GroundStation
Wales

Groundstation Wales, proudly operated by Infinity Space, is a dedicated small satellite downlink hub located in South Wales. Serving as a strategic point for space data reception, our station supports both educational and commercial missions.

Built for Low Earth Orbit Communications

This strategic facility serves as a vital interface between satellites orbiting above and mission operators on Earth. As part of the UK’s growing space infrastructure, it provides both private and public organisations with reliable satellite communications, data retrieval, and mission control capabilities. Our mission is to enable more accessible and decentralised access to space from Wales. The groundstation is designed primarily for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) operations, supporting satellites at altitudes between 160 km and 2,000 km. Our infrastructure is built to track fast-moving LEO objects with precision, ensuring reliable downlink and uplink windows during each satellite pass.

Why We Built Groundstation Wales

Groundstation Wales was established to cement Wales’s role in the rapidly expanding global space community. By providing a dedicated communications hub for Low Earth Orbit satellites, we ensure that both private ventures and public agencies have direct, sovereign access to their spacecraft.

Our facility also drives local innovation and economic growth by attracting space startups, research institutions, and industry partners to the region. With precision tracking and high-throughput links tailored for fast-moving LEO satellites, Groundstation Wales unlocks new opportunities for real-time analytics, Internet of Things connectivity, and educational outreach. Ultimately, we built this station to democratise space access from Wales, fostering a decentralised ecosystem where ideas can launch, evolve, and make an impact on a global scale.

Dual-Dish Architecture for Enhanced Coverage

Groundstation Wales operates with a dual-dish configuration, each designed for specific frequency bands and mission types. The system includes a UHF/VHF tracking dish for amateur radio and educational satellites, an S-band dish for telemetry and tracking, in 2026 it will also host an experimental X-band receiver for high-data-rate Earth observation satellites. This multi-dish approach allows us to monitor multiple satellites or frequencies simultaneously, increasing mission flexibility and data throughput.

Sustainable Space

Seren Station - Our First Ground Station

In 2022, our journey began with the inheritance of a weathered satellite dish—a relic from earlier missions that once heard the whispers of orbiting spacecraft. Though aged and limited in capability, this dish provided the crucial first foothold in ground communications. It taught us invaluable lessons in site calibration, signal optimisation, and the resilience required to run a station in Wales’s ever-changing weather.

From this humble beginning, we centered our efforts on modernising infrastructure while honouring the legacy of those early transmissions. The old dish guided the design principles of subsequent installations, informing our choices in antenna mechanics, radio frequency shielding, and automated tracking systems.

Joining the SatNOGS Network in Q1 2026

In the first quarter of 2026, Groundstation Wales will formally integrate with the SatNOGS open-source ground station network. This milestone extends our reach into a global, community-driven infrastructure, allowing us to schedule satellite passes, share real-time telemetry, and collaborate with operators around the world.

Participation in SatNOGS also accelerates our operational capabilities. We’ll gain access to a unified scheduling system, automated data pipelines, and crowdsourced maintenance support, all of which enhance uptime and data quality. This partnership embodies our mission to democratise space access—transforming Groundstation Wales from a standalone asset into a node within a vibrant, decentralised network fueling innovation everywhere.

Strategic Location in the Welsh Valleys

Our facility is located in Maesteg, in the heart of the Llynfi Valley in South Wales. This area provides an optimal environment for ground operations due to its low electromagnetic interference (EMI), natural radio shielding from surrounding hills, and wide open skies. These conditions make it ideal for clear satellite signal reception and reliable pass tracking with minimal disruption. We are fully equipped to provide tracking, downlink, and uplink support for PocketQube and CubeSat missions. These small-form satellites require highly responsive tracking systems and accurate Doppler correction during each pass — both of which are supported by our automated antenna and software systems.

The Strategic Importance of Groundstation Wales

Groundstation Wales serves as a cornerstone of resilient satellite communications for the UK, ensuring sovereign control over critical data streams. By linking Low Earth Orbit missions directly to Welsh soil, we cut out delays and dependency on foreign relay stations, bolstering national security and operational reliability.

Beyond immediate mission support, Groundstation Wales fuels long-term innovation and education across the region. It offers universities and startups hands-on access to live satellite telemetry, unlocking research in remote sensing, Internet of Things connectivity, and space science. Local businesses benefit from customised data services, driving growth in sectors like agriculture, renewable energy, and maritime logistics.

Telemetry and Tracking Operations

Our capabilities are enabled through tracking software, programmable radios, and rotator-controlled antennas with azimuth and elevation tracking. During satellite passes, our systems automatically acquire and track the target satellite, adjust for Doppler shift, demodulate telemetry, and allow for command uplink operations where permitted. Data is processed and forwarded to mission control centers or academic partners in near real-time. Groundstation Wales is a key element of Infinity Space’s vision to create a distributed and collaborative space ecosystem across the UK. It complements our work in satellite development, propulsion innovation, and orbital experimentation. By establishing communication infrastructure on the ground, we create a seamless link between the skies above and the research and innovation happening across academic and commercial sectors.

Supporting Our Flagship Missions: DragonSat, Pegasus, SerenSat, and Ares

Groundstation Wales is the backbone of our mission operations, providing end-to-end communications for DragonSat, Pegasus, SerenSat, and Ares. From initial launch through on-orbit maneuvers and de-orbit procedures, the station’s precision antennas enable reliable command uplinks and science telemetry downlinks during every pass.

Each mission benefits from tailored ground-segment services. DragonSat’s novel plasma-diagnostic instruments rely on high-throughput links for streaming test data in near real time. Pegasus, our low-cost constellation demonstrator, uses Groundstation Wales to coordinate inter-satellite networking experiments and validate swarm-control algorithms.

How to Get Involved with Groundstation Wales

Whether you’re a student, researcher, hobbyist, or industry partner, there are multiple ways to plug into our ground station ecosystem. You can register for a SatNOGS account to schedule your own satellite passes and download live telemetry data. If you’re developing a CubeSat or payload, reach out to us for collaborative mission support—from antenna time slots to real-time downlink testing.

If you are a developer or maker, contribute to our open-source ground-station software: submit code, propose new features, or help troubleshoot our antenna-tracking algorithms. Together, we’ll grow a vibrant, decentralised space community right here in Wales.

Empowering Missions, Enabling Discovery

Groundstation Wales is a key element of Infinity Space’s vision to create a distributed and collaborative space ecosystem across the World. It complements our work in satellite development, propulsion innovation, and orbital experimentation. By establishing communication infrastructure on the ground, we create a seamless link between the skies above and the research and innovation happening across academic and private sectors.

Empowering a Nations Journey Beyond Earth

We believe that space should be for everyone — and that includes Wales. Groundstation Wales is not just a facility, it’s a symbol of empowerment and innovation for the region. It offers practical opportunities for students, researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs to get involved in the global space sector, directly from South Wales. Whether you are building your first satellite, gathering climate data, or testing a new onboard system, Groundstation Wales is ready to connect you to the cosmos.

GroundStationWales