NASA taps KSAT cloud link to boost SPHEREx data return

NASA has partnered with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to upgrade an Antarctic ground station and connect it to a cloud network, ensuring data from the SPHEREx near-infrared space observatory can be efficiently relayed to scientists.

The collaboration, which involved upgrading KSAT’s Troll station antenna on Antarctica, supports the SPHEREx mission’s quest to explore the origins of the universe. This approach highlights NASA’s increasing reliance on commercial partners to enhance its capabilities while reducing costs, officials said.

To accommodate SPHEREx’s polar orbit and its daily downlink of approximately 20 gigabytes of science data, KSAT upgraded its Troll antenna. The company then integrated its own cloud storage system, which NASA connected to the agency’s DAPHNE+ (Data Acquisition Process and Handling Environment) cloud, creating a direct virtual pathway for the data.

“Missions like SPHEREx use the Near Space Network’s combination of commercial and government antennas,” explained Michael Skube, DAPHNE+ manager at NASA Goddard, in an announcement. Skube noted that DAPHNE+ “enables the network to pull different sources of information into one central location.” He continued: “The DAPHNE+ system treats government and commercial antennas as part of the same network.”

SPHEREx is an abbreviation of “Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer.”

The video below shows SPHEREx scanning the sky: