Satellite Communication

System

MCS Chapter -1
Introduction to Satellite Communications
 Introduction to Satellite Communications
System Elements
Main Features
History
Overview and Basic concepts of Satellite Communications
Spectrum Allocation
Satellite Systems Applications
System Design Considerations
Current Developments and Future Trends

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 Satellites
Man made machine which Revolves around the Earth in a
fixed orbit and is capable of Reflecting radio frequencies /
signals

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 Satellite System Elements
Space Segment

Satellite Coverage Region

Earth SCC
Stations TT&C Ground Station

Ground Segment
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 Main Features
Large area coverage – Foot print area
Coverage regardless of political boundaries / divides
Inaccessible / remote area
Large channel capacity / broadband
Higher data rates
Variety of services
GPS
Telephone
Data
Video etc

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 REGION 2 REGION 1 REGION 3

Satellite Communication
System 14 February, 2011 6
 TYPES OF ORBITS

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 GEO 36,000 km
Main orbit types

MEO 5,000 – 15,000 km

LEO 500 -1000 km

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 Useful Orbit-1
GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT
In the equatorial plane
Orbital Period = 23 hrs 56 min 4.091 secs
= One Sidereal Day (defined as one complete
rotation relative to the fixed stars)
Satellite appears to be stationary over a point on the equator
Radius of orbit r = 42,164.57 km

NOTE: Radius = orbital height + radius of the earth

Average radius of earth = 6,378.14 km
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 USEFUL ORBITS 2:
Low Earth Orbit (>250 km); T  92 minutes
Polar (Low Earth) Orbit; earth rotates about 23o each orbit;
useful for surveillance
Sun Synchronous Orbit
Example
Tiros(Television Infrared Observation Satellite)
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) satellites
used for search and rescue operations)
8-hour and 12-hour orbits
Molniya orbit (Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO); T  11h 38 min;
highly eccentric orbit; inclination 63.4 degrees
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Molniya view of the earth
(Apogee remains over the northern hemisphere)

Period 12h(11h 58m 2s)

Semi Major Axis 26556 Km
Inclination 63.4o
Eccentricity 0.6- 0.75
Perigee altitude a(1-e)-Re
Apogee altitude a(1+e)-Re

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 Molniya Variants (HEO’s)
Tundra Orbit

Period 24h(23h 56m 4s)

Semi Major Axis 42164 Km
Inclination 63.4o
Eccentricity 0.25 – 0.4
Perigee altitude a(1-e)-Re
Apogee altitude a(1+e)-Re

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 Molniya Variants (HEO’s)
Tundra Orbit – Lies entirely above the Van Allen belts.
The Earth's Van Allen Belts consist of highly energetic ionized
particles trapped in the Earth's Geomagnetic fields. On the sunward
side of the Earth, the geomagnetic fields are compressed by the Solar
Wind, on the opposite side of the Earth, the geomagnetic fields extend
to 3xRE . As a result, the geomagnetic field forms an elongated cavity,
known as the Chapman-Ferraro Cavity, around the Earth. Within this
cavity, reside the Van Allen Radiation Belts. These radiation belts are
composed of electrons with thousand eV energies, and protons with
million eV energies.
The Russian Tundra system, which employs two satellites in
two 24-hour orbits separated by 180 deg around the Earth,
with an apogee of 53,622 km and a perigee of 17,951 km.

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 Molniya Variants (HEO’s)
The Molniya orbit crosses the Van Allen belts twice for each
revolution, resulting in a reduction of satellite life due to
impact on electronics
the Russian Molniya system employs three satellites in three
12-hour orbits separated by 120 deg around the Earth, with
an apogee of 39,354 km and a perigee of 1000 km.

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 Molniya Variants (HEO’s)
The LOOPUS orbit.
The LOOPUS system employs three satellites in three eight-hour
orbits separated by 120 deg around the Earth, with an apogee of
39,117 km and a perigee of 1238 km.
The ELLIPSO orbit
The ELLIPSO system - Elliptical low orbits for mobile communications
and other optimum system elements
Ellipso 2G: Ellipso enhanced its initial Ellipso system using
anticipated 2 GHz(1.8) to offer two way voice and higher data rates,
(up to 64 kbps) for 3G data services. Combining the spectrum bands
in a single sat sys will lead to increased capacity, and array of mobile
and fixed services, including video conferencing, and all at affordable
cost to consumer.

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 A Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO)
Perigee at about 500 km
Apogee at 50,000 km.
Angle of Inclination 63.4 deg.
(This inclination value is selected to avoid rotation of the apses; thus,
a line from the Earth's center to the apogee always intersects the
Earth's surface at a latitude of 63.4 deg North).
Orbit period varies from eight to 24 hours.
Owing to the high eccentricity of the orbit, a satellite spends
about two-third of the orbital period near apogee, during
which it appears to be almost stationary to an observer on
the Earth-a phenomenon known as `apogee dwell').

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 A Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO)
During the brief time the satellite is below the local horizon,
a hand-off to another satellite in the same orbit is required in
order to avoid loss of communications.
Free space loss and propagation delay comparable to that of
Geosynchronous satellites.
However, due to the larger movement of the sat in HEO,
larger Doppler shifts are expected.

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 Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO)
Altitude 10,000 km
Intermediate Circular Orbit (ICO) (apogee and perigee are
equidistant)
Orbital period about seven hours
Dwell time is few hours.
Global communications system requires relatively few
satellites in two to three orbital planes
MEO systems operate similarly to LEO systems.
Hand-over is less frequent,
Propagation delay and free space loss are greater.
Examples of MEO (specifically ICO) systems are
Inmarsat-P (10 satellites in 2 inclined planes at 10,355 km)
Odyssey (12 satellites in 3 inclined planes, also at 10,355 km).
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 Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)
Orbital period 90 minutes to 2 hrs
Typical LEO is elliptical / circular,
Altitude less than 2000 km above the surface of the Earth
Radius of footprint ranges between 3000 and 4000 km.
Dwell time local horizon 20 minutes.
Global communications system requires a large number of
satellites (different orbital planes)
Handover on setting LEO. (Subsequent or adjacent)
Large Doppler shift.
Atmospheric Drag causes the orbit to gradually deteriorate.
Examples
GlobalstarTM (48+8 satellites in 8 orbital planes at 1400 km)
Iridium® (66+6 satellites in 6 orbital planes at 780 km).
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 Geosynchronous & Geostationary Orbits
Altitude 35,786 Kms above MSL
Orbital Period one sidereal day (1436.1 minutes), 23 hrs 56
mins 4.1 sec in length.
The footprint almost 1/3 of the earth's surface (up to 75o N
and S latitude)
Global coverage with three satellites in orbit. (120o apart)
Dwell time local horizon 23 hrs 56 mins 4.1 sec
Geosynchronous orbit has small non-zero values for
inclination and eccentricity, causing the satellite to trace out
a small figure eight in the sky.
Round-trip delay approximately 250 millisec
Geostationary orbit: Geosynchronous orbit with zero
inclination and zero eccentricity (equatorial, circular orbit)
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 A Polar Orbit

Angle of inclination about 90 deg

intersecting the North and South poles.
Earth rotates underneath fixed polar orbit in space,
coverage area the entire globe, (long periods during which
the satellite is out of view of a particular ground station).
Suitable for a store-and-forward communications systems.

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 A Polar Orbit
Improved accessibility using two or more satellites in
different polar orbits.
Mostly small LEO systems employ polar or near-polar orbits.
Example
COSPAS-SARSAT
Maritime Search and Rescue system
Uses eight satellites in near polar orbits: four SARSAT satellites
moving in 860 km orbits inclined at 99o (which makes them Sun-
synchronous) and four COSPAS satellites moving in 1000 km orbits
inclined at 82o.

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 Sun-Synchronous Orbit
In a Sun-synchronous orbit, the angle between the orbital plane and Sun
remains constant, resulting in consistent light conditions for the satellite.
This is achieved by careful selection of orbital altitude, eccentricity and
inclination, producing a precession of the orbit (node rotation) of
approximately 1o eastward each day, equal to the apparent motion of the
Sun.
This condition can be achieved only for a satellite in a retrograde orbit. A
satellite in Sun-synchronous orbit crosses the equator and each latitude
at the same time each day.
This type of orbit is therefore advantageous for an Earth observation
satellite, since it provides constant lighting conditions.
In a sun-synchronous orbit, the satellite passes over the same part of the
Earth at roughly the same local time each day.
This can make communication and various forms of data collection very
convenient

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 Parameters Determining Orbit Size & Shape
Parameter Definition
Semimajor Axis Half the distance between the two points in the orbit that are farthest
apart
Apogee/Perigee Measured from the "surface" of the Earth (a theoretical sphere with a
Altitude radius equal to the equatorial radius of the Earth) to the points of
maximum and minimum radius in the orbit
Apogee/Perigee Measured from the center of the Earth to the points of maximum and
Radius minimum radius in the orbit
Period The duration of one orbit, based on assumed two-body motion
Mean Motion The number of orbits per solar day (86,400 sec/24 hour), based on
assumed two-body motion
Eccentricity The shape of the ellipse comprising the orbit, ranging between a
perfect circle (eccentricity = 0) and a parabola (eccentricity = 1)

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 Orientation of Orbital Plane in Space
Parameter Definition
Inclination The angle between the orbital plane and the Earth's equatorial
plane (commonly used as a reference plane for Earth satellites)
Right Ascension of The angle in the Earth's equatorial plane measured eastward from
the Ascending Node the vernal equinox to the ascending node of the orbit
Argument of The angle, in the plane of the satellite's orbit, between the
Perigee ascending node and the perigee of the orbit, measured in the
direction of the satellite's motion
Longitude of the The Earth-fixed longitude of the ascending node
Ascending Node
The ascending node (referenced in three of the above definitions) is the point in the
satellite's orbit where it crosses the Earth's equatorial plane going from south to north.

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 Satellite Location parameters
To specify the satellite's location within its orbit at epoch
Parameter Definition
The angle from the eccentricity vector (points toward perigee) to
True Anomaly the satellite position vector, measured in the direction of satellite
motion and in the orbit plane.
The angle from the eccentricity vector to a position vector where
Mean Anomaly
the satellite would be if it were always moving at its angular rate.
An angle measured with an origin at the center of an ellipse from
the direction of perigee to a point on a circumscribing circle from
Eccentric Anomaly
which a line perpendicular to the semimajor axis intersects the
position of the satellite on the ellipse.
Argument of
The sum of the True Anomaly and the Argument of Perigee.
Latitude
Time Past
The elapsed time since the last ascending node crossing.
Ascending Node
Time Past Perigee The elapsed time since last perigee passage.

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 Orbital Velocities and Periods

Height Velocity Period

System
(km) (km/s) h min s

INTELSAT 35,786.43 3.0747 23 56 4.091

ICO-Global 10,255 4.8954 5 55 48.4

Skybridge 1,469 7.1272 1 55 17.8

Iridium 780 7.4624 1 40 27

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 LEO, MEO and GEO Orbit Periods
30.0

25.0

20.0
Hours

15.0

10.0

5.0

0.0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000
Altitude [km]

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 Minimum Delay for two hops
300.0

250.0

200.0
Delay [ms]

150.0

100.0

50.0

0.0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000
Altitude [km]

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 Why do satellites stay moving and in orbit?
v (velocity)

F2
(Inertial-Centrifugal Force)
F1
(Gravitational
Force)

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