Awarua Tracking Station
Awarua Satellite Ground Station (formerly Awarua Tracking Station) is an Earth station built initially to support the European Space Agency Ariane 5 ES ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) launch campaigns. It was developed by Venture Southland, a joint committee of the Invercargill City Council, Southland District Council and Gore District Council.[1][2]
The site on Awarua Plains was chosen because of its high latitude, low horizons and isolation from sources of radio interference. It has a fibre-optic broadband link to the Internet.[3]
The station was first used in 2008 to track Jules Verne,[4] and subsequently four more Automated Transfer Vehicles servicing the International Space Station.
The station now supports many of the well known names in the small-sat world.
Coordinates: 46°30′47″S 168°22′33″E / 46.512945°S 168.375952°E
Work with Planet Labs[]
In 2014 the Awarua Satellite Ground Station was chosen by Planet Labs to download some of the data from their 28 earth observation satellites called Flock-1.[5] A 7-meter radome was constructed at the site to house the satellite dish that would download the data from the satellites.[5]
References[]
- ^ Space Research Projects Archived 2010-12-18 at the Wayback Machine on Venture Southland website, viewed 2011-04-06
- ^ Venture Southland on Venture Southland website, viewed 2011-04-06
- ^ NZ space link seen as a showcase for satellite imaging Archived July 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine by NZPA, retrieved from Yahoo News website on 2011-02-15
- ^ One giant step into space for Southland on Stuff.co.nz website, retrieved 2011-04-11
- ^ a b Pioneering earth observation project comes to Southland on Venture Southland's website, retrieved 2014-12-02
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