SATCOM Link between Indian Station at Antarctica and Mainland India

摘要

A SATCOM link has been established between Indian station Matri (71deg S, 11 deg E) at Antarctica & mainland India by using geo-stationary satellite. The link has been established at normal C-band. The installation of earth station at coldest and driest continent on the earth sets a new landmark in ISRO's SATCOM programme. The communication link has been designed to operate at very low elevation angle of around 5 degree for 1 Mbps data rate for the video conferencing, Internet accessing/ web browsing, video streaming and file transfer applications. The selection of material for the antenna and its foundation has been done keeping in mind the climate of this cold white-swept desert. The system has been configured with full redundancy considering the isolation of the place from rest of the world. All the electronic-subsystems have been designed to operate satisfactorily in this vast cold zone of whiteness. The transportation of earth station material from Antarctica ice-shelf to Maitri station turned out to be very difficult and challenging task. The installation of antenna platform and radome at a coldest as well as windiest land with glacial moraine and boulders posed a great challenge to the installation team. This SATCOM link will serve the vital communication needs of the Indian scientific community pursuing their research work at Indian station, Maitri round the year.