SAASST News

Wednesday, 12 February 2020 20:15

SAASST New Satellite Tracking Ground Station Operational

The Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Sciences, and Technology has just finished installing a brand new satellite tracking ground station as part of its CubeSat Laboratory program. The ground station is to be used to communicate with the future Sharjah-Sat-1 CubeSat planned to be launched at the end of 2020 or Q1-2021.

The SAASST ground station is designed for small satellites in Low Earth Orbit using VHF and UHF radio frequencies. The ground station can autonomously track selected satellites by using a steerable antenna system. The installation was done in collaboration with Istanbul Technical University, our partner in the construction of the Sharjah-Sat-1 CubeSat. Several students from the University of Sharjah participated in the setup along with SAASST research assistants. This new SAASST acquisition would not have been if it were for the great financial support of Prof. Hamid Al-Naimiy, the Chancellor of the University of Sharjah, and SAASST Director.