  Free-space communications at optical wavelengths offers the potential for
orders-of-magnitude improvement in data rates over conventional radio
wavelengths, and this will be needed to meet the demand of future
space-to-ground applications. Supporting this new paradigm necessitates a
global network of optical ground stations. This paper describes the
architecture and commissioning of the Western Australian Optical Ground
Station, to be installed on the roof of the physics building at the University
of Western Australia. This ground station will incorporate amplitude- and
phase-stabilisation technology, previously demonstrated over horizontal
free-space links, into the ground station's optical telescope. Trialling this
advanced amplitude- and phase-stabilisation technology, the ground station will
overcome turbulence-induced noise to establish stable, coherent free-space
links between ground-to-air and ground-to-space. These links will enable
significant advances in high-speed and quantum-secured communications;
positioning, navigation, and timing; and fundamental physics.
