Improvement in University Satellite Operation Using Ground Station Network

Mercury: A Satellite Ground Station Control System

As part of its research program in spacecraft operations, Stanford University’s Space Systems Development Laboratory (SSDL) is developing a ground station control system to support advanced command and telemetry operations. Known as Mercury, this control system provides direct human console control, remote human tele-operation, and script/program based autonomous control. Each of these modes su...

Digitizing Satellite Ground Station Tt&c Subsystems

There are many advantages to implementing satellite ground station TT&C functions using digital LSI and VLSI technology: increased reliability, reduced size, weight and power and enhanced performance. The functions of a satellite ground control station that could be digitized in the future are identified. The evolving capabilities in digital chip technology are reviewed to indicate how they wou...

Scheduling Downloads for Multi-Satellite, Multi-Ground Station Missions

In this paper we address the deterministic, multi-satellite, multi-ground station communication scheduling problem. As the number of small satellites in space increases, so does the demand for downloading their large quantities of acquired data. Given the capacity-constrained ground station network, efficient scheduling plays a major role in the overall performance of missions. The small-satell...

Maximizing Ka-Band Network Uptime by Ground Station Diversity

Scintillation and beam-wander analysis in an optical ground station-satellite uplink.

In an optical communication link between an optical ground station and a geostationary satellite the main problems appear in the uplink and are due to beam wander and to scintillation. Reliable methods for modeling both effects simultaneously are needed to provide an accurate tool with which the robustness of the communication channel can be tested. Numerical tools, especially the split-step me...