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ESTRACK

Coordinates: 31°02′53″S 116°11′31″E / 31.04806°S 116.19194°E / -31.04806; 116.19194
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ESTRACK antenna in Cebreros

The European Space Tracking (ESTRACK) network consists of a number of ground-based space-tracking stations belonging to the European Space Agency (ESA), and operated by the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. The stations support various ESA spacecraft and facilitate communications between ground operators and scientific probes such as XMM-Newton, Mars Express, BepiColombo, Gaia. Similar networks are run by the USA, China, Russia, Japan, and India.

Antennas

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Each ESTRACK station is different, supporting multiple missions, some sharing one or more of the same missions. The ESTRACK core network consists of:

Antennas of the ESTRACK-Network 2024
(Deep Space Antennas (DSA) highlighted in green)
Location Code Reflector
⌀ (m) 		Construction date Up Down Description
New Norcia, Australia NNO1, (DSA 1) 350 2002 S, X S, X The Beam-Waveguide-Antenna was the first Deep Space antenna of ESA.[1] (31°02′53″S 116°11′31″E / 31.048°S 116.192°E / -31.048; 116.192 (New Norcia Ground Station)).
NNO2 4,5 2015 X S, X The small and fast antenna can be used for Launch and Early Orbit Phases and for tracking rain, Vega and Soyuz launchers operated from ESA's Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana. It was built to take over some capabilities of the Perth station. The antenna has got a larger field of view and can locate spacecraft after launch.
NNO3, (DSA 4) 350 X, Ka X, K, Ka The new 35m antenna is currently under construction and should become operational in mid-2025. It can support the latest missions like Bepi Colombo, Juice or Euclid by receiving in higher frequency bands than NNO-1.
Kiruna Station in Kiruna, Sweden KI1 150 1990 S S, X The station was built in 1990 and supports polar obiting satellites. (67°51′25″N 20°57′50″E / 67.857°N 20.964°E / 67.857; 20.964 (Kiruna Station))
KI2 130 2000 S S, X [2]
ESEC in Redu, Belgium RED 150 (1967[3])

1995[4]

S S Redu is part of the ESTRACK network since the beginning. The site hosts more than 40 antennas including antennas for telecommunication satellites and Galileo. The current ESTRACK antenna was build in 1995 and is currently used for Galileo TT&C.
Cebreros, Spain CEB, (DSA 2) 350 2005 X X, K, Ka The site previously hosted an Antenna of the Deep Space Network. (40°27′11″N 4°22′05″W / 40.453°N 4.368°W / 40.453; -4.368 (Bodenstation Cebreros))
Santa Maria, Azores, Portugal SMA 5,5 S, X The station in Santa-Maria can be used to track Ariane launches with medium inclination and it is also capable of tracking Vega and Soyuz launchers operated from ESA's Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana.[5]
Kourou, French Guiana KRU 150 S, X S, X The Antenna is equipped with a 1.3m dish that can be used to acquire signals in X-Band, if the location of the spacecraft is not accurately known.[6] (5°15′04″N 52°48′18″W / 5.251°N 52.805°W / 5.251; -52.805 (Bodenstation Kourou))
Malargüe, Argentina MLG, (DSA 3) 350 2012 X, Ka X, K, Ka The location in the southern hemisphere was chosen to complement the networks of NASA and JAXA that operate in the northern hemisphere.[7] (35°46′34″S 69°23′53″W / 35.776°S 69.398°W / -35.776; -69.398 (Bodenstation Malargüe)) The Pierre Auger Observatory is also located in Malargüe.

Former stations

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Composition

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Locations of ESTRACK's ESA owned stations (in blue) on a world map

The ESTRACK network consists of several ground station around the world. Some of them are owned by ESA itself while others are owned by commercial and other institutional operators. The core stations as well as all of the connections to the missions are operated through the Network Operations Centre at ESOC.

Core Ground Stations

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The Core ESTRACK network is composed of seven ESA-owned ground stations.[8] Four of the stations are used for tracking satellites and launchers near Earth and three are used for tracking deep-space probes. Details about the stations are shown in the next section.

Augmented Network

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ESTRACK Network Operations Centre in ESOC

Service contracts with commercially operated ground stations allows the network to track satellites that aren't in view of the ESA owned ground stations.[9] The most relevant operators include KSAT, SSC and Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station. The composition is constantly changing and for every launch different stations may be used.[10]

Cooperative Network

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Cooperation agreements with international partners further enhance the network. Some of these are Deep Space Stations and therefore can offer services that are not be provided by commercial operators. The agreements are usually made on an exchange of services or as a contribution to a mission, meaning that no exchange of funds is part of the agreement.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b esa. "New Norcia - DSA 1". Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  2. ^ esa. "Kiruna station". Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  3. ^ "40 Years of Redu". Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  4. ^ "ESA/Redu 15-m S-band antenna". Retrieved 2023-07-22.
  5. ^ .ESA – ESA Spacecraft Operations – Boosting capability: Santa Maria station to join ESTRACK
  6. ^ esa, Kourou station, retrieved 2017-05-14
  7. ^ esa, "Malargüe - DSA 3", European Space Agency, retrieved 2017-05-14
  8. ^ esa. "Network Operations Centre". European Space Agency. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Estrack ground stations". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
  10. ^ a b "Network map". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
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31°02′53″S 116°11′31″E / 31.04806°S 116.19194°E / -31.04806; 116.19194

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