Tracking Station

In the context of aerospace engineering, a Tracking Station, also known as a ground station, is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft, and/or reception of radio waves from astronomical radio sources. Ground stations may be located either on the surface of the Earth, or in its atmosphere. Earth stations communicate with spacecraft by transmitting and receiving radio waves in the super high frequency or extremely high frequency bands. When a ground station successfully transmits radio waves to a spacecraft (or vice versa), it establishes a telecommunications link. A principal telecommunications device of the ground station is the parabolic antenna. Ground stations may have either a fixed or itinerant position. Article 1 § III of the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Radio Regulations describes various types of stationary and mobile ground stations, and their interrelationships.
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