Department: Ground segment
Within the Ground Segment we further develop and test technologies that enable the secure, short-term and independent provision of space-based information for users.
This includes concepts and simulation tools for location-independent satellite control and the operation of satellite payloads by military users, taking crisis situations into account. Two complementary approaches are currently being pursued in collaboration with the German Space Operations Centre (GSOC): (1) a deployable compact control centre (V3C) for use in the field, (2) a service-oriented ground control segment (HCC), which uses available ground infrastructures in a decentralised manner that allows different entities to work on the same mission.
Ideas are also being pursued for the needs-based provision of a global, secure ground station network. This includes work in the areas of laser-supported satellite communication and reactive planning, which will also be accompanied experimentally with the commissioning of the Trauen laser ground station (LaBoT) from mid-2023. In order to test the operational readiness of the technology under real conditions, the system is designed for continuous operation and can be monitored and controlled remotely.
The development of tools for the identification, classification and attribution of spacecraft aims to recognise dangers and threats to national space infrastructures sufficiently early and to be able to react to them quickly. To this end, the scientific research group "Data Integration Space Situation" is currently being established at the Trauen site. In addition to its own R&T activities, this group will act as an anchor for the national research landscape and industrial companies so that systems (sensors and software) developed in Germany for recording the space situation can be integrated into simulations on a test basis and their performance can be compared in cooperation with the Bundeswehr's joint space situation centre.