2. What is “Deep Space Communication” ?
Deep space
communication includes
“communication with
satellites and spacecrafts active in the outer
space region as well as
collecting radio and
radar astronomy
observations for the
exploration of the solar
3. VITAL FUNCTIONS OF DEEP SPACE COMMUNICATION
Acquire telemetry data from spacecraft.
Transmit commands to spacecraft.
Gather science data.
Monitor and control the performance of the netwo
4. DEEP SPACE NETWORK~BEGINNING
The very first
communication station was
established at Holmdel,
New Jersey(USA) in the
year 1957.The station
included two antennas and
a 30.5 meter long balloon
orbiting around the earth.
Echo Station at Goldstone, California
5. 1st Spacecraft Monitoring Station,Cape Canaveral, Florida
In April, 1961
Florida got the
1st spacecraft
monitoring
station at Cape
Canaveral. It
supported all of
the Rangers
and two
Mariner 2
6. Large Array Radio Telescope, New Mexico
The Very Large Array
(VLA) radio telescope is
located on the plains of
San Agustin, 80
kilometers (50 miles)
west of Socorro, New
Mexico. The complex
structure was
inaugurated in 1980.
9. This chart illustrates the real growth of deepspace communications capability from 1960 to
1994 and projected growth to the year 2020.
Real growth has improved by 12 orders of
magnitude, while another three orders of
magnitude are forecast for the future.
The increase in performance is due to a series
of innovative cooperative improvements in both
spacecraft and ground systems.
10. Challenges of deep-space communications
1.Distance
Distance is the main
problem in space
communications, since the
intensity of
electromagnetic radiation
decreases according to 1/r2,
that is why signals from
deep space
probes are usually very
11. 2.Speed Of Light
Electromagnetic
radiation can’t move faster than the
speed of light there are considerable
time lag
introduced in the communications
making real time communications
impossible. It
takes over 5 hours for a signal from
earth to reach the orbit of Pluto in the
outer part of
the solar system.
12. 3.Line of sight
In order to communicate
with the Earth the
spacecraft must have a
free
line of sight to the Earth,
since radio waves cannot
pass through large solid
objects such
as planets and moons.
13. 4.Antennae Alignment
Even if the probe has a free
line
of sight to the Earth the
receiving antenna could be
on the wrong side of the
Earth,
however by using several
antennas in different places
around the planet that could
14. 5.Earth’ s atmosphere
Since the signal has to pass
through the Earth’ s
atmosphere some limitations
are placed
on which frequencies that could
be used. The ionosphere is
almost opaque to some of
the lower frequency bands so
space communication mainly
uses high frequency bands
15. Commonly used frequency bands for space communication
S-band 1.55 – 5.2 GHz (2.3
GHz)
X-Band 5.2 – 10.9 GHz (8.4
GHz)
Ku-band 12 – 8 GHz
Ka-band 20 – 40 GHz (32 GHz)
16. Communication Data Rates
Over the last years
Cassini Science Instrument Data Rates
data rates have
increased substantially
mainly because of the
transition
from the X-band to the
higher Ka-band,
however the data rates
are still quite low
18. Laser Communication Relay Demonstration~(2013)
NASA made history in early
October by beaming a four-inch,
data-packed laser, 384.6332
Kilometers between Earth and a
spacecraft orbiting the Moon.
LCRD transmit data at rates 10 to
100 times faster than radio, using
significantly less mass and
power.The test achieved a recordbreaking download speed of
622Mbps and an error-free upload
20. Greatest Achievements of Deep Space Communication
1.Hubble space telescope
Named after astronomer
Edwin Hubble, the
telescope offered the first
clear views of the universe
beyond our galaxy. The
Hubble Space Telescope
lets us watch the
expansion of the universe
in a way never before
imagined.
21. 2.Pioneer 10, Flight to Jupiter (1972-1997)
Pioneer 10 left Kennedy
Space Center in 1972,
bound for Jupiter. Since
there is a known asteroidbelt between Earth and
Jupiter, astronomers had
long believed it to be
impassable. Pioneer 10
travelled farther in space
than any other man-made
object.
22. 3.International Space Station, Living in Space (1998-present)
The ISS is an orbiting, top-of-theline laboratory. It's a feat of
engineering unmatched by any
other permanent home in
space.Occupants of the station
have studied human bone loss
during extended time in
microgravity, radiation levels in
space, different techniques for
doing in-space soldering, and
countless other experiments,
23. 4.Mars, Curiosity(2012-Present)
Objectives include
investigating Mars' habitability,
studying its climate
and geology, and collecting
data for a manned mission to
Mars.Till now it has
conformed the existence of
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
phosphorus and sulfur,key
ingredients necessary for
life.Evidence of a past
streambed containing fresh,
24. Indian Deep Space Network
The Indian Deep Space Network
consists of a 18-m and a 32-m
antennae that are established at
the IDSN campus, Byalalu,
Bangalore. The Network is
augmented with a couple of
stations in the western
hemisphere in addition to the 64m antenna in Bearslake, Russia
to improve the visibility duration
and to provide support from the
25. Achievements of Indian Deep Space Network
Chandrayaan-1(2008-09)~Discovery of Lunar water
India's first unmanned Lunar probe.
The mission included a lunar orbiter
and an impactor. Water ice can be
distinguished from other materials
by the way its radar echoes vary
according to the position of the
listener. Among its many
achievements was the discovery of
the widespread presence of water
molecules in lunar soil.
