Usuda Deep Space Center
- Sagamihara Campus
- Uchinoura Space Center
- Noshiro Rocket Testing Center
- Taiki Aerospace Research Field
- Usuda Deep Space Center
- Akiruno Eexperiment Lab
- Tanegashima Space Center
- Tsukuba Space Center
Usuda Deep Space Center was founded to transmit operation commands to deep-space explorers and to receive observation data from explorers. The location was chosen for its environment to receive faint signals from explorers at great distances with less jamming such as city noise. The center has been in operation since October 1984. The large parabolic antenna, the core component of the facility, has a 64m-diameter reflector and weighs 1,980 tons in total. The center also has a 10m-diameter antenna and a transmitting/receiving system to retrieve VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) observation data.
Geographic Position: Long. 138o 21' 54EE, Lat. 36o 07' 54EN
Altitude: 1,456m
Area: 98,302m2
| Location | 1831-6 Omagari, Kamiodagiri, Saku City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan 384-0306 Tel: +81-267-81-1230 Fax: +81-267-81-1234 |
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Main Facilities
The main facilities of Usuda Deep Space Center are a 64m-diameter parabolic antenna, an S-band and X-band transceiver system, a hydrogen maser standard frequency clock, a satellite control center, and a station operation control center
64m Parabolic Antenna
Faint radio signals from explorers are collected by the 64m parabolic antenna. The signals are then reflected by the sub-reflector protruding from the main reflector and led via beam transmitter to the antenna room, where they are amplified by a low-noise amplifier. Radio waves carrying command signals to operate explorers and ranging signals to measure the distance to explorers are amplified with the power amplifier and then transmitted from the antenna.
Research Building
In this building, optical signals (converted from spacecraft radio signals) are demodulated to obtain observational and spacecraft-monitoring data and to extract ranging signals for measuring distance to spacecraft. The data are transmitted via communication network to researchers in the control center in Sagamihara.
Command data for spacecraft and operational data for ground equipment at Usuda Deep Space Center are transmitted to this building from the control center at Sagamihara via communication network.
Ground Station for Deep Space Exploration and Telecommunication (GREAT)
To fulfill high demand from recent deep space missions, JAXA has started to design and develop a new antenna as a ground station for deep space missions. The new antenna that can communicate by utilizing the Ka-band will take over duties of the present 64 meter antenna to support future missions as well as missions currently in operation.