Orbit Develops Custom Earth Observation Ground Station in Russia

[Satellite TODAY 01-31-12] Orbit Communication was selected by Russian space company STEC to supply a commercial ground station solution supporting dual communication with Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites, the company announced Jan. 30.
   The contract, valued at $800,000, orders Orbit to customize a solution based on its AL-4300 series high-performance positioning system. The company said it tailored a solution that incorporates both X- and C-band in a single 5.5-meter antenna to overcome the limited size of the Russian ground station. 
   “A special ‘store and transmit’ mechanism was developed to gather the data received from the LEO satellite over X-band, and subsequently transmit that data over C-band to the GEO satellite on its way to the final destination,” Orbit said in a company statement. “In addition, to meet Russia’s extreme environmental conditions, the customer required a rugged and reliable solution that can operate without failures in strong winds and very low temperatures without a radome.”