By combining real-time orbital tracking, SDR control, signal decoding, and even AI-powered transcription in a single web interface, you can analyze signals from space.

Welcome back, aspiring cyberwarriors!

When people think about radio work, they often imagine something old-fashioned and slow. But modern SDR work is closer to software-defined intelligence gathering. You are tracking satellites, controlling hardware, decoding signals, and watching live spectrum data all at once. Ground Station is exactly that kind of project. It’s an open-source platform for satellite tracking and radio communication, designed for amateur radio operators and researchers. The project has also gathered a lot of attention, with the repository having roughly 4000 stars on GitHub.

What is Ground Station

Ground Station is a full-featured solution for satellite tracking and radio communication. The project supports real-time satellite tracking with high-precision orbital models and automatic TLE updates from CelesTrak and SatNOGS, so the system stays current without you having to manually refresh orbital data all the time. It also supports antenna rotator control, Hamlib rig control with Doppler correction, and SDR input from devices such as RTL-SDR, SoapySDR, and UHD/USRP radios.

It allows you to work with the entire signal path from start to finish. You can record raw IQ data in SigMF format, play that data back through a virtual SDR device, decode satellite-related signals, and even run AI transcription on demodulated audio using Gemini Live or Deepgram. The README also highlights support for SSTV, FSK, GFSK, GMSK, and BPSK decoding, along with weather-satellite decoding through SatDump. The web interface is built with Material-UI and is meant to work smoothly on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.

Setting Up

Despite the large feature set, the setup process is pretty simple. The easiest path is through Docker, which packages everything into a ready-to-run environment. If Docker is not already installed, the base packages can be added quickly on Debian-based systems.

kali > sudo apt install docker.io
kali > sudo apt install docker-compose
kali > sudo service docker start
kali > sudo systemctl enable docker

After Docker is ready, the first step is to pull the latest Ground Station image.

kali > docker pull ghcr.io/sgoudelis/ground-station:latest

Next comes the main launch command.

kali > docker run -d --platform linux/amd64 --network host --name ground-station --restart unless-stopped --device=/dev/bus/usb --privileged -v /path/to/data:/app/backend/data -e GS_ENVIRONMENT=production -e GR_BUFFER_TYPE=vmcirc_mmap_tmpfile ghcr.io/sgoudelis/ground-station:latest

This command does several important things at once. It runs the station in detached mode so it stays in the background, grants direct USB access so connected SDRs and radios are visible inside the container, mounts a local storage path for saved recordings and decoded files, enables production mode, and uses host networking so local device discovery and SDR communication remain smooth. Basically, it transforms your Linux system into a self-hosted satellite monitoring appliance. 

Once launched, the Ground Station interface becomes available on localhost:7000. On your first visit, the software asks you to define your location so pass predictions and satellite visibility calculations are accurate for your position.

Capabilities of Ground Station

Now we arrive at the most interesting part. 

The global satellite overview acts like your mission control homepage. It gives you quick group selection, live satellite status indicators, and an immediate understanding of what is happening overhead.

The tracking console then narrows the focus to one satellite and shows orbital parameters, pass predictions, and real-time position data.

The SDR waterfall view is one of the most attractive parts of the interface because it lets you see live signal activity. It can include live transcription overlays during active voice communication. Instead of only seeing the signal, you also understand the content flowing through it.

The packet decoding view adds another layer by showing live GMSK decoding output directly in the waterfall workflow. You can see what a signal looks like before and after demodulation.

Another excellent section is file browser and decoders. This area acts as the archive and analysis wing of your station. Here you can browse decoded weather images, saved packet captures, generated transcriptions, and previous observation artifacts.

Ground Station also includes a comprehensive SDR device management interface that supports RTL-SDR, SoapySDR, and UHD/USRP radios, including remote operation. This becomes valuable once your setup grows beyond a single USB dongle on your local machine. The platform lets you organize and control multiple SDR sources as part of the same monitoring environment.

The automated observation system is also worth mentioning, even briefly, because it makes the station run almost on its own. The project can schedule satellite passes, trigger observations at acquisition of signal, stop at loss of signal, and combine tasks like IQ recording, audio capture, protocol decoding, and optional transcription. It can also coordinate SDRs, antenna rotators, and radios with Doppler correction, while letting you monitor a pass live through the web interface.

Summary

Ground Station is a complete open-source project that can transform your Linux machine into a professional satellite tracking and signals intelligence command center. It combines high-precision orbital prediction, full SDR control, antenna rotator and Doppler correction, raw IQ recording in SigMF, multi-protocol decoding, and even AI-powered live transcription. All inside one web interface.

There are many unsecured satellites circling the Earth. If you’d like to learn how to intercept satellite communications and identify security vulnerabilities, consider our Satellite Hacking training. You can purchase the training separately or become a Subscriber Pro to access a wide range of courses, including the live Satellite Hacking training on May 12-14 at 3 PM UTC.

Source: HackersArise
Source Link: https://hackers-arise.com/satellite-hacking-building-the-ground-station-for-satellite-tracking-and-radio-communication/