Software testing plays an essential role in validating and verifying cyber-physical systems’ software (e.g., embedded software developed for spaceflight systems - space software); however, the definition and assessment of test cases is mainly human-driven. Regulatory agencies thus need automated solutions to assess software testing activities to minimize the risk of human mistakes.

Mutation analysis might be a solution to assess software testing activities; however, there is still uncertainty regarding its applicability to embedded software for CPS. For example, we lack studies applying mutation analysis techniques to CPS software.

This keynote will overview our work towards enhancing mutation analysis techniques to enable their applicability to space software and, more in general, embedded software for CPS. Our work is part of a research project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) involving private companies in the space sector. We defined and evaluated a mutation analysis pipeline that includes innovative optimizations. We evaluated our solutions with a benchmark provided by ESA and our industry partners: GomSpace, a manufacturer and supplier of nanosatellites, and LuxSpace, a developer of infrastructure products for space.