SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/aero-satellite-ground-command

In a basic satellite command-and-control link, where does the command signal originate?

A ground station on Earth.

Start playing free

  1. The launch vehicle that carried it
  2. The satellite's power system
  3. A ground station on Earth ✔

Why: A satellite system is more than the satellite. A ground station sends computer commands up to it, and the satellite sends a response back down. That two-way link is called command and control.

Huh, didn't know that: The satellite sends a response signal back down to the ground station.

The dad joke
Why did the satellite always listen to the ground station? It knew who was in command.
Like this card?
Play the game

References

Answer: A ground station on Earth. A satellite system is more than the satellite. A ground station sends computer commands up to it, and the satellite sends a response back down. That two-way link is called command and control.

  1. CAP Aerospace Dimensions Module 6, Spacecraft (Alaska Wing copy) akwg.cap.gov/media/cms/Module_6__Spacecraft_E6C71F472ACC8_abd28.pdf
    The command portion is the signal from the ground station to the satellite.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

Think this answer is wrong? Tap "Challenge this answer" on the card in the game and tell us why.

Test yourself in the game

Flying & DronesWhich spacecraft became the first artificial satellite?Flying & DronesWhat shape are all orbits?Flying & DronesIn a satellite's orbit around Earth, what is the apogee?

That's stuff everyone should know.