Support for ESA’s Tracking Station

Canberra: In a first an Australian body has been chosen to take over day-to-day operations at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) deep space tracking centre, it was announced on Friday. The station at New Norcia, 130 km northeast of Perth, will be maintained by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) with the ESA to continue remotely controlling its spacecraft and satellites via the station.

The ESA control centre in Germany uses a 35-metre antenna at the station to track, control and receive data from its spacecraft exploring the solar system, Xinhua news agency reported. The CSIRO’s takeover, which will begin in March 2019, marks the first time that an Australian organization will manage day-to-day operations at the New Norcia station. (IANS)

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