ESA hosts international conference on tracking and commanding spacecraft

Telemetry, tracking and command systems are complex networks of ground tracking stations supported by sophisticated signal processing that enable ground controllers to send up commands and receive large amounts of scientific data, often transmitted from millions of kilometres in deep space. These systems are crucial to space success and require unique, high-precision engineering, often adapted to the requirements of different missions. However all space agencies must rationalise costs and as result global cooperation in this highly technical field is growing deeper. ESApod reports from ESA's 4th International Workshop on Tracking, Telemetry and Command Systems for Space Applications.ESApod audio programme