Location

The GPS receiver is installed in the Kiruna ground station, which is at Salmijärvi, 38 km east of Kiruna in northern Sweden.

History and evolution

This was the first installation of a set of 5 TurboRogues ordered by ESOC. After a period of testing in ESOC the receiver was deployed to the station on the 8th of July 1993.

The receiver is in a building several metres away from the main equipment room of the station. From this building the distance to the monument is shorter. The geodetic monument was constructed following the model defined for the other ESA sites. It is on the top of a slope surrounded by trees.

Equipment

The first receiver in operation was a TurboRogue SNR-8100 and was updated to the AOA ACT technology in September 2000.

The receiver is connected to a 5 MHz output of the station timing system, a Cesium manufactured by OSCILLOQUARTZ.

The antenna installation and monumentation are similar to the ones of the other ESA stations.

In March 2003 a new Ashtech microZ-XII and Ashtech chokering antenna were installed.

In February 2013 a new Septentrio Polarx4 and Septentrio chokering antenna were installed to extend the tracking to all known GNSS constellations; GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Beidou and QZSS.

The communications were initially performed with a Telebit T2500 directly connected to the TurboRogue.a direct line is now available from ESOc to the station to command and operate the GNSS receiver remotely.

In November 2019 the receiver was upgraded to a Septentrio PolarRx5 receiver and a Septentrio PolaNt Chokering B3/E6 antenna

Photos