The
European Space Operations CentreThe European Space Operations Centre is responsible for controlling ESA satellites and space probes. The centre is located in Darmstadt, Germany. It is Mission Control for most of the space projects of the ESA...
(ESOC) operates a number of ground-based space-tracking stations for the
European Space Agency|owner = |headquarters = Paris|spaceport = Guiana Space Centre|image = ESA LOGO.svg|size = 240px|acronym = ESA|established = 1975|administrator = Jean-Jacques Dordain...
(ESA) known as the
European Space Tracking (
ESTRACK) network. The stations support various ESA spacecraft and facilitate communications between ground operators and scientific probes such as
XMM-NewtonThe XMM-Newton is an orbiting X-ray observatory, named in honor of Sir Isaac Newton.Originally known as the High Throughput X-ray Spectroscopy Mission, it was launched by the European Space Agency from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou on 10 December 1999 by an Ariane 5 rocket...
and
Mars ExpressMars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was...
.
ESTRACK consists of nine ESA-owned stations and four stations run cooperatively with other organisations.
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The
European Space Operations CentreThe European Space Operations Centre is responsible for controlling ESA satellites and space probes. The centre is located in Darmstadt, Germany. It is Mission Control for most of the space projects of the ESA...
(ESOC) operates a number of ground-based space-tracking stations for the
European Space Agency|owner = |headquarters = Paris|spaceport = Guiana Space Centre|image = ESA LOGO.svg|size = 240px|acronym = ESA|established = 1975|administrator = Jean-Jacques Dordain...
(ESA) known as the
European Space Tracking (
ESTRACK) network. The stations support various ESA spacecraft and facilitate communications between ground operators and scientific probes such as
XMM-NewtonThe XMM-Newton is an orbiting X-ray observatory, named in honor of Sir Isaac Newton.Originally known as the High Throughput X-ray Spectroscopy Mission, it was launched by the European Space Agency from the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou on 10 December 1999 by an Ariane 5 rocket...
and
Mars ExpressMars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was...
.
General information
ESTRACK consists of nine ESA-owned stations and four stations run cooperatively with other organisations. The stations are:
ESA stations
- New Norcia Station
New Norcia Station is a 35 metre ESTRACK radio antenna for communication with spacecraft in deep space. It is located 10 km south of the town of New Norcia, Western Australia. It was built for the European Space Agency. The New Norcia antenna has an identical sister station Cebreros Station...
(Australia)
- Perth Station
Perth Station is an ESTRACK radio antenna station for communication with spacecraft. The station is located at the Perth International Telecommunications Centre in the suburb of Cullacabardee....
(Australia)
- Redu Station
Redu Station is an ESTRACK radio antenna station for communication with spacecraft. The station is located about 1 km away from the village of Redu, Belgium. The ground terminals provide tracking capabilities in C-band, L-band, S-band, Ku-band, and Ka-band as well as provide in-orbit tests of...
(Belgium)
- Kourou Station (French Guayana)
- Cebreros Station
Cebreros Station is an INSA-operated, ESTRACK radio antenna station for communication with spacecraft located 90 km from Madrid, Spain. A 35-metre diameter antenna that receives in X- and Ka-bands is located at the site. Station code is "CEB"....
(Spain)
- Maspalomas Station
Maspalomas Station is an INSA-operated, ESTRACK radio antenna station for communication with spacecraft located at the southern area of Gran Canaria island, on the INTA campus. The site hosts a 15-metre antenna with reception in S- and X-band and transmission in S-band.-External links:* *...
(Gran Canaria, Spain)
- Villafranca Station (Spain)
- Kiruna Station
Kiruna Station is an ESTRACK radio antenna station for communication with spacecraft operated by the Swedish Space Corporation. It is located 38 km east of Kiruna, Sweden. The site hosts one 15 metre- and one 13-metre-diameter antenna, each with S- and X-band reception and S-band transmission...
(Sweden)
- Santa Maria
Santa Maria is an island located in the eastern group of the Azores archipelago and the southernmost island in the Azores...
(Azores, Portugal)
Cooperative stations
- Malindi
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Galana River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi is 117,735 . It is the capital of the Malindi District.Tourism is the major industry in Malindi. The city is...
(Kenya)
- Santiago
Santiago , is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the centre of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of 520 m AMSL...
(Chile)
- Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean north of mainland Europe, about midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. It consists of a group of islands ranging from 74° to 81° north latitude, and from 10° to 35° east longitude. The archipelago is the northernmost part of Norway. Three...
(Norway)
Antennas
Each ESTRACK station is different, supporting multiple missions, some sharing one or more of the same missions. The ESTRACK network consists of at least:
- Two 35-metre diameter antennas
- Seven 15-metre antennas
- One 13-metre antenna
- One 12-metre antenna
- One 5.5-metre antenna
- Six GPS-TDAF antennas
There are also at least eleven more smaller antennas with sizes of 9.3 to 2.5-metres. The antennas are remotely operated from the ESTRACK Control Centre (ECC) located at ESOC.
On 17 January 2008, the 5.5-metre station on Monte das Flores (Hill of Flowers), Santa Maria (Azores) became the newest station to join the ESTRACK system. The station can be used to track Ariane launches and will also be capable of tracking Vega and Soyuz, soon to be operated from ESA's Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana.
A third 35-metre antenna is due to be built in the 2010-11 time frame at an American longitude, mutually 120 degrees from the existing pair. This will provide continuous coverage for ESA deep space missions. An area 30 km south of the town of
MalargüeMalargüe is a city in the southwest part of province of Mendoza, Argentina, about 370 km south of the provincial capital Mendoza. It is the head town of the Malargüe Department, and it has about 23,000 inhabitants as per the ....
in the
Mendoza provinceMendoza is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise San Juan, San Luis, La Pampa, and Neuquén. To the west is Chile.-History:...
of
ArgentinaArgentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico,...
has been selected for this purpose.
External links