Part of the fun of being in development is figuring stuff out. When it’s time to integrate different tech or hardware, it’s easy to write a few lines of code. It’s faster to do it internally. It’s not fun reaching out to finance to talk about purchase orders or bringing together a committee to vet and buy software. By the time there’s consensus, the launch window has passed.  

We hear that it’s “easier, faster, and cheaper” to develop proprietary C2 software but often that code isn’t sustainable long-term. It requires dependencies no one saw coming. The environment can’t scale beyond one mission. It doesn’t stay cheap or easy to maintain after the initial deployment. Software breaks, it has bugs, it can come under attack if it doesn’t have the latest security patches. 

We’re channeling our inner Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman to talk about some common myths about building an in-house software for satellite management—or any hardware management.

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Mythbusting the custom code approach

It’s easy to underestimate the long-term operational burden when building an in-house hardware-in-the-loop software. It’s understandable to want to keep the project internal to save money and build it quickly. But what if those notions are only true at first? What if that’s not how it plays out in real life? What if thinking it’s easier, faster, and cheaper is just a myth?

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Myth: It’s “easier”

It’s a fact that software is never truly "finished." When building in-house, it’s an internal problem to solve every glitch, crash, and vulnerability. Instead of focusing on testing and validating hardware or operating a mission, developers get trapped in an endless cycle of fixing bugs, updating code, and patching security holes.

Building custom integrations with other software or hardware is notoriously difficult, time-consuming, and fragile. Every time an external platform updates its API, an internal integration risks breaking. Which means a developer has to drop what they’re doing and deploy a fix immediately.

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Myth: It’s “faster”

Building software in-house often seems like a shortcut to getting exactly what’s wanted but it rarely translates to a faster deployment. The reality is that the actual coding is just a fraction of the timeline. Before a single feature is even built, developers must spend significant time researching compatibility, setting up and configuring development environments, and sourcing reliable libraries. 

As the project progresses, teams inevitably hit a dependency rabbit hole, where integrating one tool requires updating three others, creating a domino effect of unforeseen technical challenges. When these architectural hurdles are compounded with the time required for rigorous testing, security auditing, and debugging, the DIY approach quickly transforms from a sprint to a marathon.

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Myth: It’s “cheaper”

Sure, it can be cheap upfront. But then there’s the need to account for maintenance, patching, updates, and debugging. Sometimes those are fire drills and need to be fixed ASAP but that can mean higher rates, overtime pay, or contractor fees for that engineering time. Often on top of developer salaries for internal resources. Suddenly, licensing fees aren’t looking too spendy. 

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Face the facts: The benefits of COTS software

Someone else owns the risk with bought software. Bug fixes, security patches, system updates, and compliance upgrades are the vendor's responsibility. All it takes is updating the software to the latest version which takes minutes, not hours of dev time to do these updates internally. 

COTS software not only saves time, but also saves in terms of technical debt. Commercial platforms come with a well-tested and well-maintained architecture. By bypassing the trial-and-error phase of development, there’s an instant reduction to technical debt. 

The misconception that buying software is "too expensive" is quickly debunked. It’s simple math when adding up the costs of developer salaries, diverted focus, additional resources and tools, and lost time vs. software installs. By purchasing a proven hardware integration solution, teams focus on what they do best, secure in the knowledge that the infrastructure is stable, compliant, and built to scale.

The results of buying software instead of building it in-house speak for themselves: less risk, lower costs, higher efficiency, and a faster path to success. Your team shouldn’t be focused on software maintenance, they should be focused on completing successful missions. 

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The real deal: COSMOS

Buying COSMOS is actually easier, faster, and cheaper. Most importantly, it’s trusted. It’s become developer-preferred C2 software due to its ease of use and configuration. COSMOS has been around for 20+ years but isn’t stagnating. The engineering team at OpenC3 is constantly merging updates to the codebase so users can continue to use COSMOS in innovative ways.

Don’t just take our word for it that COSMOS is easier and faster. As our customer Mark L. shared, “They are very open to feature requests. For example, we needed the capability to get the binary representation of a command and they released the feature in their next release. Despite having full access to the source code, we could not move at our current speed without their support."

Get up and running in less time than it takes to have a standup. OpenC3 takes care of code maintenance, dependencies, and patches, builds new integrations and plugins, and regularly pushes new releases. 

Plus, it’s one flat fee for everything instead of being locked out of features because you’re not running pro or plus or gold or prime or elite, or whatever the top tier of six options is named. We have COSMOS Core, which anyone anywhere can use for free, and we have COSMOS Enterprise. Which is so cost-effective that the finance manager will approve the PO without a second thought. 

COSMOS effortlessly pulls data and telemetry from various hardware and software touchpoints into one C2 platform, has a robust app store with commonly requested plugins, and includes support services that put you in touch directly with the engineers building COSMOS. 

We do offer a demo of our software, but we know devs like to be hands-on and see the code for themselves. That’s why we recommend downloading COSMOS Core, which is free, so you can test our satellite command and control software for yourself and create a proof of concept, and then upgrade to Enterprise when your finance department realizes what a cost-saver it’ll be. 

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Want to go right to a walkthrough of what’s included in the upgraded version of COSMOS? Easily book a demo of our Enterprise version to learn more about the advanced features and included support that comes with it. Book your demo now!