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aAn artificial satellite is a manufactured object
that continuously orbits Earth or some other
body in space.

aArtificial satellites also have orbited the

moon, the sun, asteroids, and the planets
Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. Such satellites
mainly gather information about the bodies
they orbit.

aArtificial satellites differ from natural

satellites, natural objects that orbit a planet.
Earth's moon is a natural satellite.
a scientific research
a weather

a navigation

a Earth observing

a military

a communications
aA communications satellite (sometimes
abbreviated to comsat) is an artificial satellite
stationed in space for the purposes of
telecommunications.

aModern communications satellites use

geostationary orbits, Molniya orbits or low
polar Earth orbits.
aïor fixed services, communications satellites
provide a technology complementary to that of
fiber optic submarine communication cables.

a They are also used for mobile applications

such as communications to ships and planes,
for which application of other technologies,
such as cable, are impractical or impossible.

aCommunications satellites serve as relay

stations, receiving radio signals from one
location and transmitting them to another.

a A communications satellite can relay several

television programs or many thousands of
telephone calls at once.
aThe first artificial satellite was the Soviet
Sputnik 1, launched on October 4, 1957, and
equipped with an on-board radio-transmitter that
worked on two frequencies, 20.005 and
40.002 MHz.

aThe first American satellite to relay

communications was Project SCORE in 1958,
which used a tape recorder to store and forward
voice messages.

a NASA launched an Echo satellite in 1960; the

100-foot aluminized PET film balloon served as a
passive reflector for radio communications.
aTelstar was the first active, direct relay
communications satellite. Belonging to AT&T as
part of a multi-national agreement between AT&T,
Bell Telephone Laboratories, NASA, the British
General Post Office, and the ïrench National PTT
(Post Office) to develop satellite communications, it
was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral on
July 10, 1962, the first privately sponsored space
launch.

aAn immediate antecedent of the geostationary

satellites was Hughes· Syncom 2, launched on July
26, 1963. Syncom 2 revolved around the earth once
per day at constant speed, but because it still had
north-south motion, special equipment was needed
to track it.
Ô n terms of altitude satellite are
classified as:
1) Low earth orbit satellite

2) Middle earth orbit satellite

3) Geostationary earth orbit satellite

: LEO: ß

 satellites have a small
area of coverage. They are positioned in an orbit
approximately 3000km from the surface of the
earth
Ú They complete one orbit every 90 minutes
Ú The large majority of satellites are in low
earth orbit
Ú The ridium system utilizes LEO satellites
(780km high)
Ú The satellite in LEO orbit is visible to a point
on the earth for a very short time

: MEO: ë


 satellites have orbital
altitudes between 3,000 and 30,000 km.
Ú They are commonly used in navigation
systems such as GPS
: Ö
 Ö    Ö 


 satellites are positioned over the equator.
The orbital altitude is around 30,000-40,000 km

Ú They complete one orbit every 24 hours. This

causes the satellite to appear stationary with
respect to a point on the earth, allowing one
satellite to provide continual coverage to a
given area on the earth's surface
Ú One GEO satellite can cover approximately 1/3
of the world·s surface
Ú They are commonly used in communication
system
Ô Geostationary orbits are primarily used
for two functions:
² Weather monitoring
å ð   

 
 
 

² Commercial growth is focused on:
‡ DTH TV (Direct To Home: Sky
TV)
‡ Phone, ïax, Video, Data services
‡ Mobile Communications
å Digital Radio
atis also possible for satellites to
communicate with other satellites

aCommunication can be by microwave or

by optical laser
aÎsed C band in the range 3.7-4.2 GHz

aCould
interfere with terrestrial
communications

aBandwidth is narrower with higher

frequencies
ÔMicrowave band terminology

å L band 800 MHz - 2 GHz

å S band 2-3 GHz
å C band 3-6 GHz
å X band 7-9 GHz
å Ku band 10-17 GHz
å Ka band 18-22 GHz
aTwo stations on earth want to communication
through Radio broadcast but are too far away to
use conventional means.

aThe two stations can use a satellite as a relay

station for their communication one earth station
sends transmission to the satellite. This is called
a uplink.

aThe satellite transponder converts the signal

and sends to the second earth station. This is
called a downlink.
: Downlink
Ú The link from a satellite down to one or more
ground stations or receivers
: Îplink
Ú The link from a ground station up to a
satellite.
: Some companies sell uplink and downlink
services to
Ú television stations, corporations, and to other
telecommunication carriers.
Ú A company can specialize in providing uplinks,
downlinks, or both.
a When using a satellite for
long distance
communications, the
satellite acts as a
repeater.
a An earth station
transmits the signal up to
the satellite (uplink),
which in turn retransmits
it to the receiving earth
station (downlink).
a Different frequencies are
used for uplink/downlink.
aSatellitebased system called the ridium
system, conceived by Motorola corp. was
proposed as an alternative to the
conventional cellular systems

an the ridium system, 66 low earth

orbiting satellites are used for relaying
information, analogous to a switching center
in conventional cellular and telephone
systems

aThe call does not pass through land lines,

increasing the efficiency over other cellular
systems
: Opposed to the terrestrial cellular system, the
cell sites in the ridium system are overhead and
are moving !
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aAircraftnavigation
aMarine navigation
aDriving
aSurveying
aïarming
: Can reach over large geographical area
: ïlexible (if transparent transponders)
: Easy to install new circuits
: Circuit costs independent of distance
: Broadcast possibilities
: Temporary applications (restoration)
: Niche applications
: Mobile applications (especially "fill-in")
: Terrestrial network "by-pass"
: Provision of service to remote or underdeveloped areas
: Îser has control over own network
: 1-for-N multipoint standby possibilities
: Large up front capital costs (space segment and
launch)
: Terrestrial break even distance expanding (now
approx. size of Europe)
: nterference and propagation delay

: Congestion of frequencies and orbits

a Telephony
a Satellite Television and radio

a Amateur radio

a Satellite broadband