Monitoring 8000 Satellites 24/7
How The German Space Agency Monitors Satellite Activity From a Control Room in Uedem With The Help of VuWall Solutions
Space has become a contested domain, as evidenced by recent cyberattacks, including an incident at Japan’s Space Agency, and the risk posed to over 8,000 satellites in orbit over Earth.
Any prolonged disruption could have catastrophic consequences for financial transactions, public and air transportation, weather forecasting, mobile communication, and navigation.
Recognizing this, NATO and other countries have identified space as the next critical domain to protect. Safeguarding space-based services and monitoring the activities of others is the core mission of the German Space Command.
Seeking a user-friendly interface for monitoring space activity
For its critical mission, the German Space Situational Awareness Centre (GSSAC) observes near-Earth space from the city of Uedem approximately 100 km from Cologne. Satellites and other space activity are monitored around the clock to identify threats and analyze the impact of space weather.
The GSSAC team’s command center needed a secure control room with multiple video walls capable of displaying high-resolution from a range of sources in real-time. Those sources also needed to be routed into two separate displays without interfering with one another.
They also needed an interface that was user-friendly so that operators and personnel could rotate shifts easily without anyone requiring lengthy training sessions.
Solution
To oversee implementation of the control room, GSSAC hired integrator roda computer GmbH, specialists in defense-related IT system solutions.
The control room was built with two 3×3 video walls, each consisting of 9 Samsung VH55R-R LCDs which were then controlled by VuWall’s TRx Centralized Management Platform. Fibre optic components were supplied by IHSEÂ to connect the screens and server to the control terminal.
Results
The implemented video wall system meets all of GSSAC’s requirements, including high-resolution feeds routed to separate displays. TRx’s user-friendly interface enables operators to quickly change shifts and terminals without interruption or delay of any kind.
The space agency’s video wall now displays a dynamic, informative situational picture of space at all times. Signals coming from the workstations are divided into two video wall systems, preventing signal interference. This created two isolated solutions, ensuring data security and operational stability.
Now, the monitoring and safeguarding of over 8,000 satellites is a more manageable task for a dedicated team of professionals who need to enable quick decision-making at a moment’s notice to keep the skies secure.
About the German Space Agency
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