Geostationary Orbit

Hilmi Sanusi
Motivation
LEO, MEO and GEO Central Angles
Coverage Area
Instantaneous Access Area (IAA)
LEO, MEO and GEO Coverage
LEO, MEO and GEO Orbit Periods
Orbital Velocities and Periods
Motivation
 Motivation (Problem with LEO)
• Circular or inclined orbit with < 1400 km altitude
• Satellite travels across sky from horizon to
horizon in 5 - 15 minutes => needs handoff
• Earth stations must track satellite or have
omnidirectional antennas
• Large constellation of satellites is needed for
continuous communication (66 satellites needed
to cover earth)
• Requires complex architecture
 Other orbit configurations
Polar (LEO); Earth rotates about 23o each
orbit; Useful for surveillance; large number
of eclipses
Sun synchronous (LEO); Retrograde orbit;
In plane of sun-earth axis on sun-side of
orbit; few or no eclipses
Molniya (HEO) (USSR-1965); T ≈ 11h 38
min.; 39,152 × 500 km; Orbit track repeats
every other orbit
Why do satellites stay moving and in orbit?

• Newton’s First and Third Law

• F = ma F = Gm1m2 / r2
 Geosynchronous Orbit
• In the equatorial plane
• Orbital period Î 23 h 56 min. 4.091 s = one sidereal day
• Satellite appears to be stationary to an
observer over a point on the equator
• Earth rotates at same speed as satellite
a3 = Gme / n2 and P = 2Л / n
Gme Î µ (3.986005 e14 m3 / s2)
• Radius of orbit, r, = 42,164.57 km
• Three satellites can cover the earth (120º apart)
Geosynchronous Satellite
 Geosynchronous Satellite
• The main spacecraft subsystems on a
communications satellite are:

– Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS)

– Telemetry, Tracking and Command System
(TT&C)
– Power System
– Communication Sub-system (Transponder) -
the payload
 AOCS
• The attitude control must be precise enough
such that the narrow beam communications sub-
systems are pointed correctly at the Earth.
Requirement can range from 17.5o to 0.5o.

• Rotational forces include:

– Luni-Solar perturbations - micro gravity
– Radiation and Solar wind pressure - momentum
transfer
– Magnetic fields - net dipole of satellite tries to align to
the local magnetic field
Attitude Reference Frame for ADCS
 AOCS (cont)
• There are 2 approaches to attitude control:
– Spin stabilization - The main body of the spacecraft is spun at 30 to 100
rpm. The communications sub-system is mounted on a de-spun table.
Jets are used for spin-up around the pitch axis and to control the roll
and yaw axes of the satellite.
– Three axis stabilization - 3 momentum wheels are used on 3 mutually
orthogonal axes. Pairs of jets control the rotation about each axis, roll,
pitch and yaw.

• Station keeping is needed for orbit control. Thrusters are used to

provide the appropriate Dv to correct the orbital parameters.

• The thruster jets use either a single propellant which is ignited by

catalyst or heating, propane or hydrazine (N2H4) are common, or a
bi-propellant propulsion system which requires 2 gases to be
injected into the thrust chamber where they spontaneously ignite.
TT & C and Tracking System
 TT&C
• Spacecraft management is conducted via the
TT&C system from a dedicated Earth station.
• The tasks are:
– attitude and orbit control - by command
– monitoring status of all the sub-systems - by telemetry
– finding the range, elevation and azimuth - by tracking
– configuring the antenna pointing and communication
subsystem - by command
 TT & C (cont)
• The command and telemetry functions are provided by a
narrow bandwidth, low bit rate communications link
(UHF) - high signal power - low error rate.

• For safety might use an omni-directional system to avoid

loss of signal if the AOCS malfunctions. INTELSAT uses
horns with full Earth coverage once attitude is
established.

• The command structure must possess numerous

safeguards to prevent accidental commanding errors.
They can be very expensive.
 The Power System
• Elements of the power system are:
– Solar panels. Covered with solar cells - current generators.
– Battery system.
– Power conditioning unit. Copes with changing current, dumps
excess power as heat, stores power in batteries and distributes
regulated power to other sub-systems.

• Solar cells. The solar constant is 1.39kW/m2 but cells

are only 10-15% efficient (The most is GaAs 30%). Cells
also degrade with time. Typically allow for a 15% loss
after 5 years.
 Power System (example)
• INTELSAT IV-A (1975) 20m2 of solar cells providing 900W at start of
lifetime.
• The latest satellites generate 2900W from 30m2.
• Most of this power is used by the transmitters.
• On a spinner type the solar panels must be wrapped around the
body in a cylinder so the body must be large. Only 1/3 of the area
faces the sun at any time. The surface temperature is 20-30o C.
• On a 3-axis stabilized spacecraft, the solar panels are deployed like
sails and entire area faces the Sun at once. However they tend to
run rather hot, 50-80o C, and this reduces the efficiency.
• Batteries are required to provide power during eclipse. TV broadcast
satellites require too much power for battery operation. They are
usually sited 20o West of service longitude so that any eclipse
breaks occur at 1:00am local time.
 Communication Subsystem (Transponder)

• The function of a communications satellite is to provide a platform for

relaying of voice, video and data streams. All other sub-systems exist solely
to support the communications sub-system, which is only a small fraction of
the volume, mass and cost of the complete package.
• Modes of radio propagation:
– Line-of-sight systems. e.g. microwave links using dishes and towers.
Curvature of the Earth limits the distance. A 60m tower gives 60km line
of sight.
– Surface or ground wave propagation. The radio wave travels along the
Earth's surface as a result of currents flowing in the ground. This is the
dominant mechanism at low frequencies. e.g. Radio 4 l = 1500m
200kHz.
– Ionospheric propagation. Radio waves can be reflected from the
ionosphere. Example of total internal reflection, the refractive index
gradually increases with height. The return wave can in turn be reflected
back up again. The gap between the ionosphere and the ground acts as
a waveguide.
– Tropospheric scattering. Radio waves are scattered from small particles
in the lower atmosphere to provide over the horizon communications.
 Communication Subsystem (Transponder)

• Satellite communication is basically one tower is of

height 35600km!
• Radio waves propagating in free space diminish in
power as 1/r2. Typically the received power is < 10-12W.
• The relay function of the communications system is to
receive the up-link signal from the ground, amplify it,
change its frequency and retransmit it to the ground.
• The change of frequency between Rx and Tx is
absolutely essential because otherwise the up-link signal
would be completely jammed by the relatively powerful
down-link signal.
 Communication Subsystem: Transponder

• Most satellites have many transponders.

The bandwidth they handle differs from
one satellite to another but typically it is
about 36MHz. One such transponder can
handle one of the following:
– one colour TV channel + sound
– 1200 voice channels
– a data rate of 50Mbits/sec
Communication Subsystem: Transponder
Communication Subsystem: Transponder
 Communication Subsystem: Antenna
• The antenna for the
global beam is
usually a waveguide
horn. Scanning
beams and shaped
beams require
phased array
antennas or reflector
antennas with phased
array feeds.
 Frequency Spectrum concepts:
Radio Frequencies (RF)
• Wavelength: distance between wavefronts in space. Given as:
λ= c/f and c = speed of light (3e8 m/s in vacuum) & f = freq in Hz
• Frequency band: range of frequencies.
• Electromagnetic Spectrum: full extent of all frequencies from zero to
infinity.
• RF Frequencies: between 300 MHz and 300 GHz.
– Efficient generation of signal power
– Radiates into free space
– Efficient reception at a different point.

• Differences depending on the RF frequency used:

- Propagation effects (diffraction, noise, fading)
- Antenna Sizes
 Microwave Frequencies
• Sub-range of the RF frequencies approximately from
1GHz to 30GHz.
• Main properties:
- Line of sight propagation (space and atmosphere).
- Blockage by dense media (hills, buildings, rain)
- Wide bandwidths compared to lower frequency bands.
- Compact antennas, directionality possible.
- Reduced efficiency of power amplification as frequency
grows:
Radio Frequency Power OUT
Direct Current Power IN
Radio Frequency Spectrum:
Commonly Used Bands*
Space-Earth Frequency Usability
Insights on Frequency Selection
• LEO satellites need lower RF frequencies
– Low distances between satellite and ground means
lower antenna gains required => lower frequencies
• GEO satellites need higher RF frequencies
– Low frequencies occupied by terrestrial systems
– Applications require high data rates => high
bandwidths (many MHz) => high frequencies (GHz)

• Note: High data rates mean high bandwidths are

required but bandwidth is often hard to get (there’s
always tradeoffs in satellite system design!)
 GEO Synch Application
GEO Satellite Applications
• Initial application - telephony
• Broadcasting - mainly TV at present
– DirectTV, PrimeStar, etc.
• Point to multi-point communications
– Video distribution for Cable TV
• Mobile services
• Weather observation
 Comparison of Orbit Types
LEO MEO GEO
Advantages •Smaller handsets •Less handoff than with •Can cover almost
•Less required power LEO entire world w/3
•Low delay times •Less propagation satellites
•Frequency reuse delay than with GEO •Can continuously
monitor one point on
•Suitable for earth’s surface
Positioning
•Good for broadcasting

Disadvantages •Requires large ••More satellites •Cannot cover high

Number of satellites required than with
latitudes or low
•Complex handoff GEOs
•Greater delays and elevations
•Multiple satellite Hops
- large delays propagation losses
than with LEOs
•Atmospheric drag
Satellite System Elements (GEO)
 Space Segment
• Satellite Launching Phase
• Transfer Orbit Phase
• Deployment
• Operation
– TT&C - Tracking Telemetry and Command
Station
– SSC - Satellite Control Center, a.k.a.:
• OCC - Operations Control Center
• SCF - Satellite Control Facility
– Retirement Phase
 Ground Segment
• Collection of facilities, users and applications.

• Earth Station = Satellite Communication Station (air, ground or sea, fixed or

mobile).
Basic Principles
 Signals
• Signals:
– Carried by wires as voltage or current
– Transmitted through space as electromagnetic waves.
– Analog:
• Voltage or Current proportional to signal. E.g. Telephone.
– Digital: Generated by computers.
• Ex. Binary = 1 or 0 corresponding to +1V or –1V. • Sine waves
– Carry no information
– Sine wave frequency is the carrier (center) frequency of the data
• Data (information) is impressed onto the sine wave (carrier) by
modulation
– Results in signal (carrier plus data) occupying finite frequency band
(bandwidth)
• Modulation: Vary a parameter of the sine wave based on the
information content
– Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
– Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
 Separating Signals
• Uplink and Downlink:
– FDD: Frequency Division Duplexing.
• f1 = Uplink
• f2 = Downlink
– TDD: Time Division Duplexing.
• t1=Up, t2=Down, t3=Up, t4=Down,….
– Polarization
• V & H linear polarization
• RH & LH circular polarizations

• Between Users or “Channels” (Multiple Access):

– FDMA: Frequency Division Multiple Access
• f1 = User 1
• f2 = User 2
• f3 = User 3
• …
– TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access.
• t1=User_1, t2=User_2, t3=User_3, t4 = User_1, ...
– CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access
• Code 1 = User 1
• Code 2 = User 2
• Code 3 = User 3
 Basic Principles:
System Block Diagram
 Basic Principles:
Satellites (Typical Transponder)

• Responsible for frequency translation

– From uplink (f1) to downlink (f2) (FDD)
• Movement is from passive to active satellites
– Passive: No on-board processing (only reflects signal)
– Active: On-board processing (e.g. signal
Amplification)
• Linear and non-linear transponders
 Current Trends
• Higher power GEO satellites with multiple roles
• More direct broadcast TV and radio satellites
• Expansion into Ka, Q, V bands (30/20, 50/40
GHz)
• Massive growth in data services fueled by
internet demand (overtaking voice)
• Mobile services:
– May be broadcast services rather than point to point
– Make mobile services a successful business?
Future of Satellite Communications
• Growth requires new frequency bands
• Propagation through rain and clouds becomes a problem
as RF frequency is increased
– C band (6/4 GHz)
• Rain has little impact; 99.99% availability is possible
– Ku band (10-12 GHz) & Ka band (20 - 30 GHz) (power!)
• Rain has significant impact, affects link availability
Satellite Direct-to-Home (DTH) Video and Internet
services appear to be the major drivers
• Low cost phased array antennas for mobiles are needed
– Mobile systems are limited by use of omnidirectional antennas
– A self-phasing, self-steering phased array antenna with 6 dB
gain can quadruple the capacity of a system
– Directional antennas allow frequency re-use