ISTRAC TTC Network for Launch and Early Orbit Phase Mission Operations
- Paper number
IAC-07-B2.2.06
- Author
Mr. L Srinivasan, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking & Command Network, India
- Coauthor
Mr. M.J. Rajasekaran, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India
- Coauthor
Mr. S.K. Shivakumar, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India
- Year
2007
- Abstract
ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) has, over the years, established a comprehensive network of S-band TTC stations for providing Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TTC) support to both launch vehicle and satellite missions of ISRO.
ISTRAC network basically consists of TTC stations spread over India and other foreign locations around the globe to cater coverage requirement for ISRO’s launch vehicle missions like PSLV & GSLV and also IRS spacecraft missions, which are operating in sun-synchronous polar orbits. The network is also capable of supporting for future low inclination missions like Astrosat, Meghatropiques etc. The network is constantly being modernized and expanded to meet mission specific requirements. Recently, as a part of ISRO Deep Space Network (IDSN) stations, an 18m and 32m-antenna systems are being commissioned for providing TTC and payload data support for Chandrayaan-1 mission.
ISTRAC network stations are presently operating at Bangalore, Lucknow, Sriharikota (SHAR), Port Blair, and Thiruvananthapuram in India. Besides these stations, ISTRAC has established stations at Mauritius, Biak (Indonesia), Brunei and Bears Lake (Russia). A multi mission Spacecraft Control Center (SCC) has also been established at Bangalore for controlling all IRS missions, to which spacecraft data from all the network stations flows. ISTRAC has established and operates its own prime Skynet communication links using INSAT for Indian stations and INTELSAT for other international locations. It also utilizes PSTN network wherever required as redundant links.
The S-Band network stations consists of antennae of diameter 11m/10m/ 8m as required. The stations have both uplink and downlink capabilities in S-Band. The baseband systems are compatible to CCSDS standard to facilitate cross agency support. The stations are equipped with GPS based Time & frequency standards. All the equipments are state-of-art systems that provide improved performance and reliability. The antennas have auto-tracking capability for providing angle data apart from conventional range and range-rate measurements.
All the network stations are connected to Network Control Center (NCC) located at Bangalore, which will be able to monitor and control these stations remotely. The NCC monitors the status of these stations and configures them and carries out the operations as per schedule, without the need for manual intervention. In case of requirement, the station can also be operated from a local console at station in a similar fashion. Apart from successfully providing support to many ISRO’s spacecraft and launch vehicle missions for more than 20 years, ISTRAC has provided successful LEOP support to many spacecraft missions of different kinds, belonging to other agencies on commercial basis. Few of these missions are Eutelsat series, DFS-3, ROCSAT, MTSAT, Hot Bird, X-Star, Spainstar, Galileo, ACE etc. ISTRAC has been certified under ISO 9001-2000 and follows stringent quality policy to ensure fault-free services, higher availability and continuous improvement.
Authors: L. Srinivasan*, M.J. Rajasekaran, S.K. Shivakumar: ISTRAC, Bangalore-560 071, India
- Abstract document