China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station (RSGS) was established and put into operation in 1986, with its Chinese name inscribed by Mr. Deng Xiaoping.
Chinese name of RSGS inscribed by Deng Xiaoping
RSGS is not only a major national science and technology infrastructure but also a member of international ground stations group on Earth Observation. As one of the world's busiest ground stations, RSGS has received, processed and archived more than 50 satellites, 3.7 million scenes of satellite imagery since 1986.
With five ground stations built in Miyun, Kashi, Sanya, Kunming and the North Pole (Kiruna, Sweden), RSGS's data reception mask covers the entire Chinese territory and 70% of the land area of Asia. Global satellite remote sensing data can also be accessed efficiently.
Reception mask of Miyun, Kashi, Sanya, Kunming and North Polar ground stations of RSGS
The Miyun Ground Station started operating in 1986. The station is equipped with 6 sets of 12-meter antenna systems, one set of 11-meter antenna system and two sets of 7.3-meter antenna systems, as well as the corresponding data receiving, recording and transmitting facilities. The reception mask of Miyun Ground Station covers central China, northeast China and the neighbouring countries.
Miyun Ground Station
The Kashi Ground Station came into operation in 2008. It now has six sets of 12-meter antenna systems and two sets of 7.3-meter antenna systems. Its reception mask covers western China and central Asian countries.
Kashi Ground Station
The Sanya Ground Station was put into use in 2010. It is equipped with five sets of 12-meter antenna systems. Its reception mask covers the South China Sea and neighbouring countries in southeast Asia.
Sanya Ground Station
The Kunming Ground Station was put into operation in 2016. It has one set of 7.3-meter antenna system. Its range covers southwest China and the neighbor regions.
Kunming Ground Station
The North Polar Ground Station is located in Kiruna, Sweden. It was put into operation in 2016. Now it has one set of 12-meter S/X/Ka-band antenna system, which realizes remote control and automation operation. The North Polar Ground Station can improve China's capability of acquiring global remote sensing data.
North Polar Ground Station
After 30 years of development, RSGS has formed an integrated satellite data receiving, transmitting, archiving, processing and distributing system with Beijing Headquarters as the operation management and data processing centre, and the Miyun, Kashi, Sanya, Kunming and North Polar ground stations as the data receiving network. RSGS has become one of China's core infrastructure facilities in the field of earth observation.
Beijing headquarters of RSGS
In 1986, RSGS began to receive and process data from LANDSAT-5. In 1993, it started to receive and process SAR (synthetic aperture radar) data from the ERS-1 satellite of ESA and the JERS-1 satellite of Japan, realizing all-weather earth observation. In 1997 and 2008 respectively, RSGS succeeded in receiving and processing data from the RADARSAT-1 and RADARSAT-2 satellites of Canada, with multimode and full polarization SAR capacity. From 1998, RSGS has received and processed data from the French SPOT series satellites (including SPOT-1?SPOT-2?SPOT-4?SPOT-5?SPOT-6 and SPOT-7), providing high spatial resolution data to Chinese users. In 2015, RSGS started to receive and process French PLEIADES-1A and PLEIADES-1B satellites data, the spatial resolution of which is up to 0.5 meter.
Since 1999, RSGS has been responsible for receiving data from all China's earth observation satellites such as CBERS-01, CBERS-02, CBERS-02B, CBERS-04, CBERS-04A , HJ-1A, HJ-1B, HJ-1C, ZY-02C, ZY-1E, ZY-03, ZY3-02, SJ-9A, SJ-9B, GF-1, GF-1B/1C/1D, GF-2, GF-3, GF-4, GF-5, GF-6, GF-7,CSES and GFDM01.
Following the initiation of "CAS Strategic Priority Program on Space Science" in 2011, RSGS assumes the responsibility of tracking the near-earth satellites as well as receiving, recording and transmitting their data. The data service of RSGS has hence been extended from earth observation to space science. Since 2015, RSGS has succeeded in receiving data from China's Dark Matter Particle Detection satellite (DAMPE, "WuKong", SJ-10 satellite, Quantum Science Experimental satellite (QUESS, "MoZi", Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope satellite (HXMT, "HuiYan" and Microgravity Technology Experimental Satellite (KX-09, "Taiji-1".
The catalogue of domestic and international satellite related to RSGS:
Number Satellite name Country or organization The year of starting receiving data Current reception 1 LANDSAT-5 U.S. 1986 2 ERS-1 ESA 1993 3 JERS-1 Japan 1993 4 ERS-2 ESA 1995 5 RADARSAT-1 Canada 1997 6 SPOT-1 France 1998 7 SPOT-2 France 1998 8 CBERS-01 China, Brazil 1999 9 SPOT-4 France 1999 10 LANDSAT-7 U.S. 2000 11 SPOT-5 France 2002 12 ENVISAT ESA 2003 13 CBERS-02 China, Brazil 2003 14 RESOURCESAT-1 India 2005 15 CBERS-02B China, Brazil 2007 16 RADARSAT-2 Canada 2008 v 17 HJ-1A China 2008 v 18 HJ-1B China 2008 v 19 THEOS Thailand 2011 20 ZY-02C China 2011 v 21 ZY-03 China 2012 v 22 SJ-9A China 2012 v 23 SJ-9B China 2012 v 24 HJ-1C China 2012 v 25 GF-1 China 2013 v 26 SPOT-6 France 2013 v 27 LANDSAT-8 U.S. 2013 v 28 GF-2 China 2014 v 29 CBERS-04 China, Brazil 2014 v 30 SPOT-7 France 2014 v 31 PLEIADES-1A France 2015 v 32 PLEIADES-1B France 2015 v 33 DAMPE China 2015 v 34 GF-4 China 2016 v 35 SJ-10 China 2016 36 ZY3-02 China 2016 v 37 QUESS China 2016 v 38 GF-3 China 2016 v 39 HXMT China 2017 v 40 CSES China 2018 v 41 GF-1B China 2018 v 42 GF-1C China 2018 v 43 GF-1D China 2018 v 44 GF-5 China 2018 v 45 GF-6 China 2018 v 46 KX-09 China 2019 v 47 ZY-1E China 2019 v 48 GF-7 China 2019 v 49 CBERS-04A China 2019 v 50 GFDM01 China 2020 v
The Organizational Chart of RSGS
The main technical capabilities of RSGS are as follows: 1) The data receiving system is capable of receiving satellite downlink data of the S, X and Ka band. It leads the world with its core technical index, the data reception rate, which is up to 2*1.2Gbps (X band) and 4*1.5Gbps(Ka band). The system is also able to track and rapidly capture highly dynamic and low-SNR satellite signals. 2) The data recording system is capable of recording, transmitting and quick displaying satellite data in real-time, with a channel data recording capacity of up to 1.5Gbps. 3) The data transmission system consists of five high-speed data transmission links between the Miyun, Kashi, Sanya, Kunming, North Pole Ground Stations and the Beijing Headquarters, with a bandwidth of 10000Mbps, 622Mbps, 622Mbps, 200Mbps and 450Mbps respectively to ensure the speed of data transmission. 4) RSGS owns several sets of international satellite data processing systems. Its data products conform with the international standards of quality and specifications. 5) RSGS also provides satellite data services such as the online inquiry of archived data, the handling of product orders, the downloading and delivery of data products, etc. It manages more than 3.7 million scenes of historically archived catalogue data and four hundred thousand scenes of online archived standard product data, the size of which exceeds 508TB. 6) RSGS may set up Virtual Ground Station (SatSee system) for users, especially those in neighbouring countries. The VGS is able to provide users with near real-time, full resolution quicklook images of remote sensing satellite data received by RSGS. 7) The operation management system manages more than 30 Chinese and foreign polar-orbiting earth observation satellites, geostationary earth observation satellites, and space science satellites by monitoring, scheduling and controlling their data receiving, recording, transmission and quality monitoring systems, as well as the mission status and work performance.
The computer room at the Ground Station
The International remote sensing satellite data processing system
Big Science Infrastructure
China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station
China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station (RSGS) was established and put into operation in 1986, with its Chinese name inscribed by Mr. Deng Xiaoping.
Chinese name of RSGS inscribed by Deng Xiaoping
RSGS is not only a major national science and technology infrastructure but also a member of international ground stations group on Earth Observation. As one of the world's busiest ground stations, RSGS has received, processed and archived more than 50 satellites, 3.7 million scenes of satellite imagery since 1986.
With five ground stations built in Miyun, Kashi, Sanya, Kunming and the North Pole (Kiruna, Sweden), RSGS's data reception mask covers the entire Chinese territory and 70% of the land area of Asia. Global satellite remote sensing data can also be accessed efficiently.
Reception mask of Miyun, Kashi, Sanya, Kunming and North Polar ground stations of RSGS
The Miyun Ground Station started operating in 1986. The station is equipped with 6 sets of 12-meter antenna systems, one set of 11-meter antenna system and two sets of 7.3-meter antenna systems, as well as the corresponding data receiving, recording and transmitting facilities. The reception mask of Miyun Ground Station covers central China, northeast China and the neighbouring countries.
Miyun Ground Station
The Kashi Ground Station came into operation in 2008. It now has six sets of 12-meter antenna systems and two sets of 7.3-meter antenna systems. Its reception mask covers western China and central Asian countries.
Kashi Ground Station
The Sanya Ground Station was put into use in 2010. It is equipped with five sets of 12-meter antenna systems. Its reception mask covers the South China Sea and neighbouring countries in southeast Asia.
Sanya Ground Station
The Kunming Ground Station was put into operation in 2016. It has one set of 7.3-meter antenna system. Its range covers southwest China and the neighbor regions.
Kunming Ground Station
The North Polar Ground Station is located in Kiruna, Sweden. It was put into operation in 2016. Now it has one set of 12-meter S/X/Ka-band antenna system, which realizes remote control and automation operation. The North Polar Ground Station can improve China's capability of acquiring global remote sensing data.
North Polar Ground Station
After 30 years of development, RSGS has formed an integrated satellite data receiving, transmitting, archiving, processing and distributing system with Beijing Headquarters as the operation management and data processing centre, and the Miyun, Kashi, Sanya, Kunming and North Polar ground stations as the data receiving network. RSGS has become one of China's core infrastructure facilities in the field of earth observation.
Beijing headquarters of RSGS
In 1986, RSGS began to receive and process data from LANDSAT-5. In 1993, it started to receive and process SAR (synthetic aperture radar) data from the ERS-1 satellite of ESA and the JERS-1 satellite of Japan, realizing all-weather earth observation. In 1997 and 2008 respectively, RSGS succeeded in receiving and processing data from the RADARSAT-1 and RADARSAT-2 satellites of Canada, with multimode and full polarization SAR capacity. From 1998, RSGS has received and processed data from the French SPOT series satellites (including SPOT-1?SPOT-2?SPOT-4?SPOT-5?SPOT-6 and SPOT-7), providing high spatial resolution data to Chinese users. In 2015, RSGS started to receive and process French PLEIADES-1A and PLEIADES-1B satellites data, the spatial resolution of which is up to 0.5 meter.
Since 1999, RSGS has been responsible for receiving data from all China's earth observation satellites such as CBERS-01, CBERS-02, CBERS-02B, CBERS-04, CBERS-04A , HJ-1A, HJ-1B, HJ-1C, ZY-02C, ZY-1E, ZY-03, ZY3-02, SJ-9A, SJ-9B, GF-1, GF-1B/1C/1D, GF-2, GF-3, GF-4, GF-5, GF-6, GF-7,CSES and GFDM01.
Following the initiation of "CAS Strategic Priority Program on Space Science" in 2011, RSGS assumes the responsibility of tracking the near-earth satellites as well as receiving, recording and transmitting their data. The data service of RSGS has hence been extended from earth observation to space science. Since 2015, RSGS has succeeded in receiving data from China's Dark Matter Particle Detection satellite (DAMPE, "WuKong", SJ-10 satellite, Quantum Science Experimental satellite (QUESS, "MoZi", Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope satellite (HXMT, "HuiYan" and Microgravity Technology Experimental Satellite (KX-09, "Taiji-1".
The catalogue of domestic and international satellite related to RSGS:
Number Satellite name Country
or organization The year of starting receiving data Current reception
1 LANDSAT-5 U.S. 1986
2 ERS-1 ESA 1993
3 JERS-1 Japan 1993
4 ERS-2 ESA 1995
5 RADARSAT-1 Canada 1997
6 SPOT-1 France 1998
7 SPOT-2 France 1998
8 CBERS-01 China, Brazil 1999
9 SPOT-4 France 1999
10 LANDSAT-7 U.S. 2000
11 SPOT-5 France 2002
12 ENVISAT ESA 2003
13 CBERS-02 China, Brazil 2003
14 RESOURCESAT-1 India 2005
15 CBERS-02B China, Brazil 2007
16 RADARSAT-2 Canada 2008 v
17 HJ-1A China 2008 v
18 HJ-1B China 2008 v
19 THEOS Thailand 2011
20 ZY-02C China 2011 v
21 ZY-03 China 2012 v
22 SJ-9A China 2012 v
23 SJ-9B China 2012 v
24 HJ-1C China 2012 v
25 GF-1 China 2013 v
26 SPOT-6 France 2013 v
27 LANDSAT-8 U.S. 2013 v
28 GF-2 China 2014 v
29 CBERS-04 China, Brazil 2014 v
30 SPOT-7 France 2014 v
31 PLEIADES-1A France 2015 v
32 PLEIADES-1B France 2015 v
33 DAMPE China 2015 v
34 GF-4 China 2016 v
35 SJ-10 China 2016
36 ZY3-02 China 2016 v
37 QUESS China 2016 v
38 GF-3 China 2016 v
39 HXMT China 2017 v
40 CSES China 2018 v
41 GF-1B China 2018 v
42 GF-1C China 2018 v
43 GF-1D China 2018 v
44 GF-5 China 2018 v
45 GF-6 China 2018 v
46 KX-09 China 2019 v
47 ZY-1E China 2019 v
48 GF-7 China 2019 v
49 CBERS-04A China 2019 v
50 GFDM01 China 2020 v
The Organizational Chart of RSGS
The main technical capabilities of RSGS are as follows:
1) The data receiving system is capable of receiving satellite downlink data of the S, X and Ka band. It leads the world with its core technical index, the data reception rate, which is up to 2*1.2Gbps (X band) and 4*1.5Gbps(Ka band). The system is also able to track and rapidly capture highly dynamic and low-SNR satellite signals.
2) The data recording system is capable of recording, transmitting and quick displaying satellite data in real-time, with a channel data recording capacity of up to 1.5Gbps.
3) The data transmission system consists of five high-speed data transmission links between the Miyun, Kashi, Sanya, Kunming, North Pole Ground Stations and the Beijing Headquarters, with a bandwidth of 10000Mbps, 622Mbps, 622Mbps, 200Mbps and 450Mbps respectively to ensure the speed of data transmission.
4) RSGS owns several sets of international satellite data processing systems. Its data products conform with the international standards of quality and specifications.
5) RSGS also provides satellite data services such as the online inquiry of archived data, the handling of product orders, the downloading and delivery of data products, etc. It manages more than 3.7 million scenes of historically archived catalogue data and four hundred thousand scenes of online archived standard product data, the size of which exceeds 508TB.
6) RSGS may set up Virtual Ground Station (SatSee system) for users, especially those in neighbouring countries. The VGS is able to provide users with near real-time, full resolution quicklook images of remote sensing satellite data received by RSGS.
7) The operation management system manages more than 30 Chinese and foreign polar-orbiting earth observation satellites, geostationary earth observation satellites, and space science satellites by monitoring, scheduling and controlling their data receiving, recording, transmission and quality monitoring systems, as well as the mission status and work performance.
The computer room at the Ground Station
The International remote sensing satellite data processing system