Facilities

Satellite Ground Station:

The Georgia Tech Research Institute Baker Bldg. cleanroom has been involved in the fabrication of space hardware for at least a half dozen GT space missions including LDEF, NREP, ALICE, PROX-1, MISSE-11 and MISSE-12. GTRI recently undertook a multi-year modernization effort and created a ‘Class-S’ segment inside the existing 3,000 sq.ft. cleanroom.

The Raven-class telescope is capable of directly observing in-orbit space objects and validating telemetry data from other sources. This telescope is capable of seeing objects as small as 10 cm in diameter at altitudes of 1,000 km horizon-to-horizon with a pointing accuracy better than 5 arc seconds. The facility incorporating this telescope is the only completed telescope facility at a non-military US academic institution specifically designed & constructed to collect data in support of space situational awareness research.

C-SHAFT has the ability to communicate with spacecraft in post launch operations through the use of its high gain S-band antenna. A 3-m diameter dish is used for high gain S-band receive and transmit capability, while rotor-driven antenna systems provide horizon-to-horizon sky coverage. This antenna, located at the Georgia Tech satellite campus at Cobb County Research Facility, is an integral part of a network of communications devices which feed into the C-SHAFT maintained ground station.

The C-SHAFT optical characterization lab in GTRI offers high power laser testing in wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet to infrared. Equipped with appropriate laser PPE, the LASER Lab is currently configured for Class 4 lasers.

The anechoic chamber located at GTRI can be used to conduct EMI/EMC tests on spacecrafts. The  chamber contains a quiet zone size 6′ x 4′ x 6′ that provides >100 dB isolation from external interference.  The facility is instrumented for the indoor testing of electrically small to medium-sized antennas at frequencies from 200 MHz to 110GHz.