For the rest of the time, missions rely on manually collected beacons from other ground station operators or simply have to wait for the spacecraft to pass overhead again.

GENSO extends the timeframe for communication with a LEO satellite from the normal value of approximately 30 minutes a day, up to a theoretical maximum of 24 hours a day by tunneling the traffic over the internet. This applies not only to the downloading of telemetry, but also the transmission of telecommands.

While the dramatically-increased communication timeframe is one of the major benefits of GENSO, the network will also offer many other advantages to the operators of small educational satellites, such as:

• Spacecraft orbit deviation measurements
• Access to a satellite within minutes in case of emergency, no matter where the satellite is located in its orbit
• A significantly lowered bit error rate in receive-mode by aggregating multiple pass reports to statistically detect bit errors
• Automated ground station decalibration detection
• Pass quality prediction for avoidance of low quality passes with hardly any or no payload outcome and therefore optimization of resource utilization
• A manifold of statistics on link quality, spacecraft communication ability, spacecraft transmit power, ground station communication facilities, and much more
• Rapid orbit determination after launch, long before institutions such as NORAD are able to provide reliable orbit information
• Significantly extended mission lifetimes and returns on investment, due to increase frequency of downlinks, faster TLE determinations after launch and the possibility to contact the satellite independently of its position.

GENSO has the potential to offer many additional services for participating missions and ground stations through the application of novel scientific approaches. The open source nature of the project will allow individuals to develop any number of enhancements to the system.