Spaceflight Networks is a global ground station network available to provide connectivity for your small satellite mission or constellation. SF Networks provides its customers a list of satellite radios that are immediately compatible with SF Networks, and no non-recurring engineering is required. Spaceflight’s diverse ground station locations are optimized to minimize communications latency and maximize data throughput of satellites and constellations. The first Spaceflight Networks ground station is operational in Seattle, WA, with additional ground stations coming online in 2015, 2016, and 2017 across six continents.
How it works
Customers choose and purchase a radio that fits their mission needs. Spaceflight Network’s radio offerings span the use case spectrum from low-rate, UHF CubeSat TT&C to microsatellite payload X-band downlinks with speeds of 100s of Mbps.
Customers purchase a data plan to utilize the network. No setup fees are required to use the network.
Customers sign up for passes via SFNetworks web-based interface or API. During a contact pass, a secure data port will be provided to route data to and from the satellite via Spaceflight Networks.
Ground Station Locations
This map represents the full complement of currently existing and future planned Ground Sites around the world. Detailed site information is available here.
Compatible Radios and Pricing
| Compatibility | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radio | Cube | Micro | Frequency | Data Rate | Price Per Unit* | INFORMATION |
| BitBeam BBUHF | Y | Y | UHF-up / UHF-down |
Up to 115.2 Kbps | $4,365 (FM) | Datasheet Price List |
| BitBeam BBSDR | Y | Y | S-up / X-down |
Up to 80 Mbps | $17,155 (FM) | Datasheet Price List |
| Tethers SWIFT | Y | Y | S-up / X-down |
> 100 Mbps | $65,000 (EM) $126,000 (FM) |
Datasheet |
| Syrlinks EWC27 | Y | Y | X-down; S-up optional |
Up to 100 Mbps | Starting at 50,000 Euro (FM) | Datasheet |
| Syrlinks EWC28 | N | Y | X-down | Up to 100 Mbps | Starting at 150,000 Euro (FM) | Datasheet |
| Syrlinks EWC30 | N | Y | X-down | > 400 Mbps | Upon request | Datasheet |
*Discounts available for larger quantities. Contact vendor directly.
EM = Engineering Model
FM = Flight Model
More information on our radios and plan pricing is available here
Data Plans & Pricing
We currently offer two data plan models to give customers flexibility.
Model 1 - Pay per Minute
With this plan, customers pay per minute for the contact time that is used. Contacts are scheduled through our easy to use API and data is linked back to the customer’s data center or available for post-contact download.
Model 2 - Pay per Month
With this plan, customers purchase access on a monthly basis and are given 24/7 exclusive use of an antenna/transceiver pair. This model is ideal for customers with large numbers of on-orbit assets and require significant data downloads.
More information on our radios and plan pricing is available here.