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Ariane to build sat-tracker on Aboriginal site

March 27, 2020

By Chris Forrester

Ariane Group is to build a new satellite tracking station on an Aboriginal site in Alice Springs, Australia as part of its near-global coverage.

Ariane already has similar observation sites as part of its GEOTracker system. Two are in France, two in Australia, and one each in Spain, Chile and near Munich, Germany.

Its 8th tracking suite of instruments will consist of multiple devices encased in a 3-metre-tall clamshell observatory dome and will automatically track satellites using the telescope. It is the latest addition to an already existing ground station at the Centre for Appropriate Technology (CfAT), a not-for-profit Aboriginal-owned technology company.

The centre’s CEO, Peter Renehan, said Alice Springs was the ideal location for the trackers, given its frequently clear skies. “What’s exciting for us, it just shows that an Aboriginal organisation based in Alice Springs is showing leadership around these sorts of technologies and around the impact it can have.”

Categories: Articles, Satellite