CSIRO supports European Space Agency

CSIRO will maintain and provide operational support for the European Space Agency (ESA) in WA.

This is the first time that an Australian organisation has been selected to manage day-to-day operations at the ground station.

The agency is located at New Norcia, 130 kilometres north-east of Perth in Western Australia.

The ESA control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, will continue to remotely control its spacecraft and satellites via the station.

A 35-metre antenna at the tracking station, DSA-1, provides support to ESA’s missions exploring the solar system.

It tracks their locations, sends commands to control spacecraft and reliably receives data collected hundreds of millions of kilometres from Earth.

These missions include BepiColombo, which was launched in October 2018 and will explore Mercury — the closest planet to the Sun — where it will endure temperatures in excess of 350°C; and Mars Express, which is currently orbiting the red planet collecting information about its geology, atmosphere, surface environment, history of water and potential for life.

ESA’s ExoMars trace gas orbiter and Gaia mission are also supported.

The station provides tracking support to scientific and interplanetary missions operated by other international space agencies like NASA and Japan’s JAXA under resource-sharing agreements.

The New Norcia station also provides critical tracking services for Ariane, Soyuz and Vega launchers lifting off from Europe’s Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana.

The contract is due to start on 1 June 2019; a three-month handover from the current contractor will start on 1 March 2019.

Federal Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the agreement was another important milestone in the growing Australian space sector.

“Since 1979, Australia and ESA have had treaties in place to enable European Space Agency ground stations on Australian soil to track spacecraft and interplanetary missions and Australia has a unique view of the Southern Hemisphere sky that provides us with a natural advantage for viewing the universe,” Andrews said.

“The facility at New Norcia has been in operation since 2003 and now, for the first time, an Australian organisation will provide critical maintenance and operational support at the station.

“Through its management of NASA’s Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, as well as Australia’s leading radioastronomy facilities, CSIRO has rich experience operating large, complex infrastructure for spacecraft tracking and astronomy research.

“This follows the announcement earlier this week that Adelaide will be the location of the Australian Space Agency, and is a further demonstration that momentum is building for the local space industry.

“The space industry plays an essential role in the lives of all Australians, from providing us with weather forecasts and telecommunications, to inspiring the next generation of students.”

CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall also welcomed the new relationship with ESA.

“This will see us further support humanity’s exploration of our vast solar system and help to build up more data and knowledge to inform our understanding of the universe,” Dr Marshall said.

“It builds on our 75-year history of space science and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to growing Australia’s space industry, inspiring the next generation of scientists and driving innovation through global partnerships.

“Understanding the universe and using what we learn to inform our science, create new technologies and fuel jobs and industries of the future is critical for Australia and the world.”

New Norcia is one of three deep space tracking stations in ESA’s global Estrack network; the other two are located in Cebreros, Spain, and in Malargüe, Argentina.

Together, the three stations provide global coverage for continuous monitoring of spacecraft.

CSIRO Digital, National Facilities and Collections Executive Director Dr Dave Williams said ESA’s deep space tracking stations played a similar role to those that make up NASA’s spacecraft tracking network.

“CSIRO operates the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) for NASA, one of three stations that make up the NASA Deep Space Network,” Dr Williams said.

“CSIRO’s operational support of ESA’s New Norcia facility will complement our existing role with NASA and builds on our decades’ worth of experience operating large, complex spacecraft tracking and radioastronomy infrastructure.

“In addition to operating New Norcia for ESA and CDSCC for NASA, we also manage Australia’s leading radio telescopes and are playing a key part in preparing to host the international Square Kilometre Array in Western Australia.”

CSIRO has been a key partner to the Australian and international space industry for 75 years.

Its recently released report, ‘Space: A Roadmap for unlocking future growth opportunities for Australia’, demonstrates technology pathways to support the Australian Space Agency’s goal of tripling the size of the domestic space sector to $10–12 billion by 2030.

Image caption: The ESA tracking station at New Norcia, Western Australia.