diff --git a/groundStation/src/backend/communication.c b/groundStation/src/backend/communication.c
index 19ea73ae4cf7c8f7f8a35bf8b316bf28e19e7903..c00878aa88263a8fab890089eab70cb4d8510231 100644
--- a/groundStation/src/backend/communication.c
+++ b/groundStation/src/backend/communication.c
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ int formatPacket(metadata_t *metadata, void *data, unsigned char **formattedComm
 	// Checksum
 	// receive data and calculate checksum
 	int i;
-	char data_checksum;
+	char data_checksum = 0;
 	for(i = 0; i < 7 + metadata->data_len; i++)
 	{
 		data_checksum ^= (*formattedCommand)[i];