VILLAFRANCA SATELLITE TRACKING STATION
The Villafranca Satellite Tracking Station (VILSPA) is placed in the Valley of Guadarrama to approximately 30 kms. to the west of Madrid, in a zone filled with oaks and poplars and close to a castle of the 15th century, Aulencia's castle.
In functioning from 1975, after an agreement among the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Spanish government, VILSPA belongsconcerns to the ESTRACK that is the set of European tracking stations distributed all over the world and that they are operated by the European Center of Space Operations (ESOC)
During this time VILSPA has collaborated with Programs of the ESA and with International Programs, as the IUE (International Ultraviolet Explorer), OTS-2 (Orbital Test satellite), GOES-1 (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite), MARECS (Maritime Communication Satellite), EXOSAT (European X-Ray Observatory), ISO (Infrared Space Observatory), XMM (X-ray Multi-Mirror Observatory) among others.
Recently there has been inaugurated the Antenna of Deep Space of the ESA in Cebreros (Avila)..
photo: ESA
Inaugurated recently, the new station of deep space of the European Space Agency (ESA), placed in Cebreros, Avila has an antenna of 35 meters that joins another station placed in New Norcia, Australia allowing to the European Space Agency to have a proper net of deep space independent from the net of deep space of the NASA.
Cebreros's antenna will
inaugurate with Venus Express, the ESA's mission to the planet Venus. In the
next years they will follow other interplanetary missions, as Rosetta, who
will settle on a comet or BepiColombo, who will visit Mercury, besides the
space telescopes Herschel, Planck and Gaia.
photo: ESA
With 15 meters of diameter the
antenna VIL-1 operates in S band (2025-2300 GHz) and takes charge among
other functions of the phase LEOP (Laund and Early Orbit Phase) of the most
critical periods in the life of a satellite.
photo: ESA
With characteristics
very similar to the VIL-1, the antenna VIL-2 has 15 meters of diameter and
operates in band S. Among others missions stands out the participation in
the phase LEOP (throwing and putting in orbit of satellites)
photo: ESA
With
12 meters of diámeter, VIL-4 operates in C band (3.7-6.4 GHz).
photo: ESA
The antenna TS-1 operates in S band and have a diameter of 5.5 meters.
photo: ESA
With 4 meters
of diámeter the antenna VL-5 operates in L band (1-2 GHz)
photo: ESA
The
antenna or horn VL-6 operates in L band and lineal polarization.
photo: ESA
With
3 meters of diameter, the antenna VIL-7 operates in Ku band (11-18 GHz).