Ground System Design

Col John Keesee

6/17/2004

Lesson Objectives The student will: 1. Be able to list the functions performed by a space systems ground support system. 2. Know factors in ground station design 3. Know components of ground station architecture 4. Know capabilities of typical dedicated ground systems and common multi-user ground support systems 5. Know design considerations for specifying ground system elements.

Overview
Ground Systems
Support the space segment
Command and Control Monitor spacecraft health Track Calculate spacecraft attitude

Relay mission data to the users

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Ground systems have a command (uplink) function as well as a data (telemetry and mission data) function.

Ground Station Design

Location, location, location
Coverage Data-user needs Cost Accessibility Availability

Link data rates

G/Ts, EIRP

Requirements for data handling Communication between ground system elements and data users
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These are the important factors in ground station design. The spacecraft orbit and mission characteristics will drive available locations for ground systems. Satellite transmitter characteristics and data rates will determine the ground systems transmitter and receiver operating characteristics. Because the facilities that process data may not be co-located with the receiving system, the ground system will have its own terrestrial and space communication links.

Ground System Elements

Mission elements and facility elements Ground station is where the Earth-based end of satellite communication takes place
Antenna system Receive RF equipment Transmit RF equipment Mission data recovery Data-user interface TT&C equipment Station control center System clock
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The ground system consists of both mission (functional) elements and facilities. A ground station would usually consist of most of these elements

Control Centers
Spacecraft Operations Control Centers
Monitors and commands the spacecraft bus Analyzes spacecraft telemetry Coordinates and controls Payload Control Center access Includes data monitoring equipment, commanding facilities and communications

6/17/2004

In most cases, the spacecraft operations control center controls the overall mission, even though the payload is the reason for the mission. The SOCC monitors the health and status of the bus and, in some architectures, the payload as well. Sometimes its a multi-mission facility, and many times is separated physically from the payload operations control center.

Control Centers continued

Payload Operations Control Center
Analyzes telemetry and mission data from instruments Issues commands to instruments

Mission Control Center

Plans and operates the space mission

SOCC, POCC and MCC may not be co-located May require hot spares to maintain high availability Survivability may dictate multiple ground system sites for coverage and redundancy
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The entire focus of the POCC is the payload, its monitoring, management and
control.
The mission control center would be responsible for the entire constellation of
satellites.
The SOCC, the POCC and the MCC are many times not co-located.
When the availability requirement is very high we may specify multiple systems
running in parallel (hot spares) to minimize the downtime in case of a failure.

Communication Links
Communication support required between ground system elements and data-users
Landline and satellite connections International links through comsats and
terminal equipment

Intelsat, Telstar, Westar, DSCS, Milstar

Internet protocols

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The communication links between the SOCC, the POCC and the MCC might be through landlines, satellite connections, or the internet. Typically military systems may use the Defense Satellite Communication System to relay information between nodes.

Data Handling
MultiplexDemultiplex EncryptionDecryption EncodingDecoding Data Compression Time Tagging Data storage Data quality monitoring
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Data from the satellite are usually multi-plexed (usually Time division multiple access) to allow communication with multiple satellites over the same link. We discussed these functions in the lesson on TT&C

Defense Meteorology Satellite Program

Spacecraft uplink L-band (1.75 to 1.85 GHz) 2 kbps (command) Downlink S-band (2.2 to 2.3 GHz) 1024 kbps (mission data) Command Readout stations and AFSCN Mission data transfer from ground stations to DMSP central facilities via domestic satellite and landlines Similar connections to large data processing centers Some data-users receive direct from the spacecraft

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Alternatives to Dedicated Ground Systems

Host systems provide some or all parts of the ground system
Saves money, has high reliability and
availability
However, may not be optimum for a specific mission
Sharing resources requires scheduling coordination and prioritization

May impact user mission

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Air Force Satellite Control Network

Eight ground stations (RTS) with two antennas each Two central locations
Consolidated Space Test Center at Sunnyvale CA Consolidated Space Operations Center at Schriever AFB CO

Combined SOCC, POCC, and MCC at either CSTC or CSOC Communication links via landline and comsats
DSCS and Intelsat
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AFSCN continued
18m and 14m antennas for TT&C and mission data Space Ground Link System (SGLS)
Twenty channel pairs (one uplink, two downlink
carriers)
1.024 Mbps downlink at 2.22.3 GHz 2 kbps uplink at 1.751.85 GHz Provides range, range rate, telemetry and mission data

Non-SGLS downlinks provide up to 5 Mbps

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NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System

Three geo-synchronous relay satellites
Supports 20 sub-synchronous satellites multiple-access S-band links
2.1064 GHz forward or command link (uplink) 2.2875 GHz return or downlink

Two each single-access links at S-band and Ku-band

2.0252.120 GHz forward link (S-band) 2.2002.300 GHz for the return path 13.775 GHz forward and 15.003 GHz return (Ku-band)

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TDRSS continued
Ground station at White Sands NM Satellites act as bent pipe to all traffic G/Ts and EIRP specified in SMAD Fig 15-9 and 15-10 Command data and telemetry through NASAs NASCOM communication network Combination ground system centers provided at Goddard (Greenbelt MD) and Johnson Space Centers (Houston TX)
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TDRSS Overview

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TDRSS Spacecraft

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TDRSS Antennas

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TDRSS Constellation

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TDRS H, I, J

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Image taken from NASA's website. [Link] Used with permission.

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TDRSS Ground Antennas

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TDRSS Ground Antennas

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Commercial Ground Systems

Typically S-band and X-band downlink and Sband uplink Downlink data rates to 15 Mbps (S-band) and to 150 Mbps (X-band) Uplink data rates to 1.5 Mbps Time division multiplexed (TDM) and Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) telemetry formats User communication uses IP and dialup or dedicated lines
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Commercial Ground Systems continued

Commercial Ground Network (Universal Spacenet)
Ground stations in Alaska and Hawaii

Ground Network System (Allied Signal Technical Service Corporation

Ground stations in Greenland, Alaska and Norway
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Design Considerations
Required satellite coverage determines the number and location of ground stations
LEOs are particularly demanding because of short and infrequent contact opportunities Large quantities of mission data must be stored on board and downlinked in short periods Infrequent TT&C contact demands more onboard autonomy
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Design Considerations continued

Data user distribution drives processing and communication requirements

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References
Wertz, James R. and Wiley J. Larson, Space Mission Analysis and Design, Third ed., Microcosm Press, Torrance CA, 1999 [Link] _Sheets/cw_fs.htm [Link] rials/[Link]/[Link]/Sat ellite
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