ESA transfers ownership of satellite ground tracking stations

The European Space Agency (ESA) transferred the ownership of three satellite ground tracking stations to national organisations in Spain and Portugal.

Two of the stations were situated in Spain, at Maspalomas and near Madrid, and one in Australia, Perth. All stations were equipped with a 15m antenna, suitable for Near-Earth-Orbit (NEO) operations. With the exception of the station in Maspalomas, Spain, they were no longer operational. 

The station in Australia was dismantled and shipped to Santa Maria island in Azores. Its frequency license in Australia had been withdrawn since 2015 and the station was about to be torn down and disposed of. Instead of this, however, ESA accepted the offer of the Portuguese government to buy and take over the station.

The stations in Spain will remain in their current locations and be operated by Spain’s National Institute of Aerospace Technology.

 

The transfer of ownership enables ESA to concentrate on the operation of its deep-space stations and a select group of four other stations, while valuable hardware will remain in use for the benefit of commercial users and ESA itself as a customer. 

You can find more at the ESA press release.