Janus Satellite Control Centre

Control Centre exterior; the reflector dish and the beam steering mechanism/feed platform.

Control Centre interior; the underground computer epicenter beneath the dish.

The Janus Satellite Control Centre is a fictional clandestine satellite control and tracking centre; located in Cuba and operated by the Janus Crime Syndicate. The location made its first appearance in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye and was later featured in the GoldenEye 007 video game series starting with Rare's iconic 1997 game.

History

GoldenEye (film)

Based on its Soviet/Russian counterpart in Severnaya, the station was equipped with a large communications dish. An antenna cradle was suspended circa 150 m (492 ft) above the dish by cables running from three retractable towers. To evade detection by spy satellites or conventional aerial photography, the dish (along with its antenna, towers and cabling) was recessed into the ground and flooded while not in use; resembling a natural lake amidst the surrounding jungle. Located directly underneath the dish, the subterranean mission control station was equipped with television screens, consoles, and high-speed computers that allowed Janus technicians to trace and control the orbital paths of the GoldenEye satellites. The site was protected by ground-to-air missile launchers concealed below the surface of the lake, as well as a network of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras watching the dish perimeter.

Alternate Continuities

GoldenEye 007 (1997 game)

Operating theatre.

The Janus Control Centre (as it's named in the game) is the sixteenth level in Goldeneye 007 and takes place in the vicinity of the Havana. From here the Janus Crime Syndicate plans to hold the world on ransom.

Behind the Scenes

Section names

According to document "Failure Analysis of the Arecibo Observatory 305-Meter Telescope Collapse" the parts of the antenna array/beam steering mechanism are named thusly:

Filming

Derek Meddings' Janus Control Centre miniature.

The external scenes of the satellite dish were shot at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. To achieve the effect of the dish basin draining sequences, as well as the facility's eventual destruction, scale miniatures of the Arecibo Observatory were constructed by Derek Meddings' model unit at Leavesden studios in England. Notably, Meddings, along with production designer Peter Lamont, are referenced on the control centre's main screen; with the 'Meddings International Bank' and 'Lamont and Sons Financial Trust' named after the pair.

According to one of the production photos, the west side of the second floor of the lair (beneath the place from which Bond and Natalya access the place) contained film equipment used to survey the filmed footage and control the set lightning etc. The area is glimpsed from the outside only shortly in the final movie.

Script

The Arecibo observatory had been planned to be featured in the early stages of the 1977 Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, serving as a military tracking station which Bond and his allies visit to be explained on how the villains were able to track the submarines. The scene was scrapped in ensuing rewrites.

In the earliest GoldenEye scripts by Michael France, the control centre was originally situated at a island in Caribbeans called "Saint Latrelle". The dish was not hidden underwater, but was fully out in the open like the real-life Arecibo Observatory - only that the perimeters were fortified with military equipment like barbwire and such. The island itself contained an complex network of caverns, that were loaded with military equipment from various countries.

Gallery

Trivia

• Out of all of the James Bond movies starring Pierce Brosnan, GoldenEye's the Janus Satellite Control Centre is the only location where the final battle does not take place on a some kind of a vehicle.
  • In Tomorrow Never Dies, the final battle takes place on the Stealth Ship.
  • In The World Is Not Enough, the final battle takes place in a Victor-III Class Submarine.
  • In Die Another Day, the final battle takes place on a modified Antonov An-124 Ruslan airplane.

See also

• Severnaya
• Janus Solar Base