| Actuator | A hardware component that physically moves the antenna(s) to point in a desired direction |
| Channel | A communication configuration (regardless of medium) that defines how the data is transfered between the Satellite and Ground Station |
| Downlink | The communication pathway (regardless of medium) over which data is transfered from the Satellite to the Ground Station |
| Ground Station | The actual ground resource being used. The hardware involved is antenna/optical terminal, modem, ACU, etc |
| Modem | A device that converts between analog and digital signals for communication |
| Orbit Data | Data that describes the orbit of the satellite (typically a TLE) |
| Pass | A pass is when a spacecraft is physically overhead and in view of the ground station but does not have a reservation to make contact |
| Plan | A plan is when a spacecraft is physically overhead, in view of the ground station, and has a priority-based reservation to make contact |
| Satellite | The satellite communicating with the ground station |
| Site | The location of the Ground Station |
| Uplink | The communication pathway (regardless of medium) over which data is transfered from the Ground Station to the Satellite |