauts to the Moon…

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  • An artistic rendering of the full view of Gateway, an orbital outpost around the Moon.

    core Flight System (cFS)

    The Core Flight Software (cFS) Bundle is a comprehensive, platform-independent software framework designed to support embedded real-time systems. Its architecture is optimized for reuse, rapid development, and portability across diverse mission environments. Built around a dynamic runtime…

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  • The Odysseus lunar lander in orbit. (Intuitive Machines/AP)

    A New Lunar Era with Help from Goddard’s Core Flight System

    In an unprecedented achievement, Intuitive Machines has become the first private company to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon. Their spacecraft, Odysseus, marks the first American lunar landing in over 50 years…

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