Awarua Tracking Station facts for kids
The Awarua Satellite Ground Station (also known as Awarua Tracking Station) is a special place in New Zealand that helps us connect with space! It's like a giant ear on Earth that listens to and talks with satellites orbiting our planet. This station was first built to help the European Space Agency (ESA) with their Ariane 5 ES ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) rocket launches. These ATVs were robotic spacecraft that delivered supplies to the International Space Station.
The station is located on the Awarua Plains in New Zealand. This spot was chosen because it's far south (what we call a high latitude), has a clear view of the sky, and is away from other radio signals that could cause interference. It also has a super-fast internet connection to send and receive data quickly.
The Awarua station first started working in 2008. Its first big job was to track a spacecraft called Jules Verne. After that, it helped with four more Automated Transfer Vehicles that flew to the International Space Station. Today, the station works with many companies that use smaller satellites for different purposes.
How Awarua Works with Planet Labs
In 2014, the Awarua Satellite Ground Station began an important partnership with a company called Planet Labs. Planet Labs has many small satellites that orbit Earth, taking pictures and collecting information about our planet. These satellites are called Flock-1.
To help Planet Labs, a large, dome-shaped building called a radome was built at the Awarua station. Inside this radome is a 7-meter wide satellite dish. This dish is used to download all the data and pictures from the Flock-1 satellites as they pass overhead. It's like a giant Wi-Fi antenna, but for space!
