Transportable GNSS Calibrator with Improved Reference Signal Monitoring for the Calibration of the Time of ESA’s Deep Space Network

ESA’s deep space network consists of three stations in Australia, Spain, and Argentina, providing global coverage. The stations get time from single channel GPS receivers within an uncalibrated uncertainty of +/- 50 ns. However, a better synchronisation to UTC would support the needs of science missions, which require the synchronisation of the onboard timescale. TimeTech assembled a transportable GNSS calibrator, featuring a GTR55 GNSS receiver, two time interval counters, and a PicoScope to monitor the signal quality