HETE-2 Ground Station Network
The HETE-2 spacecraft can communicate with the ground
over either of two radio links.
- Command uplink and high-data-rate downlink occurs over the S-band,
at 2.1-2.3 GHz. The downlink data rate over this link is 250 kbit/s.
- Burst alert messages and spacecraft housekeeping data are
transmitted in the VHF band, at 138 MHz. The data rate over this
link is 300 bits/second.
The ground communication network is comprised of two types of ground
station to handle the two radio links.
- S-band communications are done using the
Primary Ground Stations.
There are three primary ground stations for HETE: one on the
Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands,
one in Cayenne, French Guiana, and one in Singapore, Malaysia.
- VHF data reception is done with the Secondary Ground Station
Network. There are about a dozen SGS stations, distributed
evenly around the equator.
All operations of the ground stations and satellite are controlled
by the MIT Command and Control Center (MCC). Commands for the spacecraft
are sent to the primary ground stations from the MCC, and data received
from either the primary or secondary ground stations are forwarded to
the MCC.
Detailed explanations of the construction and functionality of the
ground stations can be found at the following links:
