Background of satellite

system

 First known device resembling a rocket

made by China in 1232
Significant progress made by Russian
school teacher Konstantin E Tsiolkovsky in
(1857 to 1935)
V-2 rockets launched by Germany in 1942
In 1945 Arthur Clark suggested use of
GSS for worldwide coverage.
Satellite Era began in October 1957
with the launch of SPUTNIK-1 by
Soviet Union

Brief history of satellite communication

Name

Date of
launch

note

SPUTNIK I

October 4,
1957

the world's first orbital spacecraft. Nov 1957,

Sputnik 2 and a dog escape earth and enter
outerspace

SCORE

December 18,
1958

The first communication satellite which

broadcasted a Christmas message for 12 days
until the batteries failed

Echo 1

August 12,
1960

a passive reflector satellite, the technology was

soon abandoned

April 12, 1961

First man in space

Telstar

1962

First telecommunication satellite, first real-time

active

Intelsat

1964-1979

geosynchronous earth orbit ,open to use by all

nations

Inmarsat

1979

used in international shipping

ACTS

1993

spot beams, on-board storage and processing, and

all digital transmission

DirecTV

1994

begins Direct Broadcast to Home

Frequency allocations for Satellite

services
Requires international coordination
nad planning.
Done by ITU
World is divided into 3 regions
Region 1 : Europe, Africa,Mongolia
Region 2 : North and South America,
Greenland
Region 3 : Asia (excluding region1),
Australia, S-W Pacific

Satellite Services
Fixed Satellite services (FSS)
Broadcasting satellite services(BSS)
DBS / DTH service

Mobile satellite services

Land mobile, maritime, aeronautical

Navigational satellite services

GPS

Meteorological satellite services

Search & Rescue service

Frequency
(GHz)

Band
Designation

Services

0.1-0.3
0.3-1.0
1.0-2.0
2.0-4.0
4.0-8.0

VHF
UHF
L
S
C

MSS AND NSS, WEATHER

8.0-12.0
12.0-18.0
18.0-27.0
27.0-40.0
40.0-75
75-110
110-300

X
Ku
K
Ka
V
W
mm

MSS, NSS
FSS(6/4), NO DBS
ALLOWED
DBS(14/12), Certain FSS

Satellite Frequency Bands and

Antennas (Dishes)

C-Band

Ku-Band

Most commonly used bands: C-band (4 to 8 GHz) ,

Ku-band (11 to 17 GHz) , and Ka-band (20 to 30
GHz ).

Basic Satellite System

Classical satellite systems

Inter Satellite Link
(ISL)

Mobile User
Link (MUL)

Gateway
Link (GWL)

MUL
GWL

small cells
(spotbeams)

base
station
or gateway

footprint

ISDN
PSTN: Public Switched
Telephone Network

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jochen

Schiller,
http://www.jochenschiller

PSTN

User data

GSM

System Design
considerations
Design of satellite network is based on
service to be provided e.g : voice, data, video
Satellite link may be a subset of a large
network consisting of other networks.
Important parameter in design
RF for a given application
Optimal modulation technique and coding scheme
Since many ES accessing a satellite, proper MA
scheme

 Other parameters are :

Type of service
Permitted earth station size
ES complexity
Size and shape of service area

Applications
Mobile satellite communications international
roaming to mobiles
Direct broadcast by satellite
Voice and data communication to aircrafts,
ships, land ,vehicles and handsets
Messaging and voice communication to
desktop and pocket size terminals
Tracking movements of truck fleets and yachts
Relief operations in hard to reach places
Responding to distress calls from ships

Introduction
A comm. Satellite is a spacecraft that carries
aboard communication equipments, enabling a
communication link to be established between
distant points.
Satellites orbit as a result of the balance between
centrifugal and gravitational force.
Clarke suggested that : if a satellite was placed at a
height of 35,880km above equator, it would orbit
the earth every 24 hours and would therefore
appear stationary over a fixed point above equator.
3 such satellites can cover the entire earth except
small areas near poles.

What keeps the satellite rotating around the

earth ?

 Centrifugal force = mv2/R

Gravitational force =GMm/R2
Centrifugal force is equal and opposite to the
G.F that is acting on the object towards the
centre of the body
mv2/R = GMm/R2
v2 = GM/R
Where : mass of earth = 5.97 x 1024 Kg
G = 6.673 x 10-20 km3/kgs2
To achieve a GSO, the launch vehicle must be
able to impart a velocity of 3.074 Km/s at a
height of 42165Km from earths centre

Laws governing Satellite

Motion
Johannes Kepler derived 3 laws
describing planetary motion.
Keplers laws are applied to any two
bodies in space which interact
through gravitation.
Massive body is referred as Primary
(Earth) and other is known as
secondary (satellite)

Keplers first law:

A satellite traces an elliptical
path around the earth.

 Path followed by a satellite around

the primary Elipse
It has 2 focal points f1 and f2.
The centre of mass of the two body
system is termed as Barycentre
always centred at one of the foci.
Because of enormous difference
between the masses of E and S, the
centre of mass coincides with centre
of earth which is therefore always at
one of the foci.

 Semi-major axis = a ; Semi minor

axis = b
e = sqrt(a2-b2)/ a
For elliptical orbit 0<e<1
When e=0, the orbit becomes
circular

Keplers second law :

It states for equal time intervals, a
satellite will sweep out areas in its
orbital plane focussed at the bary
centre.

s2

A1

A2
Earth

S1

 Assume the satellite travels distance

S1 and S2 in 1sec, then the areas A1
and A2 will be equal.
Because of equal area law,
velocity at S1> velocity at S2
Conclusion : Satellite takes longer
time to travel at a given distance
when it is farther away from the
earth.

Keplers third law

It states that the square of the periodic time of
orbit is proportional to the cube of the mean
distance between the two bodies.
a3 = /n2
n2 = / a3
where
= earths geocentric gravitational
constant
= 3.986005 x 1014 m3/sec2
n = mean motion of the satellite (rads/sec)

 The orbital period (in sec) of a satellite is

given by
P= 2/n
P2 = 4 2 / n 2
But, n2 = /a3
Hence P2 = 4 2a3 /

Where n = mean motion of satellite

(rads/sec)
Conclusion : There exists a fixed relationship
between period and size

Definitions related to Earth Orbiting

satellites
1. Apogee
2. Perigee
3. Line of apsides
4. Ascending node
5. Descending node
6. Line of nodes
7. Inclination
8. Prograde orbit
9. Retrograde orbit
10.Argument of Perigee

Definitions related to Earth Orbiting

satellites
11.
12.
13.
14.

Right ascension of Ascending node

Mean Anomaly
True anomaly
Eccentric Anomaly

(Richharia Pg 24, Fig 2.8, Pg 25, Fig

2.9)

 Apogee : It is the point farthest from the

earth. Apogee height is shown as ha.
Perigee : It is the point closest to the earth
. The perigee height is shown as hp.
Line of apsides : The line joining the
perigee and apogee through the centre of
the earth.

 Ascending node : The point where the orbit

crosses the equatorial plane going from south to
north.
Descending node : The point where the orbit
crosses the equatorial plane going from north to
south.
Line of nodes : The line joining the AN and DN
through the centre of the earth

 Inclination : The angle between the

orbital plane and earths equatorial
plane. It is measured at the
ascending node.
The inclination is denoted by i .

 Prograde orbit : An orbit in which the

satellite moves in the same direction as
the earths rotation is called as
Prograde orbit or Direct orbit
i= 0 to 90 degrees
Q.Most satellites are launched in
prograde orbit .. Why ??
Ans : Because the earths rotational
velocity provides part of the orbital
velocity with a saving in launch energy.

 Retrograde orbit : An orbit in which the

satellite moves in the opposite direction as
the earths rotation is called as Retrograde
orbit.
i= 90 to 180 degrees

 Argument Of Perigee : The angle from

ascending node to perigee , measured in
the orbital plane at the earths centre in
the direction of satellite motion

 Right ascension of the ascending node :

Because the earth spins, though the
orbital plane remains stationary, the AN is
not fixed and hence cannot be used as
Reference .
Hence a fixed reference in space is fixed
known as First point of Aries also known
as Vernal/Spring Equinox.

RAAN is the angle measured

eastward, in the equatorial plane
from the to line to ascending
node. It is denoted by

NOTE : (EXTRA)
First point Of Aries : See Word
Document
(Direction of first point of
aries/direction of vernal equinox is
defined as the direction of the line
joining the centre of the earth and
the Sun on the first day of spring)

 Mean anomaly : It gives an average value of the

angular position of the satellite with reference to
the perigee.
It is the angle from the perigee that the satellite
would traverse in time tp moving at average
orbital angular Velocity.
( To be elaborated
later)

 True anamoly : It is the angle from perigee to the

satellite position measured at the earths centre.
This gives the true angular position of the
satellite in the orbit as a function of time.

(TO BE AGAIN
ELABORATED
LATER)

Orbital Elements
Earth orbiting artificial satellites are defined
by 6 orbital elements referred to as the
Keplerian element Set
Semimajor axis, a
Eccentricity, e (both give the shape of ellipse)
Mean anomaly , M (gives position of the satellite
in its orbit at a ref. time known as epoch)
Argument of perigee, (gives rotation of the
orbits perigee point relative to orbits Line of
nodes)
Inclination, i
RAAN, ( both give orbital planes position to the
earth)

Though not specified,

Apogee and Perigee heights are required.

Length of radius vector at apogee and

perigee are given by
ra=a(1+e)
rp=a(1-e)
The apogee and perigee heights can be
calculated by subtracting earth radius
(R=6371 km) from radii lengths.
ha= ra-R
hp =rp-R

Coordinate System used by

astrodynamics
Heliocentric ecliptic coordinate
system
Geocentric-equatorial coordinate
system
Right ascension-declination
coordinate system
Perifocal coordinate system
Celestial horizon coordinate system

Heliocentric ecliptic coordinate

system

Geocentric-equatorial coordinate
system

Perifocal coordinate system

Y

Perigee

Orbital plane

Geocentre

Co-ordinates of a point on the earth

Any point on Earth is specified by its
angular coordinates Latitude and
longitude.

LATITUDE :
It is the angle between the equatorial
plane and line joining the specified
point on the geocentre

LONGITUDE : It is the angle between two

lines.
Line 1: joining geocentre and intersection of
the equator and reference meridian
Line 2 : joining intersection of the equator
and meridian passing through the specified
point

Diagram on page 23, Figure 2.6

Richharia

Calendars
A calendar is a time keeping device
in which the year is divided into
months, weeks and days.
Calendar days are based on earths
motion relative to sun.
For convenience : we think sun is
moving relative to earth, a fictitious
sun is introduced called mean sun

Tropical Year/ Mean Solar

day
The mean sun move at a uniform
speed and requires same time as
real sun to complete one orbit of
earth, is called as Tropical year.
A day measured relative to this mean
sun is termed a Mean Solar day.
Calendar days are mean solar days
or days( as we call)
Tropical year = 365.2422 days

Julian calendar
Calendar year (Civil year) = 365 days
The extra 0.2422 of a day is significant and
say after 100 years, there would be a
discrepancy of 24 days between calendar
year and tropical year.
Julius Caesar made the first attempt to
correct this discrepancy by introducing leap
year ( an extra day in February whenever
the year number is divided by 4)
Thus Julian calendar was introduced in this
calendar year(civil year) = 365.25 days on
average ( approx to tropical year)

Gregorian Calendar
Again discrepancy occurred in 1582
between civil and tropical year.
Placed an additional constraint on the
leap year : In the years ending in two
zeroes must be divisible by 400 to be
reckoned as leap year. This lead to
miss out 3 days every 400 years .
This calendar is in use today.
For example, the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 are not
leap years, but the year 2000 is