HISTORY

Arthur C. Clark wrote the first well-known article on communication satellites. "ExtraTerrestrial Relays" was published in Wireless World in 1945. In the article, Clark discussed geosynchronous earth orbit and the possibility of covering the earth with three satellites. The actual journey into space began October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world's first orbital spacecraft, which orbited the world for three months. A month later the Soviets launched Sputnik 2 and its passenger Laika, a dog who has the distinction of being the first known living creature to escape earth and enter outerspace. The space race was on, and in February of 1958, the United States launched Explorer 1. The first communication satellite was launched on December 18, 1958. Signal Communication by Orbital Relay (SCORE), which broadcasted a Christmas message from President Eisenhower - "Peace on Earth, Good will toward men" - orbited the earth for 12 days until the batteries failed. The main purpose of the SCORE project was to prove that an atlas missile could be put into orbit. Combined, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. launched six satellites in 1958, 14 satellites in 1959, 19 in 1960 and 35 in 1961. In 1962, the United Kingdom and Canada launched satellites of their own, along with the 70 satellites launched by the U.S. and U.S.S.R. On August 12, 1960, the United States launched Echo 1, a passive reflector satellite with no amplification possibilities. Echo 1 could only reflect the radiation back to earth. At the time of its launch, it was thought that passive reflector satellites could serve a purpose in communications, but the technology was soon abandoned. Bell Telephone Laboratories assisted in the Echo 1 project. Knowledge gained working on Echo 1 helped Bell to develop Telstar, an experimental satellite that relayed television signals. Telstar was launched into medium earth orbit in 1962. In the six months following the launch, stations in the United States, Britain and France conducted about 400 transmissions with multichannel telephone, telegraph, facsimile and television signals, and they performed over 250 technical tests and measurements. Near complete Earth coverage (excluding polar areas) was achieved with the development of Intelsat and the launching of satellites into geosynchronous earth orbit over the Atlantic (1965), Pacific (1967), and Indian oceans (1969). A combination of more than 130 governments and international organization control Intelsat. Intelsat, along with Inmarsat, which is used in international shipping, is open to use by all nations. The Intelsat consortium owns the satellites, but each nation owns their own earth stations. In 1997 Intelsat had 19 satellites in geostationary orbit. NASA led the new wave of communication satellite technology with the launch of Advanced Communications Technology Satellites (ACTS) in 1993. ACTS pioneered the use of spot beams, on-board storage and processing, and all digital transmission, which combined made a successful communication satellite constellation more feasible. Each of these innovations serve a certain technological purpose that makes and internet in the sky more likely.

Spot beams subdivide a satellite's footprint which allows the satellite to use its portion of the spectrum more efficiently

On-board storage and processing allows for inter-satellite communication and the caching of information until a spot beam finds its target All-digital transmission allows a satellite to incorporate error codes into its signal which helps to overcome rain fade.

Following the breakthrough, several corporations decided to get invest in broadband satellites. In 1997 the FCC gave permission to 13 companies to use a portion of the sky and a portion of the electromagnetic for their satellites systems and their signals. Among the companies was Hughes, Loral, Motorola, EchoStar and Teledesic, a company with the backing of Bill Gates and Craig McCaw. Not all of these companies will be able to make it in space, and Motorola has already failed with their 66 satellite system, Iridium, which was supposed to provide mobile telephone service. But if they succeed, accessing to their internet will be possible no matter where you are. LEO MEO GEO Height (miles) 500 to 1500 6250 to 1300 22,282 Latency (round trip) 20 to 40 msecs 50 to 150 msecs O.24 sec

Low Earth Orbit

LEO satellites can be divided into "Big LEOS" and "Little LEOS." "Little LEOS" provide pager, cellular telephone and location services. An examples of a "Little LEO" system is Motorola's Iridium, which declared bankruptcy after putting a 66 satellite constellation into space. "Big LEOs" carry voice and data broadband services. If your discussing internet access, which I am on this site, you have to talk about the "Big LEOS," which hope to be an internet in the sky. Low earth orbit is approximately 300 to 1,000 miles above the earth. It takes about 20 to 40 milliseconds for a signal to bounce from an earth bound station to a LEO then back to an earth station. This is compared to the second it takes the same signal to bounce off a GEO satellite. Using a LEO satellite, a consumer can make a phone call or access the internet from anywhere on earth, compared to cellular service which only covers 20% of North America. But LEO constellations may be costly. Earth coverage requires many more satellites from LEO than from GEO. Some LEO-satellite-system plans call for over 200 satellites, which runs up the cost of the system. And the LEO-satellite technology is not as advanced as GEO technology. LEOs are expected to be in demand for three markets: rural conventional telephone service, global mobile service, and international broadband service.

Medium Earth Orbit

Medium Earth Orbit satellites move around the earth at a height of 5,000 to 10,000 miles. Their signal takes from 50 to 150 milliseconds to make the round trip. MEO satellites cover more earth area than LEOs but have a higher latency. MEOS are often used in conjunction with GEO satellite systems. Telstar, one of the first and most famous experimental satellites, obited in MEO.

Geostationary Earth Orbit

Geostationary earth orbit(GEO) is 22,282 miles above the equator. The orbit is important because it allows a satellite to orbit the earth at a fixed location in relation to the earth. From GEO, three satellites can cover all but the polar regions and transmissions can be received through fixed antennas. Traditionally satellites have been given two degrees of separation, which means only 180 satellites could be parked in the orbit. In 1967, the United Outer Space Treaty declared the orbit to be the "common heritage of mankind." The treaty decided that space in the orbit would be distributed on a first come first serve basis. The treaty allowed the more technologically advanced countries to dominate the orbit and specifically the prime satellite areas over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Two World Administrative Radio Conferences have been held and dealt with the possibility of changing the allocation of GEO space from 'first come, first serve' to a priori. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) regulates GEO usage. Although a monopoly or oligopoly should not be possible with a common property resource, technology gaps have given certain nations domination over the GEO. With greater control over the spectrum and signals, satellites can now park closer to each other in the orbit. No country has paid to purchase any segment in space, but many countries are using it to station their satellites for which they have made huge investments in construction and station keeping costs.

BANDS
All companies putting a communication satellite constellation into the sky have to consider what portion of the electromagnetic spectrum their signal will occupy. The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of electromagnetic radiation from waves of high frequency and short wavelengths to waves of low frequency and long wavelengths. Starting at the high frequency, the electromagnetic spectrum consists of Gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet radiation, visible light, infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. Communication satellites use microwaves, which are at the high end of the radio portion of the spectrum. New satellite systems have to apply for spectrum use. In America, permission has to be gotten first from the FCC. In 1997 the FCC granted 13 companies Ka-band licenses. The International Telecommunications Union gives international permission to spectrum use. The problem of allocation of the spectrum for telecommunications use is similar to allocation of radio bands. If you have two stations too close to each other on the dial, you are going to get interference and an unclear signal. So satellite companies need to give themselves enough

space to operate on the spectrum. Finding space on the spectrum becomes more difficult when you are working on a global scale.
Most new satellite systems are looking for space in one of three areas of the spectrum: L-band, Ku-band or Ka-band. Each of these bands represents an area of the EMS and each has its own positive and negatives.

frequency range L1.53-2.7GHz band 11.7-12.7 GHz KuDownload; 14band 17.8GHz uplink Ka18-31 GHz band

positives negatives long wave lengths can penetrate many structures; requires less largely allocated powerful transmitters medium wavelengths penetrate many obstacles and carry lots of largely allocated data requires powerful a lot of available spectrum and transmitters; short shorter wavelengths carry a lot of wavelengths subject to rain data fade

The new satellite broadband corporations will mostly be using the Ka-band for their transmissions. Note: The band names for area of the spectrum were created during WW2 and each name was created to confuse anyone trying to understand radio broadcasts.

ROUTING
The two basic types of routing are bent-pipe routing and satellite-to-satellite routing. Bentpipe routing means the satellite reflects the signal back to earth. For LEOS, bent pipe can mean the signal goes from the user, to the satellite and back to an earth station. Then the signal is transfered over terestrial lines to another earth station and sent to another satellite, which bounces the signal back to the earth to be received. Satellite-to-satellite routing means the user sends the signal to the satellite, the satellite sends the signal directly to other satellites which find the receiver and sends the signal down. Bent-pipe routing will increase the signal latency. Satellite-to-satellite routing calls for much more sophisticated technology within the satellite, which drives up the cost of satellites that may have to be replaced every five or six years.

International Telecommunications Union

The International Telecommunications Union is an agency of the United Nations. The ITU coordinates the use of global telecommunication networks and services. The mission of the ITU Radio communication Sector is to:

Help prepare radio regulations Allocate the radio frequency spectrum Register radio frequency and geostationary earth orbit slots

Coordinate efforts to eliminate radio interference Assist developing countries in use of the electromagnetic spectrum

The ITU allocates the radio frequency spectrum on a first come first serve basis. In America, companies first have to lobby the FCC who then petition the ITU. The ITU conducts World Radio Conferences and Radiocommunication assemblies every two years. These conferences help to decide the way radio spectrum and space is allocated.

What is Satellite Communication?

In satellite communication, signal transferring between the sender and receiver is done with the help of satellite. In this process, the signal which is basically a beam of modulated microwaves is sent towards the satellite. Then the satellite amplifies the signal and sent it back to the receivers antenna present on the earths surface. So, all the signal transferring is happening in space. Thus this type of communication is known as space communication. Two satellites which are commonly used in satellite communication are Active and passive satellites. Passive satellites: It is just a plastic balloon having a metal coated over it. This sphere reflects the coming microwave signals coming from one part of the earth to other part. This is also known as passive sphere. Our earth also has a passive satellite i.e. moon. Active satellites: It basically does the work of amplifying the microwave signals coming. In active satellites an antenna system, transmitter, power supply and a receiver is used. These satellites are also called as transponders. The transmitters fitted on the earth generate the microwaves. These rays are received by the transponders attached to the satellite. Then after amplifying, these signals are transmitted back to earth. This sending can be done at the same time or after some delay. These amplified signals are stored in the memory of the satellites, when earth properly faces the satellite. Then the satellite starts sending the signals to earth. Some active satellites also have programming and recording features. Then these recording can be easily played and watched. The first active satellite was launched by Russia in 1957. The signals coming from the satellite when reach the earth, are of very low intensity. Their amplification is done by the receivers themselves. After amplification these become available for further use.

Microwave communication is possible only if the position of satellite becomes stationary with respect to the position of earth. So, these types of satellites are known as geostationary satellites. What are the requirements for a satellite to be geostationary? 1. Its revolutionary direction must be same as that of the earth, i.e. from west to east. 2. The time period of satellites revolution must be same to the time period of the rotation of earth along its polar axis, which is equal to 24 hours. 3. The equatorial plane of earth must be coplanar with the orbital plane of the satellites revolution. The name given to the orbit of the geo-stationary satellites is synchronous orbit. Due to this geo-stationary satellites are also called as geo-synchronous satellites. Geo-synchronous orbit is at a height of nearly 36000km from the surface of earth. These orbits are capable of giving a successful communication link between two stations present on the earth. These satellites can handle communication up to large distances. But it is impossible for a single geo-stationary satellite to cover the whole earth and provide a communication link. Due to curvature of earth the stations will be out of sight after covering some distance. If we want to cover the whole earth then we have to put three satellites onto the geosynchronous orbit. These satellites can cover the earth if all are inclined at an angle of

120o to each other.

The first satellite that was used for communication purpose in INDIA was ARYABHATTA and it was launched in 19th April.1975. It was made and assembled by an organization called Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). In the year 1981, a satellite named APPLE was launched in space which was the first Indian Experimental communication satellite. The unique feature of it was that it was a three axis stabilization geosynchronous satellite and weighed around 645 kg. The term

APPLE is an abbreviation for

Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment. It consisted of a (6/4 Ghz) processing equipment called
Transponder. Various experiments were carried out with APPLE, [SITE, STEP (Other satellite telecommunication experiment projects)] and the results obtained from these experiments provided an impetus for Govt. of India to have its own multipurpose Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite under INSAT (Indian National Satellite) program. The first satellite INSAT-1A was launched in the year 1982 which was under this INSAT program, but this effort went in vain as the power house of this satellite consisting of solar cells did not operate properly( failed to open) and this satellite was unused latter on. The average electrical power required by INSAT-1 was approximately 1000W and was provided by the power house subsystem of the satellite. The payload was one C-band transponder and two S-band transponders. Later succession of INSAT-1 series was launched like INSAT-1B, INSAT-C and INSAT-D. After this due to the success of the first generation satellites, INSAT-2 series was launched viz. INSAT-2A, INSAT-2B, INSAT-2C, INSAT-3D and INSAT-2E which provided variety of services.

WHAT IS SATELLITE? A Satellite is a solid object which revolves around some heavenly body due to the effect of gravitational forces which are mutual in nature. We can categorize satellites in two types, namely Passive Satellites and Active satellites. Passive satellites are not like active satellites. Even a moon can be a passive satellite. Thus passive satellites are relay stations in space. A passive satellite can be further subdivided into two types, namely Natural satellites and

artificial satellites. A moon is a natural satellite of earth. But spherical balloon with metal coated plastic serve as artificial satellites. Active satellites are complicated structures having a processing equipment called Transponder which is very vital for functioning of the satellite. These transponders serve dual purpose i.e. provides amplification of the incoming signal and performs the frequency translation of the incoming signal to avoid interference between the two signals. All ABOUT SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

The term Satellite communication is very frequently used, but what is satellite communication? It is simply the communication of the satellite in space with large number of earth stations on the ground. Users are the ones who generate baseband signals, which is processed at the earth station and then transmitted to the satellite through dish antennas. Now the user is connected to the earth station via some telephone switch or some dedicated link. The satellite receives the uplink frequency and the transponder present inside the satellite does the processing function and frequency down conversion in order to transmit the downlink signal at different frequency. The earth station then receives the signal from the satellite through parabolic dish antenna and processes it to get back the baseband signal. This baseband signal is then transmitted to the respective user via dedicated link or other terrestrial system. Previously satellite communication system used large sized parabolic antennas with diameters around 30 meters because of the very faint and weak signals received. But nowadays satellites have become much stronger, bigger and powerful due to which antennas used have become automatically smaller in size. Thus the earth station antennas are now not

large in size as the antennas used in olden days. A satellite communication system operates and works in the millimeter and microwave wave frequency bands from 1 Ghz to 50 Ghz. There are various frequency bands utilized by satellites but the most recognized of them is the uplink frequency of 6 Ghz and the downlink frequency of 4 Ghz. Actually the uplink frequency band is 5.725 to 7.075 Ghz and the actual downlink frequency band is from 3.4 to 4.8 Ghz. The major components of a Satellite Communication system is spacecraft and one or more earth earths.

THE EXCITING COMPONENTS OF SATELLITE i.e ITS SUBSYSTEMS

Attitude & orbit control system:

This subsystem comprises of rocket motors that keeps the correct orientation of the satellite in space by moving it back to the correct orbit. Various external forces cause to change the parking position of the satellite. The primary factors are gravitational forces of sun, moon earth and also other planets of solar system. Other factors include solar pressure on the antennas and solar sails, which is present on the body of the satellite. All these factors are hugely responsible for misbalancing of the satellite and also responsible for changing the parking position of the satellite. Apart from this the earths magnetic field is also playing a major role in changing the parking position of satellite. The earths magnetic field generates eddy currents in the metallic structure of the satellite as the satellite moves through the magnetic field. Thus the body of the satellite gets rotated called as wobble of the satellite.

Remedy for Misbalancing of the satellite: station keeping: It is a method of

periodically

accelerating the satellite in the opposite direction against the forces acting on the body of the satellite like gravitational forces, eddy currents etc. in order to maintain the correct orientation of satellite in space and maintaining its orbit. The two most common methods employed to keep the satellite stable in orbit are: spin stabilization and three axes body stabilization.

TTC and M SUBSYSTEMS:

These subsystems are found partly on the satellite and partly on the earth stations. Data obtained from the sensors present on the spacecraft are sent by the Telemetry systems through telemetry link to the controlling earth stations. The telemetry system monitors the condition of the spacecraft. Furthermore the Tracking system is present on the earth station which is all concerned about range, azimuth angles and elevation angles of the spacecraft by providing necessary information on it. There are various techniques used for tracking of satellite:

1. Velocity and acceleration sensors on the satellite can be used to establish the
change in orbit.

2.

Doppler shift of the telemetry carrier from the earth station or beacon transmitter may be measured to determine the rate at which the range is changing.

3. Ranging tones may be used for range measurement.

POWER SUBSYSTEM:

This is required to run satellites housekeeping and communication system. The block diagram of the power subsystem is shown as: Solar panels generate direct current which is used to operate different subsystems. The batteries like NickelCadmium batteries are charged by the DC power by employing the battery chargers. The stabilized low voltage is supplied to power various subsystems which are generated by the voltage regulator circuits. A dc to dc converter circuit generates high voltage dc which is used for operating the traveling wave tube amplifiers. Generation of ac from dc is done by dc to ac inverter circuits for running ac devices.

PROPULSION SUBSYSTEM

This subsystem can also be called as a reaction control subsystem. It is carried by the satellite in the GEO orbit. The dominant functions of it are: It helps the spacecraft to move to its assigned position in orbit and also helps to maintain it in that position.

It is also used to maintain the direction of spin axis attitude control against the perturbation forces. The main components of propulsion subsystem are: Low thrust actuators, High thrust motors eg:

apogee kick motor, Apogee boost motor and finally Perigee kick motor. Low thrust actuators are further classified as Chemical thrusters and Electrical thrusters. These thrusters are used for attitude and orbit corrections. Moreover the Electric thrusters are mainly of two types 1.> Plasma thrusters 2.> Ion thrusters.

SPACECRAFT ANTENNA (subsystem)

Antenna subsystem is also an essential component of satellite system. Basically four main type of antennas are used: these are Monopoles and dipoles (wire antennas) which are mainly used in VERY HIGH FREQUENCY AND ULTRA HIGH FREQUENCY to provide communication for TTC and M subsystem. 2.> Horn antennas are mainly used at microwave frequencies. Horns are actually used as feeds for reflector. 3.> Array antennas are actually phased array antennas which are used on satellites to form multiple beams from single aperture. 4> Reflector antennas are commonly used for earth station antennas and the most widely employed shape of it is the paraboloid with a feed placed at its focus. The patterns for different satellite antennas are shown as:

THE KEY ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT IN A SATELLITE OR TRANSPONDERS:

It is the key electronic component in a satellite. The transmitter receiver combination in a satellite is known as a Transponder. It performs two major functions 1.> It provides amplification of the signal thus providing a gain of around 110dB. 2> It also does the frequency down conversion or frequency translation of the uplink signal in order to avoid interference between the received and the transmitted signal. Types of Transponders: 1. Bend pipe type Transponder 2. Regenerative type Transponder. Bend pipe type transponders are also called conventional type transponders. Diplexer (acting as a two-way microwave gate) is the device which is responsible or used by the satellite for both receiving the uplink signal and transmitting the downlink signal. The frequency down conversion is done in the carrier processor. Amplification of the weak received signal is done in the front end. The downlink frequency is brought to a sufficient power level by amplification by the power amplifier such as Traveling Wave tube. The carrier processing equipment determines whether the transponder is of conventional or regenerative type

Regenerative Transponders: The regenerative transponder is one where

there is provision for detection and demodulation process. The main advantages for these kind of transponders are: The signal to noise ratio is improved. These are simpler and more flexible to implement. At low baseband frequency the amplification is easier to obtain in case of regenerative type.
Types of multi channel transponder systems:
Broadband system Dual channelized system.

The various frequency translation schemes in use: FOR CONVENTIONAL TRANSPONDERS

RF-RF Translation: This is a single mixer system. The diagrams of it is shown below:

RF Front end Power Amplifier Stable Oscillator Frequency Multiplier Multiplier From

Diplexer To Diplexer

RF-IF-RF translation schemes: This is a double conversion scheme using a single stable oscillator. This kind of translation scheme provides two advantages over RF-RF conversion scheme: 1. The process of carrier filtering is done at the IF band. 2. Before the return transmitted signal the uplink carriers can be easily removed. The diagram of it is shown below:

RF Front end Power Amplifier Stable Oscillator Mixer From Diplexer To Diplexer Frequency Multiplier IF Filter Modulator

Frequency Multiplier

FOR REGENERATIVE TRANSPONDERS

The two common schemes are: IF Remodulation scheme: In this technique the uplink RF spectrum is first translated down to low IF band , which is then modulated on to return RF. Demodulation- Remodulation scheme: The remodulation removes the uplink noise and interference from return modulation.

SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLES:

Satellites are launched into its orbit by the satellite launch vehicles. These satellite launch vehicles are basically multistage rockets. It is classified into two types: Expendable launch vehicle (ELV) eg: Ariane, Delta etc. These vehicles get destroyed in Reusable launch vehicle (RLV). Also known as space transportation system (STV) eg:

space and it also carries more than one satellite with it. Space shuttle. In case of these satellites the vehicle will return back to the earth after leaving the satellite in space. Thus they can be reused again and again.

Components of Launch vehicle:

Propulsion system. Auto piloting system Aerodynamic structure Interactive steering subsystem

DIFFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION SATELLITE FROM COMMUNICATION RELAY:

For communication satellites the range is much higher than that of

communication relay. Communication Satellite can cover up to several thousand kilometers. For communication satellite the uplink and the downlink frequency is the same. But for communication satellites the uplink and the downlink frequencies are different in order to avoid interference.

Different frequency bands used in satellite communication:

Ultra high frequency band (UHF). C-Band. X-Band. Ku-Band Ka-Band.

Geostationary
Geostationary satellites are located exactly above the earths equator and revolve around the earth in a circular orbit. Their revolving speed and direction (west to east) are exactly same as that of the earth, which makes it look stationary from the earths surface. The exact altitude of these satellites above the equator is approximately 36,000 Kilometers (22369 Miles). The term geostationary stems from the fact that this kind of satellite looks practically stationary in the sky when someone on the earths surface observes it. A geostationary satellites orbital path is called the Clarke Belt, in honor of Arthur C. Clarke. A geostationary satellite can be contacted via a directional antenna, typically a little antenna dish, targeted at the location in the sky where the satellite seems to float. These dish antennas can permanently be put in one place and are low-priced compared to tracking antennas. One geostationary satellite can cover approximately 40% of the earths surface area. Three such geostationary satellites, each separated by 120 degrees of longitude, offer complete earth surface area coverage, with the omission of little circular areas situated at the north and south geographic poles. The typical service life expectancy of a geostationary satellite is ten to fifteen years. Advantages/Disadvantages of Geostationary Satellites These satellites are placed at high altitude, allowing them to inspect the entire earths surface area except for small regions at the south and north geographic poles, which significantly helps in meteorological studies. Highly directional dish antennas can reduce signal interventions from earth based sources and other satellites too.

The orbital sector is a really thin loop in the equators plane. Hence, a very small number of satellites can be maintained within this sector without mutual conflicts and collisions. A geostationary satellites precise hovering location fluctuates a little over each 24-hour period loop. This fluctuation happens due to the gravitational interference among the satellite, the earth, the sun, the moon, and other planets. Radio signals take roughly 1/4th of a second for a two-way trip to the satellite, resulting in a small but major signal wait. This wait raises the trouble of interactive communication like telephonic conversation. Application of Geostationary Satellites Geostationary satellites have modernized and transformed worldwide communications, television broadcasting, and meteorological and weather forecasting. They also have a number of significant defense and intelligence applications. A geostationary satellite is an earth-orbiting satellite, placed at an altitude of approximately 35,800 kilometers (22,300 miles) directly over the equator, that revolves in the same direction the earth rotates (west to east). At this altitude, one orbit takes 24 hours, the same length of time as the earth requires to rotate once on its axis. The term geostationary comes from the fact that such a satellite appears nearly stationary in the sky as seen by a ground-based observer. BGAN, the new global mobile communications network, uses geostationary satellites. A single geostationary satellite is on a line of sight with about 40 percent of the earth's surface. Three such satellites, each separated by 120 degrees of longitude, can provide coverage of the entire planet, with the exception of small circular regions centered at the north and south geographic poles. A geostationary satellite can be accessed using a directional antenna, usually a small dish, aimed at the spot in the sky where the satellite appears to hover. The principal advantage of this type of satellite is the fact that an earthbound directional antenna can be aimed and then left in position without further adjustment. Another advantage is the fact that because highly directional antennas can be used, interference from surface-based sources, and from other satellites,

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is minimized. Geostationary satellites have two major limitations. First, because the orbital zone is an extremely narrow ring in the plane of the equator, the number of satellites that can be maintained in geostationary orbits without mutual conflict (or even collision) is limited. Second, the distance that an electromagnetic (EM) signal must travel to and from a geostationary satellite is a minimum of 71,600 kilometers or 44,600 miles. Thus, a latency of at least 240 milliseconds is introduced when an EM signal, traveling at 300,000 kilometers per second (186,000 miles per second), makes a round trip from the surface to the satellite and back. There are two other, less serious, problems with geostationary satellites. First, the exact position of a geostationary satellite, relative to the surface, varies slightly over the course of each 24-hour period because of gravitational interaction among the satellite, the earth, the

sun, the moon, and the non-terrestrial planets. As observed from the surface, the satellite wanders within a rectangular region in the sky called the box. The box is small, but it limits the sharpness of the directional pattern, and therefore the power gain, that earth-based antennas can be designed to have. Second, there is a dramatic increase in background EM noise when the satellite comes near the sun as observed from a receiving station on the surface, because the sun is a powerful source of EM energy. This effect, known as solar fade, is a problem only within a few days of the equinoxes in late March and late September. Even then, episodes last for only a few minutes and take place only once a day. In recent years, low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems have become popular. This type of system employs a fleet or swarm of satellites, each in a polar orbit at an altitude of a few hundred kilometers. Each revolution takes between 90 minutes and a few hours. Over the course of a day, such a satellite comes within range of every point on the earth's surface for a certain period of time. The satellites in a LEO swarm are strategically spaced so that, from any point on the surface, at least one satellite is always on a line of sight. The satellites thus act as moving repeaters in a global cellular network. A LEO satellite system allows the use of simple, non-directional antennas, offers reduced latency, and does not suffer from solar fade. These facts are touted as advantages of LEO systems over geostationary satellites.

What is a geostationary satellite State two uses of a geostationary satellite?

In order for a satellite to stay in space and not fall to earth, it has to move in orbit round the earth. Many satellites and the International Space Station are in low orbit and at that distance above the earth orbit the earth in a couple of hours or so. However, if the orbit is around 26000 miles up, then at that distance the time it takes for a satellite to freely orbit is exactly one day or 24 hours. This means that the satellite is always above the same spot on earth, as the earth also takes 24 hours to rotate. Thus, if we could see the satellite in the sky it would not move across the sky like the International Space Station but it would stay in the same place in the sky. This means that they can be used for communication - when you telephone, say, from Europe to the USA then the signals are received by these satellites, amplified and relayed across the world to the receiver of the call. As the satellites are in the same place in the sky all the time, you can call at any time of the night or day. However, if the satellite moved across the sky in low orbit you would only be able to use it when it was in the sky - in other words you could only telephone for a few minutes at a time and then have to wait until it was back in the sky again. Similarly, these satellites are used for navigation in sat-navs. As the satellite is always in the same point in the sky, it can work out your position at any time of the night or day. The term 'geostationary' comes from 'geo' meaning 'earth' (as in geo-graphy, geo-thermal etc) and 'stationary' - meaning not moving i.e. the satellite is 'not moving above earth'.

Geostationary Satellites
Satellites can be characterized by the orbits they keep. The most common type today is the geostationary satellite (GEOS), as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 Satellite orbits (not to scale). If the satellite is in a circular orbit 35,838 km above the earth's surface and rotates in the equatorial plane of the earth, it will rotate at the same angular speed as the earth and will remain above the same spot on the equator as the earth rotates. This configuration has many advantages to recommend it:

Because the satellite is stationary relative to the earth, there is no problem with frequency changes due to the relative motion of the satellite and antennas on earth (Doppler effect). Tracking of the satellite by its earth stations is simplified. At 35,838 km above the earth, the satellite can communicate with roughly one-fourth of the earth; three satellites in geostationary orbit separated by 120x cover most of the inhabited portions of the entire earth, excluding only the areas near the north and south poles.

On the other hand, there are problems:

The signal can get quite weak after traveling over 35,000 km. The polar regions and the far northern and southern hemispheres are poorly served by geostationary satellites. Even at the speed of light, about 300,000 km/sec, the delay in sending a signal from a point on the equator beneath the satellite 35,838 km to the satellite and 35,838 km back is substantial.

The delay of communication between two locations on earth directly under the satellite is in fact (2 x 35,838)/300,000 = 0.24 sec. For other locations not directly under the satellite, the delay is even longer. If the satellite link is used for telephone communication, the added delay between when one person speaks and the other responds is increased twofold, to almost 0.5 sec. This is definitely noticeable. Another feature of geostationary satellites is that they use their assigned frequencies over a very large area. For point-to-multipoint applications such as broadcasting TV programs, this can be desirable, but for point-to-point communications it's very wasteful of spectrum. Special spot and steered-beam antennas, which restrict the area covered by the satellite's signal, can be used to control the "footprint" or signaling area. To solve some of these problems, orbits other than geostationary have been designed for satellites. Low-earthorbiting satellites (LEOS) and medium-earth-orbiting satellites (MEOS) are important for third-generation personal communications.

Low- and Medium-Earth-Orbiting Satellites

The original AT&T satellite proposal was for low-earth-orbiting satellites, but most of the early commercial satellites were geostationary. Nevertheless, low-earth orbits have advantages, and many recent satellite proposals are based on them. The idea is to use constellations of inexpensive low-earth-orbiting satellites, sometimes called lightsats. They orbit at altitudes of about 320 to 1,100 km above the earth's surface. Therefore, the propagation time is much smaller. Moreover, their signal is much stronger than that of geostationary satellites for the same transmission power. Their coverage can be better localized so that spectrum can be better conserved. For this reason, this technology is currently being proposed for communicating with mobile terminals and with personal terminals that need stronger signals to function. On the other hand, to provide broad coverage over 24 hours, many satellites are needed. Sixty-six are being proposed by Motorola for its Iridium system. A number of commercial proposals have been made to use clusters of LEOs to provide communications services. These proposals can be divided into two categories:

Little LEOSs: Intended to work at communication frequencies below 1 GHz, using no more than 5 MHz of bandwidth, and supporting data rates up to 10 Kbps. These systems are aimed at paging, tracking, and low-rate messaging. Orbcom is an example of such a satellite system. It was the first (little) LEO in operation, with its first two satellites launched in April of 1995. These are some of its stats: Designed for paging and burst communication and optimized for handling small bursts of data from 6 to 250 bytes in length. Used by businesses to track trailers, railcars, heavy equipment, and other remote and mobile assets. It can also be used to monitor remote utility meters and oil and gas storage tanks, wells, and pipelines, or to stay in touch with remote workers anywhere in the world. Uses the frequencies 148.00 to 150.05 MHz to the satellites, and 137.00 to 138.00 from the satellites, with well over 30 satellites in low-earth orbit. Supports subscriber data rates of 2.4 Kbps to the satellite and 4.8 Kbps down. Big LEOSs: Frequencies above 1 GHz and supporting data rates up to a few megabits per second. These systems tend to offer the same services as those of small LEOSs, with the addition of voice and positioning services. Globalstar is one example of a Big LEO system. These are some of its stats: Its satellites are fairly rudimentary. Unlike Iridium, it has no onboard processing or communications between satellites. Most processing is done by the system's earth stations. Uses CDMA as in the CDMA cellular standard. Uses the S-Band (about 2 GHz) for the down link to mobile users. Tightly integrated with traditional voice carriers. All calls must be processed through earth stations. Satellite constellation consists of 48 operating satellites and 8 spares, in 1,413 km orbits.

A LEO satellite can be "seen" by a point on earth on the order of minutes before the satellite passes out of sight. If intermediate orbits are usedhigher than the LEOS and lower than GEOSa point on earth can see the satellite for periods on the order of hours. Such orbits are called medium-earth-orbiting satellites (MEOS). These orbits are on the order of 10,000 km

above the earth, and require fewer handoffs. While propagation delay to earth from such satellites (and the power required) is greater than for LEOS, they are still substantially less than for GEOS. ICO Global Communications, established in January 1995, proposed a MEO system. Launches began in 2000; 12 satellites, including two spares, are planned in 10,400 km orbits. The satellites will be divided equally between two planes tilted 45x to equator. Proposed applications are digital voice, data, facsimile, high-penetration notification, and messaging services.

What Are the Types of Satellite Orbits?

There are three basic kinds of orbits, depending on the satellite's position relative to Earth's surface:

Geostationary orbits (also called geosynchronous or synchronous) are orbits in which the satellite is always positioned over the same spot on Earth. Many geostationary satellites are above a band along the equator, with an altitude of about 22,223 miles, or about a tenth of the distance to the Moon. The "satellite parking strip" area over the equator is becoming congested with several hundred television, weather and communication satellites! This congestion means each satellite must be precisely positioned to prevent its signals from interfering with an adjacent satellite's signals. Television, communications and weather satellites all use geostationary orbits. Geostationary orbits are why a DSS satellite TV dish is typically bolted in a fixed position. The scheduled Space Shuttles use a much lower, asynchronous orbit, which means they pass overhead at different times of the day. Other satellites in asynchronous orbits average about 400 miles (644 km) in altitude. In a polar orbit, the satellite generally flies at a low altitude and passes over the planet's poles on each revolution. The polar orbit remains fixed in space as Earth rotates inside the orbit. As a result, much of Earth passes under a satellite in a polar orbit. Because polar orbits achieve excellent coverage of the planet, they are often used for satellites that do mapping and photography.

How Are Satellite Orbits Predicted?

Special satellite software, available for personal computers, predicts satellite orbits. The software uses Keplerian data to forecast each orbit and shows when a satellite will be overhead. The latest "Keps" are available on the Internet for amateur radio satellites, too. Satellites use a variety of light-sensitive sensors to determine their position. The satellite transmits its position to the ground station.

MEO satellite (medium earth orbit satellite)

A medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite is one with an orbit within the range from a few hundred miles to a few thousand miles above the earth's surface. Satellites of this type orbit higher than low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, but lower than geostationary satellites.

The orbital periods of MEO satellites range from about two to 12 hours. Some MEO satellites orbit in near perfect circles, and therefore have constant altitude and travel at a constant speed. Other MEO satellites revolve in elongated orbits. The perigee (lowest altitude) of an elliptical-orbit satellite is much less than its apogee (greatest altitude). The orbital speed is much greater near perigee than near apogee. As seen from a point on the surface, a satellite in an elongated orbit crosses the sky in just a few minutes when it is near perigee, as compared to several hours when it is near apogee. Elliptical-orbit satellites are easiest to access near apogee, because the earth-based antenna orientation does not have to be changed often, and the satellite is above the horizon for a fairly long time. A fleet of several MEO satellites, with orbits properly coordinated, can provide global wireless communication coverage. Because MEO satellites are closer to the earth than geostationary satellites, earth-based transmitters with relatively low power and modest-sized antennas can access the system. Because MEO satellites orbit at higher altitudes than LEO satellites, the useful footprint (coverage area on the earth's surface) is greater for each satellite. Thus a global-coverage fleet of MEO satellites can have fewer members than a global-coverage fleet of LEO satellites.