What are Satellite Ground Stations?
Ground stations are surface-based facilities which are designed to provide real-time communication with satellites. The crew at these stations send radio signals to the satellite (uplink), receive data transmissions from the satellite (downlink), and in some cases, serve as command and control centers for the satellite network.
If something goes wrong with a satellite, the crew at these stations will be the first to know. They will be charged with trying to identify the source of the problem and devise a solution. Simply put, the ground station (or network of stations) is the “brain” of the entire satellite network.