European space flight control center

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ESOC control center
New building at the main gate of the ESOC site

The European Space Operations Center (short ESOC for English European Space Operations Center ), headquartered in the European district of Darmstadt (Hesse, Germany) is one of the operation centers of the European Space Agency (ESA). It was opened on September 8, 1967 by the then Federal Research Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gerhard Stoltenberg .

ESOC is the mission control center for most of ESA's space projects. With its 800 employees, it manages a dozen projects at the same time and used as a worldwide network of tracking stations both ESTRACK and the Deep Space Network of NASA . Based on standardized procedures, ESOC can work together with all systems according to CCSDS worldwide and, wholly or temporarily, control missions of other space organizations such as B. the ISRO or JAXA take over or support their mission control centers with data.

During the project planning, the teams of experts recommend suitable launch vehicles, flight paths and orbits as well as the software for the control. The increasing dangers of space debris - the many thousands of fragments of spacecraft orbiting the earth - are also monitored by ESA / ESOC. The Space Debris Office operates an internationally used database for this purpose. The center also houses the team of the new ESA program for “ Space Situational Awareness Program ”.

Ground stations and ground systems

Under the name ESTRACK , ESOC maintains and controls a worldwide network of seven own ground stations. Four stations are designed for satellite tracking and rockets during the launch phase in low orbits and three for supporting deep-space missions.

Four stations with antennas in Santa Maria (Azores) , Kiruna (Sweden), Kourou (French Guiana) and at the European Space Security and Education Center for short ESEC in Redu (Belgium) have the task of detecting rockets after launch, as well as satellites and spacecraft near the earth Monitor lanes. In addition, if required, ESTRACK can use commercial stations in Dongara (Western Australia), Santiago de Chile (Chile), South Point (Hawaii), Svalbard (Spitzbergen), Troll Satellite Station (Antarctica) and Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station for tracking.

ESEC in Redu can serve as a backup in the event that ESOC should fail for any reason. The facilities of various European space agencies can also provide additional services and facilities on a case-by-case basis, which are then controlled via the existing data networks of ESOC, while the technical support on site remains in local responsibility. The three stations in New Norcia (Australia), Cebreros (Spain) and Malargüe (Argentina) with their three 35-meter Cassegrain-Beam-Wave-Guide antennas form a global deep-space network that enables missions to be monitored around the clock. The ESA is therefore no longer necessarily dependent on NASA's Deep Space Network , which performs a comparable task, for interplanetary missions . However, there is an agreement on cooperation with NASA, which enables both antenna networks to serve as a backup for each other and free capacities in both networks can be used by the other side. In addition, both networks support each other in mission-critical phases and in emergencies. This results in better redundancy, more security and an improved data situation while at the same time improving the utilization of both networks. The existing deep space network is regularly expanded with improved technology. A fourth 35-meter antenna is scheduled to go into operation in New Norcia in 2024.

As part of the so-called "ground segment", the ESOC experts are also responsible for the development of mission control systems and software solutions for simulation training, ground station control, satellite control and navigation. In the ESA logic, these software developments are made available to European industry and research institutes under a free license. The SCOS-2000 software has been used for mission control since 2002 and can be licensed by various missions.

Mission operation

A signal from the Rosetta comet
probe was received in the ESOC control room

The importance of the center increased in the 2000s with more and more European space missions. These include a. planetary missions, astronomy / space telescopes, earth and environmental observation as well as navigation ( Galileo ) and also preparatory work for manned space travel (former Automated Transfer Vehicle ). In the first 50 years of its existence, ESOC was the control station for 77 missions. The current, important ESA missions that are controlled via the ESOC include: XMM-Newton , Integral , Cluster II , Sentinel-1 (A and B), Sentinel-2A , SWARM , CryoSat-2 , Mars Express , Gaia , ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and BepiColombo .

The scientific analysis of mission data is not one of the tasks of ESOC; Upon receipt, these are forwarded to the operators of the relevant missions for evaluation. The European Space Astronomy Center (ESAC) is located in Villafranca near Madrid , the central data archive for the ESA, which archives all mission data obtained and makes it available for future generations to research. Most of the ESA missions and many missions with ESA participation use the services of ESAC for the analysis and storage of scientific data.

An information and start-up center for satellite navigation was set up in the vicinity of ESOC - the Cesah, "Center for Satellite Applications Hesse". It is the result of an initiative by ESA Technology Transfer ("Business Incubation"), the State of Hesse , the City of Darmstadt , the Technical University and University of Darmstadt and companies in the region. By 2012, Cesah supported a total of 40 young companies and start-ups in developing and launching new services related to satellite navigation .

literature

Web links

Commons : European Space Control Center  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ESA portal . Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  2. Europe opens state of the art satellite tracking station in Argentina. In: en.mercopress.com. December 19, 2012, accessed April 5, 2013 .
  3. esa: SCOS-2000 . In: European Space Agency . ( esa.int [accessed October 31, 2017]).
  4. ^ Esa: Brief history of ESOC. Retrieved September 12, 2017 (UK English).
  5. esa: Happy birthday ESOC . In: European Space Agency . ( esa.int [accessed September 12, 2017]).

Coordinates: 49 ° 52 ′ 15 ″  N , 8 ° 37 ′ 19 ″  E