GENSO: The Global Educational Network for Satellite Operations
- Paper number
IAC-08.B4.3.5
- Author
Mrs. Helen Page, European Space Agency (ESA), The Netherlands
- Coauthor
Mr. Bastian Preindl, European Space Agency (ESA), The Netherlands
- Coauthor
Mr. Victor Nikolaidis, Vienna University of Technology, Australia
- Year
2008
- Abstract
The Global Educational Network for Satellite Operations (GENSO) aims to foster a worldwide community of educational institutions by developing and utilising ground segment tools and standards which can dramatically improve access to orbital educational spacecraft. Educational space missions are often hampered by the relatively small communication windows offered by their typically low orbits and local ground stations. By developing a software standard which allows these ground stations to communicate with non-local spacecraft, sharing the data with the spacecraft controllers via the internet, it will be possible to alleviate this highly restrictive problem. The design and implementation work is being carried out by a distributed set of student and radio amateur teams worldwide, coordinated by the ESA Education Department. With over 80 educational spacecraft currently planned (largely CubeSats) there is a very large demand for such a project. Since educational ground stations exist in many different locations around the globe, and since educational spacecraft are found in a variety of orbits, it is very often possible for single ground stations to track many different spacecraft without encountering any significant scheduling conflicts. This is also made feasible by the common adherence to radio amateur frequencies and protocols, rendering the ground stations largely compatible. Therefore, by way of carefully implemented scheduling algorithms, educational ground stations can track each others’ spacecraft in addition to their own, in each case streaming mission data to the appropriate controllers via the internet. If such cooperation can be highly automated, removing as far as possible the need for slow and inefficient human-interaction, then this local, limited and underused resource can be turned into a distributed, shared and highly utilised resource. The compatibility foreseen with the radio amateur community this will also serve to involve a large user-base (several hundred); maximising the network resources available. Once a large enough number of ground stations participate in the cooperative scheme, almost world-wide coverage will be potentially possible. GENSO is coordinated by the ESA Education Department, under the auspices of the International Space Education Board (ISEB). This board consists of representatives from the education departments of CSA, CNES, ESA, JAXA and NASA. Network inauguration is planned for the second half of 2009.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.B4.3.5.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.