As data from space spikes, an innovative ground station company seeks to cash in

"By the end of the year, Northwood, based in El Segundo, California, had shown the ability to build eight of these Portal arrays a month. And in January the company had deployed operational Portal antennas across two continents. These deployments, which comprise an area of 8 to 15 meters, have the equivalent capability of a 7-meter parabolic dish, said Griffin Cleverly, co-founder and chief technical officer of Northwood."

""Across our initial Portal sites, it will be a few dozen spacecraft that each of them can handle," he said. "And then, as we get into 2027, with much more scale manufacturing, we'll easily be able to handle hundreds of satellites with our network.""

"Northwood's entry into the development of ground stations-there are about half a dozen major players in the industry, some long-established others new - came as the Space Force was looking to modernize its Satellite Control Network. According to a government report published in 2023, the network makes 450 daily contacts with satellites and supports the launch and operations of these vehicles. The report found that the network faced "sustainment and obsolescence issues while demands on the system are increasing.""

Northwood demonstrated manufacturing of eight Portal arrays per month and deployed operational Portal antennas across two continents. Portal deployments cover areas of 8 to 15 meters and provide capability equivalent to a 7-meter parabolic dish. Initial Portal sites will handle a few dozen spacecraft each, with plans to scale to hundreds of satellites by 2027 through increased manufacturing. The company entered ground-station development as the Space Force seeks to modernize the Satellite Control Network, which makes roughly 450 daily satellite contacts and faces sustainment and obsolescence challenges. Northwood targets both government and commercial customers and anticipates rising orbital data volumes.

Read at Ars Technica