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Add Near Earth Network tracking stations

Open Capkirk123 opened this issue 1 year ago • 0 comments

Add Near Earth Network tracking stations to RSS improve S and X-band ground station coverage at higher tech levels. Also change unused K-band to Ku-band. Also, although many of these stations are much less sensitive than the already existing DSN stations, they are capable of utilizing 8, 16 or even 32-PSK encoding, allowing them to achieve much greater data rates than the QPSK DSN stations.

Modified ground stations:

  • Cape Canaveral (MILA/PDL/KUS): SATAN VHF system installed 1964. TELTRAC UHF system installed 1966. 9-meter Universal S-Band installed 1966, replaced with 6.1-meter Kennedy Uplink Station S-band in 2019.
  • Wallops (Greenbelt/GSFC): 12-meter TLM multiband with VHF/UHF/Universal S-band capability installed 1967, replaced by 11.28-meter WG1 antenna with S and X-band capability in the 1980s.
  • White Sands (WSGC): 18.3-meter WS1 antenna installed in late 1970s to support TDRSS with S/X/Ku-band capability. Ka-band capability added in 2017.
  • McMurdo Ground Station (MGS): 10-meter MG1 antenna installed 1995 with S/X-band capability. 4.5-meter MTRSU antenna installed 1996 with Ku-band capability for communication with TDRSS.
  • Svalbard (SvalSat): 13-meter SG3 antenna installed 1997 with S/X-band capability.
  • Troll Station (TrollSat): 13-meter TR2 antenna installed 2007 with S/X-band capability.
  • Johannesburg (Hartebeesthoek): 12-meter HBK01 antenna given command capability in S-band in 2000s.
  • Esrange (Kiruna): 13-meter KU1S installed 1978 with S/X-band capability.

New ground stations:

  • Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF/Gilmore/Fairbanks/Ulaska/North Pole): SATAN VHF system installed 1966. 9-meter Universal S-Band antenna installed 1975, replaced by 11.3-meter AS1 with S/X-band capability in 1991.
  • Singapore: 9.1-meter SI1 antenna with S/X-band capability installed 2002.
  • Santiago (AGO): 9-meter Universal S-band antenna installed 1966. Replaced by 13-meter SA3 antenna with S-band capability in 2011.
  • Dongara (DON): 13-meter AUWA01 antenna with S-band capability installed 2007.
  • South Point: 13-meter USHI02 antenna with S/X-band capability installed 2007.

Capkirk123 avatar Feb 20 '24 01:02 Capkirk123