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TYPES OF ORBITS

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Main orbit types

GEO

36,000 km

MEO

5,000 15,000 km

LEO

500 -1000 km

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Useful Orbits 1.GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT

In the equatorial plane Orbital Period = 23 hrs 56 min 4.091 sec = 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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Geosynchronous & Geostationary Orbits

Altitude 35,786 Kms above MSL Orbital Period one side real day (1436.1 minutes), 23 hrs 56 mins 4.1 sec in length. The footprint almost 1/3(42 %) of the earth's surface (up to 81o 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 ms Geostationary orbit: Geosynchronous orbit with zero inclination and zero eccentricity (equatorial, circular orbit)
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2. Highly Elliptical Orbits(HEO)

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a. Molniya Orbit
(Apogee remains over the Northern Hemisphere)

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Molniya Orbit

Molniya orbit (Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO); T 11h 38 min; highly eccentric orbit; inclination 63.4o the Russian Molniya system employs three satellites in three 12-hour orbits, 120o apart, with an apogee of 39,354 km and a perigee of 1000 km.

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 Earth's Van Allen Belts consist of highly ionized particles trapped in the Earth's Geomagnetic fields. On the sunward side of the Earth, the geomagnetic fields are compressed by the Solar Winds while on the opposite side of the Earth, the geomagnetic fields extend to three Earth Radii. As a result, the geomagnetic field form 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 thousands eV energies, and protons with millions eV 1 June, 2012 Satellite Communication System energies.

b.

Molniya Variants (HEOs)

The Russian Tundra system, which employs two satellites in two (T=24-hour)orbits,180o apart, with an apogee of 53,622 km and a perigee of 17,951 km. Tundra Orbit Lies entirely above the Van Allen belts. 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.

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Molniya Variants (HEOs)

The ELLIPSO orbit
The ELLIPSO system - Elliptical low Earth Orbit for mobile communications and other optimum system elements Ellipso 2G: Ellipso sought to bring an enhancement to the initial Ellipso system using anticipated 2 Giga-Hertz spectrum to offer two way voice and data services compatible with higher data rates, up to 64 kbps for global 3G data services. Combining the spectrum bands in a single satellite system will lead to increased capacity, a much broader array of mobile and fixed services, including video conferencing, and all at affordable cost to consumer.

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c. 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-thirds of the orbital period near apogee, during which time it appears to be almost stationary to an observer on the Earth-a phenomenon known as `apogee dwell').
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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 comparatively great movement of a satellite in HEO relative to an observer on the Earth, satellite systems using this type of orbit must cope with large Doppler shifts.

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2.

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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3.

Low-Earth Orbit (LEO)

Low Earth Orbit (>250 km); T 92 minutes 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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4.

Polar Orbit

Polar (Low Earth) Orbit, useful for surveillance Improved accessibility using two or more satellites in different polar orbits. Mostly small LEO systems employ polar or near-polar orbits Angle of inclination about 90 deg, intersecting the North and South poles. Earth rotates underneath fixed polar orbit s in space, coverage area the entire globe, (long periods during which the satellite is out of view of a particular ground station).
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Polar Orbit
. Suitable for a store-and-forward communications systems Polar (Low Earth) Orbit, useful for surveillance 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 Sunsynchronous) and four COSPAS satellites moving in 1000 km orbits inclined at 82o.
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5.

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
Semimajor Axis Apogee/Perigee Altitude

Definition
Half the distance between the two points in the orbit that are farthest apart Measured from the "surface" of the Earth (a theoretical sphere with a radius equal to the equatorial radius of the Earth) to the points of maximum and minimum radius in the orbit

Apogee/Perigee Radius
Period Mean Motion Eccentricity

Measured from the center of the Earth to the points of maximum and minimum radius in the orbit
The duration of one orbit, based on assumed two-body motion The number of orbits per solar day (86,400 sec/24 hour), based on assumed two-body motion The shape of the ellipse comprising the orbit, ranging between a perfect circle (eccentricity = 0) and a parabola (eccentricity = 1)
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Orbital Velocities and Periods

System INTELSAT ICO-Global Skybridge Iridium Height (km) 35,786.43 10,255 1,469 780 Velocity (km/s) 3.0747 4.8954 7.1272 7.4624 Period

h
23 5 1 1

min
56 55 55 40

s
4.091 48.4 17.8 27

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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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SYSTEM ELEMENTS

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Satellite System Elements

Space Segment
Satellite Coverage Region

Earth Stations

SCC TT&C Ground Station

Ground Segment
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Space Segment
Satellite Launching Phase Transfer Orbit Phase Deployment Operation
TT&C - Tracking Telemetry and Command Station: Establishes a control and monitoring link with satellite. Tracks orbit distortions and allows correction planning. Distortions caused by irregular gravitational forces from non-spherical Earth and due to the influence of Sun and Moon forces. SSC Space Station Control Center, OCC - Operations Control Center
SCF - Satellite Control Facility

Retirement Phase
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Provides link signal monitoring for Link Maintenance and Interference monitoring.
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Satellite Subsystems
Communications
Antennas Transponders

Common Subsystem (Bus Subsystem)

Telemetry/Command (TT&C) Satellite Control (antenna pointing,attitude) Propulsion Electrical Power Structure Thermal Control

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Ground Segment
Collection of facilities, users and applications.

FSS Fixed Satellite Service

MSS Mobile Satellite Service

Earth Station = Satellite Communication Station (air, ground or sea, fixed or mobile).
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SYSTEM DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

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Basic Principles
Satellite

Uplink Earth Station

Downlink Earth Station

Tx

Source Information

Output Information

Rx

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Signals
Signals: Carried by wires as voltage or current Transmitted through space as electromagnetic waves. Analog:
Voltage or Current proportional to signal; e.g., Telephone.

Digital: Generated by computers. Ex. Binary = 1 or 0 corresponding to +1V or 1V.

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Separating Signals
Up and Down: FDD: Frequency Division Duplexing.
f1 = Uplink f2 = Downlink

TDD: Time Division Duplexing.

t1=Up, t2=Down, t3=Up, t4=Down,.

Polarization
V & H linear polarization RH & LH circular polarizations
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Separating Signals
(so that many transmitters can use the same transponder simultaneously)

Between Users or Channels (Multiple Access): FDMA: Frequency Division Multiple Access; assigns each transmitter its own carrier frequency
f1 = User 1; f2 = User 2; f3 = User 3,

TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access; each transmitter is given its own time slot
t1=User_1, t2=User_2, t3=User_3, t4 = User_1, ...

CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access; each transmitter transmits simultaneously and at the same frequency and each transmission is modulated by its own pseudo randomly coded bit stream
Code 1 = User 1; Code 2 = User 2; Code 3 = User
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Digital Communication System

TRANSMITTER Source Data Source Coding Channel Coding Modulator

Output Data

Source Decoding

Channel Decoder

Demodulator

RECEIVER
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CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS AND FUTURE TRENDS

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Current Trends in Satellite Communications

Bigger, heavier, GEO satellites with multiple roles More direct broadcast TV and Radio satellites Expansion into Ka, Q, V bands (20/30, 40/50 GHz) Massive growth in data services fueled by Internet Mobile services:
May be broadcast services rather than point to point Make mobile services a successful business?

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The Future for Satellite Communications 1

Growth requires new frequency bands
Propagation through rain and clouds becomes a problem as RF frequency is increased
C-band (6/4 GHz) Rain has little impact
99.99% availability is possible Ku-band (10-12 GHz) Ka-band (20 - 30 GHz) Link margin of 3 dB needed for 99.8% availability Link margin of 6 dB needed for 99.6% availability
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The Future for Satellite Communications - 2

Low cost phased array antennas for mobiles are needed Mobile systems are limited by use of omni-directional antennas A self-phasing, self-steering phased array antenna with 6 dB gain can quadruple the capacity of a system Directional antennas allow frequency re-use

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Homework #1
Answer the questions below for Dish Networks direct-tohome digital television broadcasting. Reference the text pages 7, 443, 445 and Dish Networks Web site, and section 11.2 page 441. 1) How many satellites does Dish Network have in the sky? Name them? 2) How many transponders are on each of these satellites? What frequency band is used? 3) What orbit are these satellites in (LEO, MEO, GEO)? 4) Why are two heads used on the Dish Network antenna (text page 445)?
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Homework #1
5) On what date was Echostar I launched? Echostar V? 6) Are these satellites spin or three axis stabilized? See page 443 7) Go to the Website and download the azimuth and elevation application( products installation) and follow the directions to aim the dish antenna to receive a signal for the zip code where you live. State the azimuth, elevation and skew angles and longitude for each satellite.

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Homework #1
8) See page 443. If the frequency band were C rather than Ku, how would this affect the size of the receive antenna you would need on your rooftop? 9) What is a transponder? Why does a satellite have multiple transponders and not just one? 10) Extra credit Go to the Air & Space Museum and view Explorer I, Sputnik I, the V2 rocket, TIROS II, TIROS-N and ITOS. Briefly describe the purpose of each.

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