Ghana Satellite Earth Station
| Organization | |
|---|---|
| Location | Kuntunse, Greater Accra Region, Ga West Municipal Assembly, Ghana |
| Coordinates | 5°45′01″N 0°18′19″W / 5.75028°N 0.30514°W |
| Telescopes |
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Location of Ghana Satellite Earth Station | |
| Related media on Commons | |
The Ghana Satellite Earth Station, now The Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory (GRAO), is the largest satellite station in Ghana and hosts the largest steerable single-dish radio telescope in Africa. The satellite station is situated at Kuntunse, on the Accra - Nsawam Road,[1][2] a suburb of Accra in the Greater Accra Region. The satellite station has five receiver dishes:
- One main dish- 32 m
- Two medium dishes
- Two small dishes
The station is managed by the Ghana Space Science and technology Institute, following its release from Vodafone company back to the Ghana government, and subsequently to the Institute under the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission.
In 2017, it was announced the 32-meter (105 feet) former communications antenna had begun operations as an astronomical radio telescope. The telescope's "first light" science observations included methanol maser detections, pulsar observations and VLBI fringe testing.[3][4]
References
- ^ "Satellite Earth". www.abpconsult.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
- ^ Boateng, Kwasi. "Satellite Communication in Ghana-challenges and prospects" (PDF). Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ^ "Old Communications Dish Born Again as Radio Telescope in Africa". Space.com.
- ^ Wild, Sarah (11 May 2017). "Ghana telescope heralds first pan-African array". Nature News. Vol. 545, no. 7653. p. 144. doi:10.1038/545144a.