Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station
The Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station (German: Goonhilly satellite earth station ) is an earth station on the Lizard -Halbinsel in England . At times it was the largest satellite system in the world.
Goonhilly as a British Telecommunications facility
The station was opened in 1962 as one of the first satellite stations worldwide and initially only included a satellite antenna (name: Arthur, diameter 29.5 m). It is now the oldest in the world and is under monument protection (Grade II). Over time, the number of antennas grew steadily. The antennas of the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station are named after characters from the Arthurian legend. The currently largest is Merlin with a diameter of 32 meters. It is mounted on rails so that it can be moved a few meters. The 61 satellite antennas on the site were used for communication, mainly satellite telephones from the Indian and Atlantic Oceans were served, and they were also used to transmit programs to satellites (including Eutelsat , Astra ). Most recently, 25 antennas were still in operation under the leadership of BT.
The then builder, operator and owner British Telecommunications (BT) limited itself to the satellite station on the former base of the Royal Air Force in Madley ( Herefordshire ) since the end of 2008 and ceased operations in Goonhilly for financial reasons. A visitor center that informed up to 80,000 tourists a year about the satellite center was closed in March 2010.
Goonhilly is still an international communication center; The station is connected to many parts of the world by means of underwater cables ( SEA-ME-WE 3 ).
Goonhilly in operation by GES
In 2014 Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd (GES) acquired the station from BT. GES was founded by Ian Jones, who recognized the potential of the station and wanted to use it. One of the investors is Peter Hargreaves . Jones was able to prevent the antenna systems from being torn down and the area from being used for wind turbines as planned. Even before the acquisition, GES was able to use the systems for the provision of satellite services through contracts with BT. In the leasing contracts there was an option to purchase the entire system, which was exercised in 2014.
Under a contract, £ 8.4 million will be invested to upgrade the 32-meter and 30-meter antennas to work with the ESA and NASA antenna networks. These antennas are intended to provide additional reception capacities for upcoming ESA missions. As the first commercial deep space stations, they should be able to be used for communication and distance measurements beyond geostationary orbit. Future lunar and Mars missions can thus be accompanied. The design also allows proprietary facilities to be installed and operated at the customer's request. For the first time, it will allow a UK station to communicate directly with deep space missions. The 32-meter antenna GHY-6 (S and X-band) should be available in 2020 and the 30-meter antenna GHY-3 (X-band) should be available in 2022.
The 26-meter antenna GHY-1 will be integrated into the Jodrell-Bank - e-MERLIN network with a 10 Gbit / s fiber optic connection so that it can operate in conjunction with other antennas as a radio telescope and participate in VLBI . The integration of Goonhilly not only increases the sensitivity of the network, but also more than doubles the resolution by extending its north-south baseline by 400 km with antennas in Cheshire and Cambridge .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Goonhilly satellite dishes threat . In: BBC News . September 12, 2006
- ^ Andrew Segal: Goonhilly's calls to the world . In: BBC News . September 12, 2006
- ↑ BT Group: Earth Station Technical Information ( Memento from March 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) 2004 (the note about the shutdown is missing here)
- ^ Goonhilly satellite station visitor center closes . In: BBC News . March 11, 2010
- ^ Goonhilly - £ 8.4 million Growth Deal to bring major European Space Agency project to Goonhilly. Retrieved December 27, 2019 .
- ^ Goonhilly - Radio Astronomy. Retrieved May 4, 2020 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 2 ′ 53 " N , 5 ° 10 ′ 55" W.