Do You Know What Happens in the Ground Station?
Have you ever dreamed about space when a kid? And what about controlling a satellite? For satellites to work in outer space, there is much work to do here, down on Earth, for example, in the Ground Stations. To understand more about it, we interviewed our Ground Station Engineer, Javier Roldán.
First, we need to know what a ground station is, and how it works.
A Ground Station (GS) is a place with one or more antennas used for different types of data communications. In the interview, Javier talks about the TT&C (tracking, telemetry, and commanding) Ground Stations.
And what is TT&C?
As the scientific satellites aren’t always in the same position relative to Earth, it is required that the antenna moves to follow the satellites. By tracking, antennas point in the right direction to keep seeing the satellite. There is the Program Tracking Mode, which uses the orbital predictions generated by the Flight Dynamics team. Also, an Auto Tracking Mode, in which antennas and its electronic equipment use received signals from spacecraft to keep pointing in the right direction. That is very useful during a LEOP (Launch and Early Operation Phase). Once following the spacecraft, antennas can send commands and receive signals with the status of the platform and the payload data.
The telemetry* is the data/information received from the mission/satellite. And telecommands are the instructions sent to the satellite.
*According to Collins English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Telemetry is a process that automatically collects measurements, such as pressure, speed, or temperature, and other data from remote sources and transmits them over a wireless communication link.
What is the job of a Ground Station Engineer?
The antennas where I am currently working are part of ESTRACK (ESA Tracking Network). As a Station Engineer, I am responsible for the Operations and Maintenance activities, which includes organizing the local team for the predictive and corrective maintenance, supporting investigations of incidents, coordinating and operating validation of upgrades, configuration control, and documentation collection. Also, ensuring that antennas are ready to support the satellites and in the right conditions. And in case of unexpected events, investigate and recover from them as soon as possible.
All this wouldn’t be possible without teamwork. I would like to thank the local teams, the ESTRACK operators, and my colleagues from the engineering department and the industry for their excellent work.
Some job descriptions talk about integration. What would that be? How do you integrate equipment into the station?
During an upgrade on-site, the engineering department takes over the station. In the case of an addition, removal or replacement of racks or equipment carried out by the industry. It is necessary to do some integration (physical and logical) in the existing site. Besides, it is critical to have an extensive validation of the newly delivered items.
As said, the job of a station engineer is to support necessary changes in the monitoring system and the station. As well as, validate those changes, ensure proper configuration of new items, and take care of the documentation. Moreover, ensure that the local team is appropriately trained by the industry.
During this process, if some requirements aren’t met, or something isn’t working as expected, points are raised and categorized based on their critically and impact on operations. Together with the engineering department, it is checked if the problems would prevent the station from working with the missions they support. Furthermore, an action plan is agreed to recover those blocking operations before the end of the upgrade. A follow-up of the remaining points is done to close them before the final hand-over of the station from engineering back to the operations department.
What possible problems or anomalies can you encounter?
That can vary from one upgrade to another, from the integration documentation not matching the actual integration; equipment or software does not behave as specified, a missing or faulty piece, and others.
The worse thing that can happen is when you do not have the means to solve the situation. For example, when something is faulty, and you can’t fix it, and you don’t have the spare part to fix it, and it won’t arrive on time or when you need a specialist in a different time zone or shifts schedule.
What is the most exciting part of your job?
Upgrades are a very interesting part because I can train together with the local team, it allows me to interact with the industry and get to know the system physically and not only in paper and per design. It also is very time demanding, mainly in case of issues, we have a high workload and some stress to finish on time.
After that, preparations for new missions are also fascinating because some configuration needs to be prepared and validated, and there are always things to be corrected.
Routine may sound less appealing, but it can be quite challenging in case of incidents during the operations.
I am also the user representative for several pieces of equipment deployed in the station and the control center. In this task, I support the operational testing of the new hardware and software, besides I report any issues we may encounter and participate in the review board for the evolution of those systems.
What kind of knowledge and skills are necessary to be a Ground Station Engineer?
From a technical perspective, the main element of a station is the antenna and its Radio Frequency (RF) equipment, so most of the GS engineers are Telecommunications Engineers.
The stations have some other areas, such as power plant or air-conditioning, for which we typically get also some support from an Infrastructure Engineer, who usually is an Industrial or Electrical Engineer.
From a soft skills perspective, you need to be able to spend some periods outside your home, which can be challenging in case of family. You need to be able to work under stress, very focused on results, and be a team player as the upgrades involve a significant number of different engineers and technicians on site.
What are the hot topics news for the field?
ESA just approved the budget for an additional 35m antenna to be built in New Norcia, Australia, in a partnership with the Aussie Government. Although the place already exists, it will demand a lot of work for the incoming 4 years, due to the adaptations needed.
Also, conversations with JAXA to build another antenna in Malargüe, Argentina, are ongoing.
If you are interested in being a Ground Station Engineer or related jobs, check our website https://www.visionspace.com/careers.html
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Article written by Juliane Verissímo - Marketing Department of VisionSpace