Interoperability Reduces Cost and Risk at Svalbard Satellite Station

Abstract

The Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard located at almost 80° N is ideally located for a ground station providing services related to data reception and control of polar orbiting satellites. A ground station at Svalbard provides efficient and cost efficient services because its possible to make contact with a satellite in polar orbit on all 14 of its orbits per day, whilst two stations would be required at lower latitudes. Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) and the Norwegian Space Centre (NSC) therefore have established the Svalbard Satellite Station (SvalSat). In a few years SvalSat has grown to become the worlds largest polar ground station. It will soon support Earth Observation and meteorological satellites from six large antenna installations. The design and development of the station has focused on flexible operation and interoperability. The station is therefore a multi-user and multi-mission facility with extensive sharing of all ground station equipment. Through Tromso Network Operation Center (TNOC) schedules are received and available antennas and related equipment allocated dependent on user requirements. Three of the antennas at SvalSat are remotely operated from TNOC, more than 1000km away. The time between acquisition and utilization of data acquired from operational Earth observation and meteorology satellites is a critical parameter for utilization of the data. As a result of this, satellite owners and operators search for solutions were data from their satellites could be captured, stored, disseminated and processed as rapid as possible. To accommodate this, a fiber optical communication link is installed from SvalSat to the rest of the world so data can reach the end user shortly after it is captured. Automated operation, interoperability, and implementation of modular, generic equipment reduce the need for mission specific adaptation and special operational services. Hence, the risk for a critical mission failure is minimized at the lowest cost for the satellite owner. SvalSat constitutes a new way of operating ground stations. As the service provider, KSAT can focus on delivering a service at the requested proficiency utilizing available infrastructure and equipment. Interoperability has been a key parameter when the station was designed and is now implemented at two levels. At SvalSat interoperability exists between the antennas located at the station, but also between stations constituting a network. SvalSat currently serves the NASA Earth Observing System spacecraft as well as satellites owned by the European Space Agency (ESA). It will serve the European Meteorological organization Eumetsat and the integrated Program Office (NOAA/IPO). Introduction This paper introduces the Svalbard Satellite Station (SvalSat) with emphasis on its technical infrastructure and mode of operation. SvalSat is owned and operated by the Kongsberg Satellite Service (KSAT) and it is a polar ground station especially designed to serve Earth Observing and Meteorological satellites. Obtaining cost efficient and flexible operation is a key word in modern satellite operation and control. In most cases it is not possible to install equipment that are completely dedicated for one specific new satellite, and multi usage of available infrastructure becomes necessary. To obtain the necessary degree of redundancy and interoperability special focus must be put on the stations equipment and also the net of stations being used for a given satellite support. SvalSat is a new ground station and it has been possible to focus on optimizing this new way of operation when it was designed. Interoperability as a mean to obtain reliable and cost efficient operation is applied at two levels and both are discussed in this paper.