A community-driven approach to democratize access to satellite ground stations Article Swipe

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Satellite Ground station Renting Low earth orbit Communications satellite Ground segment Telecommunications Computer science Remote sensing Aerospace engineering Engineering Geography Civil engineering

Vaibhav Singh , Akarsh Prabhakara , Diana Zhang , Osman Yağan , Swarun Kumar ·

YOU? · · 2021 · Open Access · · DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3447993.3448630 · OA: W3140307912

Should you decide to launch a nano-satellite today in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), the cost of renting ground station communication infrastructure is likely to significantly exceed your launch costs. While space launch costs have lowered significantly with innovative launch vehicles, private players, and smaller payloads, access to ground infrastructure remains a luxury. This is especially true for smaller LEO satellites that are only visible at any location for a few tens of minutes a day and whose signals are extremely weak, necessitating bulky and expensive ground station infrastructure.