Goonhilly Satellite Earth Stationis a largeradiocommunicationsite located onGoonhilly DownsnearHelstonon theLizard peninsulainCornwall,England.Owned by Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd[1]under a 999-year lease fromBT Group plc,it was at one time the largestsatelliteearth stationin the world, with more than 30 communication antennas and dishes in use. The site also links intoundersea cable lines.
 "Merlin", the site's largest dish | |
| Location | Goonhilly Downs,Mawgan-in-Meneage,St Martin-in-Meneage,Cury,United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 50°02′53″N5°10′55″W/ 50.048055555556°N 5.1819444444444°W |
| Website | www |
| Telescopes |
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  Location of Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station | |
 Related media on Commons | |
History
editIts first dish, Antenna One (dubbed "Arthur" ), was built in 1962 to link withTelstar.It was the first openparabolic designand is 25.9 metres (85 feet) in diameter and weighs 1,118tonnes.AfterPleumeur-Bodou Ground Station(Brittany) which received the first live transatlantic television broadcasts from the United States via the Telstar satellite at 0H47 GMT on 11 July 1962, Arthur received his first video in the middle of the same day. It is now a Grade IIlisted structureand is therefore protected.
The site has also played a key role in communications events such as theMuhammad Alifights, theOlympic Games,theApollo 11Moon landing, and 1985'sLive Aidconcert.[2]
Statistics
editThe site's largest dish, dubbed "Merlin", has a diameter of 32 metres (105 feet). Other dishes include Guinevere, Tristan, and Isolde after characters inArthurianlegend, much of which takes place in Cornwall.
The earth station is powered by theNational Grid.If power fails, all essential equipment will run off huge batteries for up to 20 minutes, during which time four one-megawatt diesel generators will take over.[citation needed]The nearbywind generatorfarm is not part of the complex.
Closure
editOn 12 September 2006, BT announced it would shut down satellite operations at Goonhilly in 2008, and move them toMadley Communications CentreinHerefordshire,making that centre BT's only earth station.[3]
Visitor centre
editUntil Easter 2010 the site had a visitor centre inside which theConnected Earthgallery told the history of satellite communications. There were many other interactive exhibits, a cafe, a shop and one of Britain's fastestcybercafés(a one gigabit pipe and a theoretical maximum speed per computer of 100 Mbit). There were also tours around the main BT site and into the heart of Arthur.
At its prime, the site attracted around 80,000 visitors a year, but in March 2010 BT announced that the visitor centre would be "Closed for Easter and beyond, until further notice."[4]
Development to Commercial Deep Space Communication
editOn 11 January 2011 it was announced that part of the site was to be sold to create a space science centre.[5]This would involve upgrading some of the dishes to make them suitable for deep space communication with spacecraft missions. A new company was formed to manage the operations, Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd.[6]The company leased most of the antennas for at least three years with the option to buy the entire complex in the future. Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. took ownership of the site in January 2014.
There are plans to connect one or more of the Goonhilly dishes into global radio astronomy interferometer networks.[7][8]
There are also plans to upgrade the former visitor centre into "an outreach centre promoting space and space science for visitors, including local residents and schools".[5]
In July 2015European Space Agencyexamined if antenna Goonhilly 6 could be used to supportArtemis 1of theOrion spacecraft.[9]Since then the 30 and 32 meter dishes have been refurbished, upgraded, tested and certified as deep space stations and confirm toCCSDSand now can enhance NASA'sDeep-Space-Networkor ESA'sESTRACKnetwork. The services are offered to NASA, ESA, JAXA, ASI, CNES, CSA, DLR and UKSA.
The site is a partner in the bid byNewquay Airportto become the UK's first Spaceport.
Support for Moon exploration
editIn April 2018, Goonhilly became part of a collaboration partnership for commerciallunarmission support services, with theEuropean Space AgencyandSurrey Satellite Technology.The agreement calls for the upgrade of Goonhilly, and development of theLunar Pathfindermission. Plans exist for small landers with a lunar mothership providing communications relay.[10]
On 22 February 2024 the station served as the Earth station for theIntuitive MachinesIM-1spacecraft as it landed on the Moon. The first American spacecraft to do so since theApollo 17mission in 1972.
Gallery
edit-
Rear view of "Arthur" -
Side view of "Arthur" -
Front view of "Arthur"
References
edit- ^Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd
- ^"Goonhilly in Cornwall takes off on space missions".BBC News.11 March 2015.Retrieved9 August2015.
- ^"Goonhilly Downs, Helston, Cornwall, England, UK Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station".thelivingmoon.Retrieved9 August2015.
- ^"Goonhilly satellite station visitor centre closes".BBC News.11 March 2010.Retrieved9 August2015.
- ^ab"Goonhilly at 'forefront of space exploration'".BBC News.Cornwall.11 January 2011.Retrieved9 August2015.
- ^"GES Ltd".Archived fromthe originalon 16 August 2015.Retrieved9 August2015.
- ^Heywood, I.; Kloeckner, H-R.; Beswick, R.; Garrington, S. T.; Hatchell, J.; Hoare, M. G.; Jarvis, M. J.; Jones, I.; Muxlow, T. W. B.; Rawlings, S. (7 March 2011). "Expanding e-MERLIN with the Goonhilly Earth Station".arXiv:1103.1214[astro-ph].
- ^Kloeckner, H. -R.; Rawlings, S.; Heywood, I.; Beswick, R.; Muxlow, T. W. B.; Garrington, S. T.; Hatchell, J.; Hoare, M. G.; Jarvis, M. J.; Jones, I.; van Langevelde, H. J. (18 March 2011). "Goonhilly: a new site for e-MERLIN and the EVN".arXiv:1103.3600[astro-ph].
- ^"Goonhilly Earth Station hoping for new lease of life".SES.16 July 2015.Retrieved9 August2015.
- ^SSTL and Goonhilly Earth Station Sign Collaboration Agreement with ESA for Commercial Lunar Missions,MoonDaily, 2018-04-19
External links
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