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Ground station

{{Short description|Terrestrial radio station for communication with spacecraft}}

{{For|stations controlling unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)|UAV ground control station}}

{{Use American English|date=November 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}

File:CSIRO ScienceImage 4350 CSIROs Parkes Radio Telescope with moon in the background.jpg pointing toward the Moon, receiving data from Apollo 11 mission back to Earth]]

A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves from astronomical radio sources. Ground stations may be located either on the surface of the Earth, or in its atmosphere.{{cite web|title=Federal Standard 1037C - Earth Station|publisher=General Services Administration|year=1996|url=http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-013/_1872.htm|access-date=2009-04-23}} {{PD-notice}} Earth stations communicate with spacecraft by transmitting and receiving radio waves in the super high frequency (SHF) or extremely high frequency (EHF) bands (e.g. microwaves). When a ground station successfully transmits radio waves to a spacecraft (or vice versa), it establishes a telecommunications link. A principal telecommunications device of the ground station is the parabolic antenna.

Ground stations may have either a fixed or itinerant position. Article 1 § III of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations describes various types of stationary and mobile ground stations, and their interrelationships.{{cite web|title=ITU Radio Regulations – Article 1, Definitions of Radio Services|publisher=International Telecommunication Union |url=http://life.itu.int/radioclub/rr/art01.htm|access-date=2009-04-23|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430062416/http://life.itu.int/radioclub/rr/art01.htm|archive-date=2009-04-30}}

Specialized satellite Earth stations or satellite tracking stations are used to telecommunicate with satellites — chiefly communications satellites. Other ground stations communicate with crewed space stations or uncrewed space probes. A ground station that primarily receives telemetry data, or that follows space missions, or satellites not in geostationary orbit, is called a ground tracking station, or space tracking station, or simply a tracking station.

When a spacecraft or satellite is within a ground station's line of sight, the station is said to have a view of the spacecraft (see pass). A spacecraft can communicate with more than one ground station at a time. A pair of ground stations are said to have a spacecraft in mutual view when the stations share simultaneous, unobstructed, line-of-sight contact with the spacecraft.{{cite web|title=ATIS Telecom Glossary - View|year=2007|publisher=Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions|editor-last=Underkoffler|editor-first=C.|editor2-last=Webster|editor2-first=A.|editor3-last=Colombo|editor3-first=A.|url=http://www.atis.org/glossary/definition.aspx?id=501|access-date=2009-04-22|archive-date=6 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606013738/http://www.atis.org/glossary/definition.aspx?id=501|url-status=dead}}

Telecommunications port

A telecommunications port — or, more commonly, teleport — is a satellite ground station that functions as a hub connecting a satellite or geocentric orbital network with a terrestrial telecommunications network, such as the Internet.

Teleports may provide various broadcasting services among other telecommunications functions,{{cite web|url=http://www.shincorp.com/IR/SATTEL/annual_ssa/2003_content/glossary.pdf|access-date=April 25, 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716055146/http://www.shincorp.com/IR/SATTEL/annual_ssa/2003_content/glossary.pdf|archive-date=July 16, 2011|title=Glossary}} such as uploading computer programs or issuing commands over an uplink to a satellite.{{cite web|url=http://www.bisenius.com/index.cfm?fuseaction%3D%26id%3D62|access-date=April 25, 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305010840/http://www.bisenius.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=&id=62|archive-date=March 5, 2009 |title=Satellite Teleport}}

In May 1984, the Dallas/Fort Worth Teleport became the first American teleport to commence operation.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}

Earth terminal complexes

File:BoiseSatelliteDish.jpg satellite dish (manufactured by Level 3 Communications) in Boise, Idaho]]

In Federal Standard 1037C, the United States General Services Administration defined an Earth terminal complex as the assemblage of equipment and facilities necessary to integrate an Earth terminal (ground station) into a telecommunications network.{{cite web|title=Federal Standard 1037C - Earth terminal complex|year=1996|publisher=General Services Administration |url=http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-013/_1874.htm|access-date=2009-04-22}} {{PD-notice}}{{cite web|title=ATIS Telecom Glossary - Earth terminal complex|year=2007|publisher=Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions|editor-last=Underkoffler|editor-first=C.|editor2-last=Webster|editor2-first=A.|editor3-last=Colombo|editor3-first=A.|url=http://www.atis.org/glossary/definition.aspx?id=7510|access-date=2009-04-22|archive-date=10 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710000107/http://www.atis.org/glossary/definition.aspx?id=7510|url-status=dead}} FS-1037C has since been subsumed by the ATIS Telecom Glossary, which is maintained by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), an international, business-oriented, non-governmental organization. The Telecommunications Industry Association also acknowledges this definition.

Satellite communications standards

The ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), a division of the International Telecommunication Union, codifies international standards agreed-upon through multinational discourse. From 1927 to 1932, the International Consultative Committee for Radio administered standards and regulations now governed by the ITU-R.

In addition to the body of standards defined by the ITU-R, each major satellite operator provides technical requirements and standards that ground stations must meet in order to communicate with the operator's satellites. For example, Intelsat publishes the Intelsat Earth Station Standards (IESS) which, among other things, classifies ground stations by the capabilities of their parabolic antennas, and pre-approves certain antenna models.{{cite web|title=Intelsat Earth Station Standards (IESS) – Document IESS–207 (Rev. 4)|date=2005-05-10|publisher=Eutelsat |url=http://ww2.intelsat.com/pdf/en/resources/earthstations/IESS-207E.pdf|access-date=2009-04-22|url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017135233/http://ww2.intelsat.com/pdf/en/resources/earthstations/IESS-207E.pdf|archive-date=2006-10-17}} Eutelsat publishes similar standards and requirements, such as the Eutelsat Earth Station Standards (EESS).{{cite web|title=Earth Station Minimum Technical and Operational Requirements (Standard M, EESS 502 Issue 11 Rev. 1)|publisher=Eutelsat

|url=http://www.eutelsat.com/satellites/4_5_1_2.html|access-date=2009-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228132420/http://www.eutelsat.com/satellites/4_5_1_2.html|archive-date=2009-02-28|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Eutelsat Approved Equipment|publisher=Eutelsat|url=http://www.eutelsat.com/satellites/4_5_1_5.html|access-date=2009-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081117021841/http://www.eutelsat.com/satellites/4_5_1_5.html|archive-date=2008-11-17|url-status=dead}} The Interagency Operations Advisory Group offers a Service Catalog describing standard services,[https://www.ioag.org/Public%20Documents/Forms/Service%20Catalogs.aspx Service Catalog] IOAG.org Spacecraft Emergency Cross Support Standard, and Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems data standards.

The Teleport (originally called a Telecommunications Satellite Park) innovation was conceived and developed by Joseph Milano in 1976 as part of a National Research Council study entitled, ''Telecommunications for Metropolitan Areas: Near-Term Needs and Opportunities".

== Networks ==

A network of ground stations is a group of stations located to support spacecraft communication, tracking, or both. A network is established to provide dedicated support to a specific mission, function, program or organization.{{cite book | chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88593-9_10 | doi=10.1007/978-3-030-88593-9_10 | chapter=Ground Station Network | title=Spacecraft Operations | series=Springer Aerospace Technology | date=2022 | last1=Gnat | first1=Marcin | pages=181–196 | isbn=978-3-030-88592-2 }}

Ground station networks include:

  • United States Space Force Satellite Control Network (SCN)
  • NASA Near Space Network
  • NASA Deep Space Network
  • Russia tracking network
  • European Space Tracking (ESTRACK) network
  • ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC)
  • JAXA Near-Earth Tracking and Control Network[https://www.arctictoday.com/sky-perfect-jsat-and-ksat-to-jointly-provide-ground-station-services-to-jaxa/ SKY Perfect JSAT and KSAT to jointly provide ground station services to JAXA] Arctic Business Journal, 2023
  • China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control (CLTC)
  • Norway Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT)
  • Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) CONNECT ground station network
  • RBC Signals Global Ground Station Network[https://news.satnews.com/2023/12/13/northbase-joins-rbc-signals-network-for-global-cooperation/ NorthBase joins RBC Signals Network for global cooperation] SatNews, 2023/12/13
  • Leaf Space ground station networkVernile, Alessandra (2018) [https://books.google.com/books?id=vfxQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 The Rise of Private Actors in the Space Sector] Springer {{ISBN|9783319738024}} pg 68
  • Amazon Web Services Ground Station networkHenry, Caleb (2020) [https://spacenews.com/aws-completes-six-ground-stations-changes-rollout-strategy/ AWS completes six ground stations, changes rollout strategy] SpaceNews
  • SatNOGS NetworkR. Sante, J. Bhosale, S. Bhosle, P. Jangam et al (2023) [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhSwEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA592 Design and Development of Automated Groundstation System for Beliefsat-1] Proceedings of the International Conference on Paradigms of Computing, Communication and Data Sciences

Other historical networks have included:

Major Earth stations and Earth terminal complexes

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See also

{{Portal|Spaceflight}}

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References

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External links

  • [http://www.uplinkstation.com/ UplinkStation.com], a corporate directory of commercial teleports, satellite television operators, et al.
  • [http://www.worldteleport.org/ World Teleport Association]

{{Radio station ITU}}

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Category:Satellite broadcasting

Category:Telecommunications infrastructure