NASA has officially opened one of the three permanent ground stations of the Near Earth Network’s Launch Communications Segment that will provide services to support future space explorations including the Artemis moon landing mission.
The space agency said Wednesday the Kennedy Uplink Station, located at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will work with companion ground stations Ponce De Leon and Bermuda to facilitate communications for Artemis launch missions.
The Launch Communications Segment, operated by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, supports the Lockheed Martin-built Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System advanced launch vehicle, which is expected to set the stage for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit.
The segment will combine information received from the connected ground stations into a single data stream to streamline the launch communications for crewed missions.
The satellite ground systems are also expected to reduce costs compared to the space shuttle-era ground segment.