SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

DR. RAZALI NGAH

 CONTENTS

Introduction

Satellite Orbits

Orbital Mechanic

Antenna Look Angle Determination

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 Introduction

What is a Satellite?

A satellite is a space vehicle launched by humans and orbits Earth or
revolves around another object in space.

A communications satellite is a microwave repeater in the sky that
consists of a receiver-transmitter combination called a transponder.

A communications satellite consists of two major units: bus and
payload.

The Bus includes control mechanisms (electrical and mechanical)
that support the payload operation from launch through the end of
its life.

The payload is all the specialized equipment needed to perform its
designed function (communication between earth stations).

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 …Introduction

Satellite communication systems were originally developed to

provide long-distance telephone service.

In 1965, Intelsat I was the first commercial telecommunications
satellite has been launched in geostationary earth orbit (GEO), with
a capacity of 480 telephone circuit.

A satellite stays in orbit because the gravitational pull of the earth is
balanced by the centripetal force of the revolving satellite.

Satellite orbits about the earth are either circular or elliptical.

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 Important Milestones (1960’s)
First satellite communications

1960 First passive communication satellite launched into space (Large

balloons, Echo I and II).

1962: First non-government active communication satellite launched
Telstar I (MEO).

1963: First satellite launched into geostationary orbit Syncom 1
(comms. failed).

1964: International Telecomm. Satellite Organization (INTELSAT)
created.

1965 First communications satellite launched into geostationary orbit
for commercial use Early Bird (re-named INTELSAT 1).

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ECHO I

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Telstar I

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Intelsat I

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 Why Satellite?

High Position

Wide/Global coverage

Minimum Human Dependency

Autonomous & freedom

Minimum terrestrial infrastructure

Less towers

Efficient

Everywhere-anytime

Advanced technology test-bed

Use of new material/instruments for future mission

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 Satellite Orbits

Satellites (spacecraft) which orbit the earth follow the same laws
that govern the motion of the planets around sun.

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was able to derive empirically three

(3) laws describing planetary motion.

Kepler’s 1st Law (The Law of Ellipses)

The orbits of the planets are ellipses, with the Sun at one
focus of the ellipse.

Kepler’s 2nd Law (The Law of Equal Areas)

The line joining the planet to the Sun sweeps out equal
areas in equal times as the planet travels around the ellipse.

Dan Dialah yang telah menciptakan malam dan siang, matahari dan bulan.
Masing-masing dari keduanya itu beredar di dalam garis edarnya. (Surat Al-
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Anbiyâ´ ayat 33) & Surah Yasin :38.
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Kepler’s 3rd Law (The Law of Harmonies)
The ratio of the squares of the revolutionary periods for two
planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of their semi major
axes

Ta2/Tb2 = Ra3/Rb3

Compares the orbital period and radius of orbit of a planet to those

of other planets

Planet Period (s) Mean Dist.(m) T2/R3

Earth 3.156x107 1.4957x1011 2.98x10-19
Mars 5.93x107 2.278x1011 2.98x10-19

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Satellite Orbits Terms

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Apogee: The point in an orbit that is located farthest from Earth

Perigee: The point in an orbit that is located closest to Earth

Major Axis: The line joining the perigee and apogee through the
center of Earth

Minor Axis: The line perpendicular to the major axis and halfway
between the perigee and apogee.
Half the distance of the minor axis is called the semiminor axis.

Although there is an infinite number of orbital paths, only three are

useful for communications satellites;
(i) Equatorial

(ii) Inclined

(iii) Polar

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Type of Satellite Orbit

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Inclined-Orbit: GPS

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Polar Orbit: Iridium

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 3D Satellite Orbit

Satellite orbits are not just determined by radius. There is also an
inclination of the orbit relative to the equatorial plane (plane formed
by the earth’s equator).

Orbit of
Satellite
Inclination
Equatorial
Plane

Earth

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 Type of satellite

GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit) satellites orbit about 36,000 km
above Earth’s surface.

LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites are about 500-1500 km above earth’s
surface.

MEO (Medium EO) satellites are about 6000-20,000 km above earth’s

surface.

There are also HEO (Highly Elliptical Orbit) satellites.

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GEO 36,000 km

MEO 5,000 – 15,000 km

LEO 500 -1000 km

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 Geostationary Orbit (GEO) Satellite

The geostationary orbit (GEO) is preferred for all high capacity

communication satellite systems because a satellite in GEO appears
to be stationary over a fixed point on the earth.

GEO lies in the equatorial plane.

Distance from earth to satellite in the orbit, d = 36,000 km.

Used for telecommunication and broadcasting.

2o between satellite i.e. distance between satellite is 1440 km.

Example: MEASAT I & II, PALAPA, THAICOM, ASIASAT, INTELSAT.

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 …GEO Satellite
Advantages of GEO Satellite

42% of earth surface visible from single satellite

No tracking of the satellite by earth station antenna is necessary

No handover from one satellite to another is necessary

Three satellites give almost global coverage.

No Doppler shifts occur in the received carrier.

Disadvantages

Polar regions are not covered (i.e latitude >77o for elevation
angle>5o)

High altitude means large FSPL (typically 200 dB)

High altitude results in long propagation delay.

Require higher transmit powers and more sensitive receivers

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…GEO Satellite

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 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite

Distance from earth < 1500 km

Not synchronous with the earth i.e. relative movement with the
earth.

Typical LEO satellite takes less than 2 hours to orbit the Earth, which
means that a single satellite is "in view" of ground equipment for a
only a few minutes.

If transmission takes more than few minutes that any one satellite is
in view, a LEO system must "hand off" between satellites to complete
the transmission.

Handoffs can be accomplished by relaying signals between satellite
and various ground stations, or by communicating between satellites
themselves using "inter-satellite links."

Used for earth imaging (remote sensing) and mobile satellite
(Irridium).

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 …LEO satellite

LEO systems must incorporate sophisticated tracking and switching
equipment to maintain consistent service coverage.

Advantages:

very little delay

operate using smaller equipment (because signals travel shorter
distance), etc.

Small FSPL

Disadvantages:

highly complex and sophisticated control and switching systems

shorter life span (subject to greater gravitational pull and higher
transmission rates lead to shorter battery life)

require handover

High doppler shift

More LEO satellites required for global coverage

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 Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Satellite

MEOs are “in between” a GEO and a LEO.

Used in GPS

Advantages/Disadvantages are also in between:

PRO: MEO systems will require far fewer satellites than LEOs,

reducing overall system complexity and cost, while still requiring

fewer technological fixes to eliminate signal delay than GEOs.

CON: MEO satellites, like LEOs, have a much shorter life

expectancy than GEOs, requiring more frequent launches to

maintain system over time.

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 Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) Satellite

A satellite in HEO typically has a perigee at about 500 km above the
surface of the Earth and an apogee as high as 50,000 km.

The orbit is usually inclined at 63.4 deg to provide communications
services to locations at high northern latitudes.

Elliptical orbit causes satellite to move around earth faster when it is
traveling close to earth and slower the farther away it gets.

Satellite’s beam covers more of earth from farther away.

Orbits are designed to maximize amount of time each satellite spends
in view of populated areas.

Delay characteristics depend on where the satellite is in its orbit.

Currently used in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which
is the former Soviet Union.

The satellite called Molniya satellite.

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HEO

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 Frequency Bands
Communication with fixed earth stations

6/4 GHz (C – band)

8/7 GHz (X – band; Military used only)

14/12 GHz (ku – band)

30/20 GHz (ka – band)

50/40 GHz (V – band)

Communication with mobile stations

1.6/1.4 GHz (L – band)

Used different uplink/downlink frequency in order to avoid

output/input interference.

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 Orbital Mechanic

The satellite has a mass, m, and is traveling with velocity, v in the
plane of the orbit

In the case of a satellite orbiting the earth, the centrifugal force
(FOUT) on the satellite is a force on the satellite that is directly away
from the center of gravity of the earth and the centripetal force (FIN)
is one directly towards the center of gravity of the earth

FOUT on a satellite will therefore try to pull the satellite away from the
earth while FIN will try to bring the satellite down towards the earth.

Satellite, m = mass
r

R
Circular satellite orbit
Earth
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 Why do satellites stay moving and in
orbit?
A satellite remains in orbit because the centrifugal force caused by its rotation
around Earth is counterbalanced by Earth’s gravitational pull.

v (velocity)

F2
(Inertial-Centrifugal
F1 Force)
(Gravitational
Force)

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 Orbital Period

If the force on the satellite are balanced:

FIN = FOUT
G – Universal gravitational constant
GMm mv 2 M – mass of the earth
=
r 2
r m – mass of the satellite
r – radius of the orbit from the satellite to
v2
a= the centre of the earth (radius of the
r earth is 6378.137 km)
 GM 
1/ 2
µ
1/ 2
µ- Kepler’s constant
v=  =   µ= 3.986004418 x 105 km3/s2
 r  r a – centrifugal acceleration
The orbital period, T A – centripetal acceleration, due to the gravity
2π r 2π r 3/ 2 A = µ/r2
T= = 1/ 2
v µ

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 Example

A satellite is in a circular orbit around the earth. The altitude of the
satellite’s orbit above the surface of the earth is 1,400 km.
(i) What is the velocity (km/s) of the satellite in the orbit? [7.1586494
km/s]
(ii) What are the centripetal and centrifugal accelerations in m/s2 acting on
the satellite in its orbit? [A=a=6.5885007m/s2]
(iii) What is the orbit al period of the satellite in the orbit? Give your answer
in hours, minutes, and seconds. [1 hour 53 min 46.9 second]

Note: assume the average radius of the earth is 6,378.137 km and

Kepler’s constant is 3.986004418 x 105 km3/s2

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 Exercise

An Intelsat satellite is in a 35,786.03 km high circular orbit,
determine;
(i) Orbital velocity (km/s)
(ii) Orbital period (h, min, s)
mean earth radius is 6378.137 km
What happen if the orbital period is exactly 24 hours?

Satellite Orbital height Orbital Orbital period

system (km) velocity ( h min s)
(km/s)
Intersal (GEO) 35,786.03 3.0747 23 56 4.1
MEO 10,256 4.8954 05 55 48.4
LEO 1,496 7.1272 01 55 17.8

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 Exercise

A satellite is in an elliptical orbit with a perigee of 1000 km and
apogee of 4000 km. Using a mean earth radius of 6378.14 km, find
the period of the orbit in hours, minutes, and seconds.
[2 h 18 mins 45.19 s]

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 Antenna Look Angle Determination

The direction of maximum gain of an ES antenna must be pointed
directly at the satellite.

The coordinates to which an earth station antenna must be pointed
to communicate with a satellite are called the look angles known as
azimuth and elevation angle.

Elevation (El)
– angle measured upward from the local horizontal lane at the earth
station to the satellite path.

Azimuth (Az)
– angle measured eastward (clockwise) from geographic north to the
projection of the satellite path on a horizontally lane at the earth
station.

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Elevation Angle Calculation

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 Earth station Look Angles (Elevation &
Azimuth) of GEO Satellite

Satellite range, elevation and azimuth can be determine by using
nomogram (look angle chart)
(i) If a GEO satellite, it position is at geostationary line (west or east), e.g.
35o W
(ii) Location of earth station, e.g. Bradford (54oN, 2oW)
(iii) Find relative longitude, |φE - φS|,
φE and φS are the earth station and satellite longitude (positive: east,
negative: west), |φE - φS| = 33o
(iv) Find the elevation using look angle chart [21o]
(v) Find the Azimuth, depend on position of earth station wrt satellite
Azimuth Reading = 142o
Position of earth station is NE, therefore, Azimuth = -142o = 218o

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 GEO Satellite Range

Satellite Range, RES from the earth station

RES = 23.188 ×106 3.381 − cos γ

cos γ = cos θ E cos(φE − φS )

θE is the earth station latitude (positive north, negative south)

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Elevation Angle

Ls & Le = Satellite & ES Latitude

ls & le = Satellite & ES Longitude

 rs
−1  
El = tan  − cos γ  / sin γ  − γ
 re  
Azimuth & Satellite Range