HETE Primary Ground Stations
The primary ground stations' main task is to provide the uplink and
downlink communication from the control center in MIT to the HETE satellite.
These send the commands which provide attitude control, satellite
housekeeping, science instrument control, and data recovery.
Commands are sent over a high speed S-band antenna.
The primary ground stations
are to be distinguished from the burst alert stations,
which are receive-only stations providing real-time gamma-ray burst
alerts and summarized satellite housekeeping data.
There are three primary ground stations: Kwajalein (Marshall Islands),
Singapore, and Cayenne (French Guiana).
The Kwajalein and Singapore stations are copies of the same system,
while the Cayenne station is designed by SUPAERO.
Specifications of the Kwajalein and Singapore PGS
Both stations employ a variation of the Telonics DMSP Earth station,
model THRPT-2-D.
The station is comprised of the following items:
- 1.8 meter parabolic antenna and mount
- Antenna positioner
- Cavity radiator/feed
- Low Noise Amplifier (LNA)
- Interdigital Downconverter
- Interface cabling
- IF Receiver/demodulator
- Ground Station RF Interface Board (GSRFIB)
Locations
The map below gives the locations and range of sensitivity of the HETE
Primary Ground Stations given in the list above. The orbit track
represents the HETE mission goal of an inclination of two degrees.
(image from Sattrack)
List of PGS Sites
The table below gives some information about the location and
status of the HETE-2 primary ground stations.
| Site
| Responsible
Institution(s)
| Coordinates
| Status
|
| Kwajalein
| MIT
| 167.717 E, 8.717 N
| Up and ready to go
|
Cayenne
(French Guiana)
| SUPAERO
| 51.9 W, 4.9 N
| Up and ready to go
|
| Singapore
| RIKEN
| 103.83 E, 1.33N
| Up and ready to go
|
