The Spacecraft Tracking and Data (Acquisition) Network (STADAN or STDN) was established by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

in the early 1960s to satisfy the requirement for long-duration, highly available space-to-ground communications. The network was the "follow-on" to the earlier

Minitrack The Minitrack Network was the first U.S. satellite tracking network to become operational, in 1957. It was used to track the flights of Sputnik, Vanguard, Explorer, and other early space efforts. Minitrack was the progenitor of Spacecraft Tracki ...

, which tracked the flights of Sputnik, Vanguard, Explorer, and other early space efforts (1957–1962). Real-time operational control and scheduling of the network was provided by the Network Operations Control Center (NOCC) at the

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...

(GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland. Consisting of parabolic dish antennas and telephone switching equipment deployed around the world, the STADAN provided space-to-ground communications for approximately 15 minutes of a 90-minute orbit period. This limited contact period sufficed for uncrewed spacecraft, but crewed spacecraft require a much higher data collection time. In May 1971 STADAN was consolidated with the

Manned Space Flight Network The Manned Space Flight Network (abbreviated MSFN, pronounced "''misfin''") was a set of tracking stations built to support the American Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab space programs. There were two other NASA space communication networks a ...

(MSFN) to form the Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network (STDN).

Stations

STADAN stations were located at the following locations: * AGO:

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

* BDA: Cooper's Island, Bermuda * BUR:

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

* CRO: Carnarvon, Australia * EGF:

East Grand Forks, Minnesota East Grand Forks (also known as EGF) is a city in Polk County, Minnesota, Polk County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Polk County's largest community. It is in the Red ...

, US * ETC:

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental ...

, US - Network Operations Control Center * FtM

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...

, US * GDS:

Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC), commonly called the Goldstone Observatory, is a satellite ground station located in Fort Irwin in the U.S. state of California. Operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), its ...

Goldstone, California The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC), commonly called the Goldstone Observatory, is a satellite ground station located in Fort Irwin in the U.S. state of California. Operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), its mai ...

, US * NFL: Shoe Cove,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

() * ORR:

Orroral Valley Tracking Station The Orroral Valley tracking station was an Earth stations in Australia, Earth station in Australia, supported Earth-orbiting satellites, as part of NASA's Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN). It was located approximatel ...

Canberra, Australia Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city, and the eighth-largest Australian city b ...

* PAK:

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

* QUI:

Quito, Ecuador Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

* ROS: Rosman, North Carolina, US * TAN: Tananarive, Madagascar * ULA:

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a Municipal home rule, home rule city and the county seat, borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior Alaska, interior region of Alaska and the second la ...

, US * WNK: Winkfield, England * Ascension:

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...

, (

South Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

) * Barstow:

Barstow, California Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Located in the Inland Empire region of California, the population was 25,415 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Barstow is an impor ...

, US * Brown: Brown Field, California near

Chula Vista Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh-most populous city in Southern California, the 15th-most populous city in the ...

, US * Chile:

Antofagasta, Chile Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia followi ...

* Cooby:

Cooby Creek Tracking Station Cooby Creek Tracking Station, an Earth stations in Australia, Earth station in Australia, was located north of Toowoomba, Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland. Built near the Cooby Dam, the station was located in a radio quiet zone, where the ...

Toowoomba, Queensland Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

, Australia * Crete: Crete, Greece * Lima:

Lima, Peru Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Later developments

Most of the STADAN stations were phased out in the early 1980s, as the

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System The U.S. Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS, pronounced "T-driss") is a network of American communications satellites (each called a tracking and data relay satellite, TDRS) and ground stations used by NASA for space communications. ...

(TDRS), took over most of the work of tracking satellites in

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

."Tracking-station closings scheduled," ''Science News,'' Vol. 117, No. 2. (Jan. 12, 1980), p. 27. Another network, the

Deep Space Network The NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) is a worldwide Telecommunications network, network of spacecraft communication ground segment facilities, located in the United States (California), Spain (Madrid), and Australia (Canberra), that supports NASA' ...

(DSN), interacted with crewed craft higher than 10,000 miles from Earth, such as the

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

missions, in addition to its primary mission of data collection from deep space probes.

External links

"STDN User's Manual"
-

, (NASA-TM-X-72932) STDN User's Manual N75-78163, Baseline Document (NASA) 124 pages, UNCLAS 00/98 03939
GSFC X-202067-26
William R. Corliss (1967). Evolution of the Satellite Tracking And Data Acquisition Network (STADAN).
NASA CR-140390
- William R. Corliss (June 1974). Histories of the Space Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN), the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN), and the NASA Communications Network (NASCOM).
NASA SP-2007-4233
- Sunny Tsiao (2007). "Read You Loud and Clear!" The Story of NASA's Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network.

STADAN Station in Shoe Cove, Newfoundland

"NASA Directory of Observation Station Locations"
-

, (NASA-TM-X-69902) NASA Directory of Observation Station Locations, 274 pages

Notes

{{reflist Goddard Space Flight Center NASA radio communications and spacecraft tracking facilities

Stations

Later developments

See also

External links

Notes