Optimization of positioning of ground stations for space optical missions

Every space mission which uses optical band, e.g. ground-satellite/satellite-ground laser telecommunication, optical earth observation, on-ground optical space debris tracking system, is drastically affected by the clouds in the troposphere of the Earth. Mission planning group of the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) is investigating the possibility of achieving the maximum performance of future optical space missions by involving cloud cover information (CI).