06 May 2022
27 May 2020
This ground station are the main channel of communications between the Mission Control Centre (MCC) and the MSG satellites. The ground stations are unmanned and can be remotely monitored and controlled from the MCC in Darmstadt.
Fucino comprises of three antennas and Cheia two antennas each 13m in diameter and receive the satellite downlink — raw image data stream, telemetry, and the data collection services. Each antenna is capable of supporting all transmissions and data reception required for one spacecraft. Spacecraft telecommand is also uplinked.
The data plus full monitoring and control of the antennas and associated subsystems are transmitted over a 50Mb link between the stations and the GEO control centre at EUMETSAT HQ.
