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For 20 years, NASA has maintained a continuous human presence in space. The International Space Station, a marvel of cooperative engineering, science and research, has made this incredible feat possible. During the mission, NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) networks connected the station’s astronauts with loved ones on Earth and enhanced in-depth research on the orbiting laboratory.
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“As we celebrate 20 years of science and research aboard the station, we also celebrate the support infrastructure that enables the mission that makes it all possible,” said Robyn Gatens, interim director of the International Space Station at NASA’s Washington headquarters. . “Space communications have always been a vital part of NASA’s manned missions in low Earth orbit and beyond.”
Construction of the orbiting International Space Station began on November 20, 1998, when the Zayra Module was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Since then, the orbiting laboratory has been expanded and upgraded to meet the needs of the astronauts living on the station and the mission’s scientific objectives.
Since November 2, 2000, the space station has been continuously occupied by NASA astronauts and international space organizations. The million-pound spacecraft has an internal pressurized volume equal to that of a Boeing 747, providing living space for six-month expeditionary crews of six, while sometimes accommodating up to 13 during crew rotations and visits of the shuttles.
NASA’s communications networks made it possible to build and occupy the station. The station relies primarily on the constellation of data detection and transmission satellites (TDRS) and associated ground antennas. The orbiting lab sends its data to TDRS in geosynchronous orbit, which then transmits the data to ground antennas at the White Sands Complex in Las Cruces, New Mexico and the Guam Remote Ground Terminal.
The orbiting laboratory also has a back-up communications system. A range of ultra-high frequency (VHF) antennas around the world can provide astronauts with voice-only communications in the unlikely event of an emergency.
“NASA’s satellites provide the space station with comprehensive and robust services that keep our astronauts always connected to mission control,” said Susan Chang, Director of the Network Services Division. “In combination with the redundant VHF network, TDRS ensures the continued success and safety of the station. “
Although the TDRS constellation now provides near-continuous communications to low-Earth orbiting missions, this has not always been the case. Until 1998, TDRS in two nodes provided coverage for 85% of the station’s orbit. NASA closed that “exclusion zone” by building the remote ground terminal in Guam, allowing communications with the station while crossing the Indian Ocean.
NASA has continued to improve the services TDRS can provide to the space station. Technicians upgraded the space station software-based modem, improved data processors at various NASA centers, and improved routers, interfaces, and other equipment and software at ground stations. These modernization efforts have gradually increased the amount of data NASA can download from the station.
In 2016, the agency doubled the data per second that the station can transmit to 300 megabits per second. In 2019, NASA again doubled data rates to 600 megabits per second, faster than most home fiber optic connections.
“The space station was designed in the 1990s. Then remember our way of life. A typical internet service provider has made people “dial up” to gain access to use the internet. As the space station has evolved with ever-changing tools, space communications have evolved with timely innovations, “said John Hudiburg, SCaN’s mission engagement manager.” Investments in the ground segment have enabled us to keep up with these needs, providing more data to mission operations centers than ever. “
Throughout its history, the space station has also been a hub for communications research and development. From 2012 to 2019, SCaN Testbed provided communications engineers with a platform to study software-defined radio space applications. The Testbed researched innovations such as cognitive communications, spatial GPS and Ka-band communications.
The station also tested groundbreaking optical communication technologies that use infrared lasers to exceed the data rates offered by comparable radio systems. The optical payload for Lasercomm Science has demonstrated the practicality of space-to-earth optical communications. The upcoming demonstration of the laser communication relay (LCRD), to be launched in early 2021, will test TDRS-like optical communications applications with the LCRD (ILLUMA-T ). When operational, ILLUMA-T will complete the first end-to-end optical communications space relay system ever built.
In the field of communications, the space station has reached young people around the world through amateur or amateur radio. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) organizes contacts between astronauts on the station and students, encouraging them to pursue STEM interests and careers. ARISS also celebrates its 20th anniversary this year on November 13th.
Looking ahead, NASA is exploring opportunities to use commercial communications services for the station. Rather than exclusively using government-owned satellites and ground stations, NASA’s SCaN program aims to demonstrate the communications services provided by industry to provide the orbiting laboratory with additional bandwidth and to make those services available to other users of space. Using commercial infrastructure could mean lower costs and stronger services, while strengthening the commercial space economy.
To learn more about SCaN, visit: www.nasa.gov/SCaN
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