SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

UNIT I
SATELLITE ORBITS
Kepler’s and Newton’s law
 Session Objectives
• Understand the Concept of Kepler’s and Newton’s
law

• Gain knowledge on Kepler’s and Newton’s law

 Session Outcomes

At the end of the session, students will be able to

 Define Kepler’s and Newton’s law.
 To identify different types of Laws.
 Outline
 Introduction
 Kepler’s I Laws
 Kepler’s II Laws
 Kepler’s III Laws
 Newton’s law
 Definitions of Terms for Earth-Orbiting Satellite
 Summary
 Test Your Understandings
 References
 Introduction
 Satellites which orbit the earth follow the same laws that govern the
motion of the planets around the sun.
 Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) derived three (3) laws describing planetary
motion.
 Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) derived laws of mechanics and developed
the theory of gravitation.
 Edmond Halley (1656-1742) with Newton’s help to predict the next
coming Comet Halley. Mark Twain (1835-1910) was born and died in
years that Comet Halley came closely to the earth.
 The more massive of the two bodies is referred to as the primary, the other,
the secondary, or satellite.
 Kepler’s Law
• First Law:
– The path followed by a satellite around the primary will be an ellipse.
- An ellipse has two focal points shown as F1 and F2 in the below Fig.
- The center of mass of the two-body system, termed the barycenter
– Barycenter is always centered on one of the foci.
– In our specific case, the center of mass coincides with the center of the
earth and therefore always at one of the foci.

The semimajor axis of the ellipse is

denoted by a, and the semiminor
axis, by b. The eccentricity e is given
by

Fig. The foci F1 and F2, the semimajor axis a, and the semiminor axis b of an ellipse.
Source : Dennis Roddy, “Satellite Communication‖”
 Kepler’s Law
• Second Law:
– For equal time intervals, a satellite will sweep out equal areas in its orbital plane, focused
at the barycenter.
- the satellite travels distances S1 and S2 meters in 1 s, then the areas A1 and A2 will be
equal
- The average velocity in each case is S1 and S2 m/s, and because of the equal area law, it
follows that the velocity at S2 is less than that at S1

Fig. Kepler’s second law. The areas A1 and A2 swept

out in unit time are equal
Source : Dennis Roddy, “Satellite Communication‖”
 Kepler’s Law
• Third Law:
– The square of the period time of orbit is proportional to the cube of the mean distance between the
two bodies.
– The mean distance is equal to the semimajor axis a. For the artificial satellites orbiting the earth,
Kepler’s third law can be written in the form

where n is the mean motion of the satellite in radians per second and is the earth’s
geocentric gravitational constant. Its value is

- if n in radians per second, the orbital period in seconds is given by

- The importance of Kepler’s third law is that it shows there is a fixed relationship between period and
semimajor axis
 Example
Calculate the radius of a circular orbit for which the period is 1 day.

Solution:
There are 86,400 seconds in 1 day, and therefore the mean motion is

From Kepler’s third law:

Since the orbit is circular the semimajor axis is also the radius
 Newton’s Laws of Motion
• Newton’s First Law: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion and objects
at rest tend to stay at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

• Newton’s Second Law: Force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma).

• Newton’s Third Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction.
 Definitions of Terms for Earth-Orbiting
• Subsatellite path: This is the path traced out on the earth’s surface directly below
the satellite
• Apogee : The point farthest from earth.
• Perigee : The point of closest approach to earth.
• Line of apsides : The line joining the perigee and apogee through the center of
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 ascending and descending nodes through the
center of earth.
• Inclination : The angle between the orbital plane and the earth’s equatorial plane.
Fig. Apogee height ha, perigee height hp, and inclination i. la is the line
of apsides.
Source : Dennis Roddy, “Satellite Communication‖”
 Definitions of Terms for Earth-Orbiting
(continued)
 Prograde orbit : An orbit in which the satellite moves in the same
direction as the earth’s rotation.
 Retrograde orbit : An orbit in which the satellite moves in a direction
counter to the earth’s rotation.
 Argument of perigee : The angle from ascending node to perigee,
measured in the orbital plane at the earth’s center, in the direction of
satellite motion.
 Right ascension of the ascending node : For the practical determination of
an orbit, the longitude and time of crossing of the ascending node are
frequently used. An absolute measurement, a fixed reference in space is
required. The reference chosen is the first point of Aries, or spring
equinox.
 Mean anomaly : An average value of the angular position of the satellite
with reference in the perigee.
 True anomaly : The angle from perigee to the satellite position, measured
at the earth center.
15
 Fig. Prograde and retrograde orbits

Source : Dennis Roddy, “Satellite Communication‖”

Fig. The argument of perigee ω and the right ascension of the ascending node Ω.

Source : Dennis Roddy, “Satellite Communication‖”

 Summary
• Kepler’s Law
 Newton’s law
 Various definitions of Terms for Earth-Orbiting Satellite
 Test Your Understanding
• State Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion.
 The orbit for an earth-orbiting satellite orbit has an eccentricity of 0.15 and a
semi-axis of 9,000 km. Determine a) its period time; b) Ha; c) Hp. Assume a
mean value of earth radius, R=6,371 km.
 References
1. Dennis Roddy, ―Satellite Communication‖, 4th Edition, Mc Graw Hill
International, 2006.
2. Timothy,Pratt,Charles,W.Bostain,JeremyE.Allnutt,"SatelliteCommunication‖,
2nd Edition, Wiley Publications,2002.
3. Wilbur L.Pritchard, Hendri G. Suyderhoud, Robert A. Nelson, ―Satellite
Communication Systems Engineering‖, Prentice Hall/Pearson, 2007
4. Tri T. Ha, ―Digital Satellite Communication‖, II nd edition, 1990
THANK YOU