Educational Goals

Satellites and orbits

At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to …

– distinguish the difference between Polar-orbiting and Geostationary satellites in terms of their orbits. 

– recognize the advantages and disadvantages of both polar orbiting and geostationary weather satellites. 

– interpret the position of a satellite relative to a position on the earth in terms of azimuth and elevation. 

Operations planning

At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to …

– summarize the main constraints which need to be considered when receiving satellite data such as ground station data limits, ground station network availability and ground station reception coverage.

– demonstrate the ability to identify a target satellite and plan reception of data.

Space RF communications

At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to …

– locate key RF parameters from a datasheet required to operate the ground station. 

– analyze raw binary recording files and calculate the signal to noise ratio. 

– evaluate the quality of the signal reception via RF spectrum and Waterfall map.