USNA Next Generation Ground Station
2015‐16 Capstone Design Project
Satellite Ground Station
• USNA operates and maintains SGS
• Provides limited satellite communication link
– APRS (automated packet reporting system) based – amateur radio
• UHF/VHF Yagi antennas
• Limited downlink but no uplink capability
3m dish
– 3 meter dish, 12 meter dish
• 12m dish not currently functional • neither has automatic tracking capability
– Midshipmen currently get very limited satellite operations experiences
12 m dish
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Mobile CubeSat Command and Control (MC3)
• MC3 Mission Operations Center (MOC) will increase satellite operations education capability at USNA
• Enhance the MC3 network by adding an MC3 node on the east coast
 Opportunities for collaborative research in improving comm sat capability among the members in the MC3 network
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Capstone Project Goals
• Install, Configure, and Setup new USNA Ground Station
– Connect and establish remote control with MC3 network
• Setup Ground Station software interfaces with all current flying USNA satellites
– Using COSMOS open source software
• Work with each Capstone Team and Setup Ground Station software to interface with their satellites when they get launched
• Create Training and User Manuals for future Capstone Teams to setup their own interfaces
• Validate and Check‐out System using On‐orbit assets or High Altitude Balloon payloads.
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Who are we looking for?
• Likes coding (at least not afraid of it)
• Willing to learn something new and expand your toolbox of Aero/Astro knowledge
• Team Oriented
– Will be working with every other capstone team to define their Telemetry and Commanding Requirements and Setup
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Final Test/Project for System Validation
HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON LAUNCH WITH COMMS PAYLOAD
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High Altitude Balloon
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