Satellite Communication

18EC5DEBSG
Module-1

Prepared by
Kavita Guddad
Overview of Satellite Communication: Introduction, Advantages
of Satellite communication, Frequency Allocations for Satellite
Services, Satellite orbits, Kepler laws, Definitions of terms for
earth orbiting satellites, Orbital elements, Apogee and perigee
heights, Orbit perturbations, Inclined orbits-Calendars, Universal
Time, Sidereal Time, Orbital Plane.
Geostationary orbit: Introduction, Antenna look angles, Polar
mount antenna, Limits of visibility, Earth eclipse of satellite, Sun
transit outage.
Introduction
• Satellites are specifically made for telecommunication purpose.
• They are used for mobile applications such as communication to ships, vehicles, planes, hand -held
terminals and for TV and radio broadcasting.
• They are responsible for providing these services to an assigned region (area) on the earth.
• The power and bandwidth of these satellites depend upon the preferred size of the footprint,
complexity of the traffic control protocol schemes and the cost of ground stations.
• A satellite works most efficiently when the transmissions are focused with a desired area.
• When the area is focused, then the emissions don’t go outside that designated area and thus
minimizing the interference to the other systems which This leads more efficient spectrum usage.
• Satellite’s antenna patterns play an important role and must be designed to best cover the designated
geographical area (which is generally irregular in shape).
• Satellites should be designed by keeping in mind its usability for short and long term effects
throughout its life time.
• The earth station should be in a position to control the satellite if it drifts from its orbit it is
subjected to any kind of drag from the external forces.
Features offered by/Advantages of satellite communications
• Larger coverage area: Large areas of the earth are visible from the satellite, thus the satellite can form the star point
of a communications net linking together many users simultaneously, users who may be widely separated
geographically.
• Provide communications links to remote communities.
• Remote sensing detection of pollution, weather conditions, search and rescue operations.

Disadvantages of Satellite Communication

• They don’t consider political or geographical boundaries which may not be the desirable features.
• The cost of installation is high and is insensitive to distance(meaning the cost is approximately same for providing the
link between small distance or long distance)
Thus satellite communication is economical where system is in continuous use and cost can be reasonably distributed
over a large number of users
Applications Of Satellites:

• Weather Forecasting
• Radio and TV Broadcast
• Military Satellites
• Navigation Satellites
• Global Telephone
• Connecting Remote Area
• Global Mobile Communication
Frequency allocations
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) coordination and planning has divided World into three regions to
facilitate proper frequency planning:
Region 1: Europe, Africa, formerly Soviet Union, Mongolia
Region 2: North and South America, Greenland
Region 3: Asia (excluding region 1), Australia, south west Pacific
Within regions, frequency bands are allocated to various satellite services:

• Fixed satellite service (FSS)

Telephone networks, television signals to cable companies for distribution over systems
• Broadcasting satellite service (BSS)
Direct broadcast to home referred as direct broadcast satellite (DBS) or direct-to-home satellite
television (DTH)
• Mobile satellite service
Land mobile, maritime mobile, aeronautical mobile
• Navigational satellite service
Global positioning system
• Meteorological satellite service
-Provide Search and rescue service
Frequency band designations in common use for satellite service
• Johannes Kepler( 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. He is a key figure in
the 17th-century scientific revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and
Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. These works also provided one of the foundations for Newton's theory of universal gravitation.

• `

[Link]
 Kepler’s laws
• Satellites (spacecraft) orbiting the earth follow the same laws that govern the motion of the planets around the sun.
• Kepler’s laws apply quite generally to any two bodies in space which interact through gravitation.
• The more massive of the two bodies is referred to as the primary, the other, the secondary or satellite.

Kepler’s First Law

Kepler’s first law states that the path followed by a satellite around the primary will be an ellipse. An
ellipse has two focal points shown as F1 and F2in Fig.1. The center of mass of the two-body system,
termed the bary center, is always center of the foci. The semi major axis of the ellipse is denoted by a, and
the semi minor axis by b. The eccentricity e(shape of the ellipse, describing how much it is elongated
compared to a circle) is given by

Fig.1. The foci F1 and F2, the semi major axis a, and the semi
minor axis b of an ellipse
Kepler’s Second Law
Kepler’s second law states that, for equal time intervals, a satellite will sweep out equal areas in its orbital
plane, focused at the barycenter.
Referring to Fig.2, assuming 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.2. The areas A1 and A2 swept out in unit time are equal.
Kepler’sThird Law:

Kepler’s third law states that the square of the periodic time of orbit is proportional to the cube of the mean distance
between the two bodies. The mean distance is equal to the semi major axis 𝑎 .

For the artificial satellites orbiting the earth, Kepler’s third law can be written in the form
µ
𝑎3 = 2
𝑛
Where
𝑛 is the mean motion of the satellite in radians per second and
µ is the earth’s geocentric gravitational constant μ = 3.986005 X 1014 m3 / 𝑠 2
With mean motion in rad/sec , the orbital period of satellite is given by

2π
P=
𝑛
The importance of 3rd Law is It shows there is a fixed relation between period and size.
Using above equation we can find radius of a satellite orbit moving with same velocity as that of earth,
thus having period of 24 hours as follows
𝑟𝑎𝑑
Period=2π/ 1 day=2π/24x60x60=7.2722 x10−5 𝑠𝑒𝑐

µ 1/3
Therefore 𝑎=
𝑛

i.e a=42241080 m=42241.08km

Average earth radius=6378 km

Therefore radius of satellite orbit=35863km

 Orbital Parameters:

Apogee: A point for a satellite farthest from the Earth.

It is denoted as ha.

Perigee: A point for a satellite closest from the Earth.

It is denoted as hp.

Line of Apsides: Line joining perigee and apogee through

centre of the Earth.
• It is the major axis of the orbit.
• One-half of this line’s length is the semi-major
axis equivalent to satellite’s mean distance from
the Earth.

Ascending Node: The point where the orbit crosses the

equatorial plane going from south to north .

Fig.3a. Apogee height ha, perigee height hp, and inclination i. La is the line Descending Node: The point where the orbit crosses the
of apsides equatorial plane going from north to south.
W<= =>E

Fig.3b Prograde and retrograde orbits. Fig.3c The argument of perigee ω & right ascension of the ascending
node Ω.

Inclination: the angle between the orbital plane and the Earth‟s equatorial plane. Its measured at the ascending node
from the equator to the orbit, going from East to North. Also, this angle is commonly denoted as i.

Line of Nodes: the line joining the ascending and descending nodes through the centre of Earth.
[Link]
Prograde Orbit: an orbit in which satellite moves in the same direction as the Earth’s rotation. Its inclination is
always between 0o to 90o. Many satellites follow this path as Earth’s velocity makes it easier to lunch these satellites.

Retrograde Orbit: an orbit in which satellite moves in the direction counter to the Earth’s rotation.

Argument of Perigee (ω): It is an angle from ascending node to perigee measured in the orbital plane at the Earth’s
centre, in the direction of the satellite motion. It is indicated by ω.

Right ascension of ascending node( Ω):

• The definition of an orbit in space, the position of ascending node is specified. But as the Earth spins, the
longitude of ascending node changes and cannot be used for reference. Thus for practical determination of an
orbit, the longitude and time of crossing the ascending node is used.

• For absolute measurement, a fixed reference point in space is required. It could also be defined as right ascension
of the ascending node
• Right ascension is the angular position measured eastward along the celestial equator from the Vernal
Equinox(also known as First Point of Aries or Spring Equinox) vector to the ascending node(line of nodes) as
represented by Ω fig.
Mean anamoly(M):
• It gives the average value to the angular position of the satellite with reference to the perigee. It is represented by
M.
• For circular orbits M gives the angular position of satellite.
• For Elliptical orbits it if difficult to calculate and M is used as intermediate value in the calculation.
True Anomaly(v):
It gives the angular position of the satellite from perigee measured at earth’s centre. It is represented by v.
It gives the true angular position of satellite in the orbit as a function of time.

Orbital Elements
Earth orbiting satellites are are defined by 6 orbital elemente known as “Keplarian Elemental Set”.
They are {a, e, Mo, ω, i, Ω }
A,e---Give shape of the orbit
Mo---Gives the position of the satellite at a reference time known as epoch
ω ---Gives rotation of the orbit’s perigee point relative to orbit’s line of nodes in the earth’s equatorial plane.
i, Ω---Relate the orbital plane’s position to the earth.

Because equatorial bulge causes slow variations in ω and Ω the orbital elements are specified for the reference time or
epoch.
Calculate the semi major axis of the satelliterbit if the mean motion of the satellite is given by NN=14.22296917
Satellite Orbits
Orbit is a path traversed by the secondary body around primary body.
There different types of orbits in case of artificial satellites
Based on shape of the orbit

elliptical and circular

Based on distance or radius of the orbit

LEO(Low Earth Orbit)
• Satellites in low Earth orbit, or LEO, are the closest devices to Earth. They’re only 500 to 1,000 miles above the Earth’s
surface, making them ideal for satellite phone and GPS communication.
• The relatively small distance means there is a minimal delay between the data leaving the satellite and it reaching its target o
Earth — usually about 0.05 seconds.
• It takes a lot of LEO satellites to cover the planet, which is why there are so many of them up there.
• [Link] Iridium Communications Network consist of 66 satellites total, while the Starlink constellation include nearly 12,00
satellites once they’ve all launched, though they won’t all be in LEO.
• The International Space Station(ISS) is also in low Earth orbit.
• LEO is commonly used for communication and remote sensing satellite systems.

MEO(Medium Earth Orbit)

• satellites are a bit of a middle ground between LEO and GEO orbits, circling the planet at an altitude of 8,000 miles.
• These satellites handle high-speed telephone signals and may, in the future, find a place in the military sector as a tool to
provide low-latency high-bandwidth internet to military personnel around the globe.
• In spite of a slightly higher signal lag of about 0.1 seconds, depending on the size of the antenna, these MEO satellites
can transmit data as quickly as 1.6 gigabits per second(For comparison, the fastest readily available commercial internet,
not counting Google Fiber cities, is usually around 100 MB/s — less than a tenth of the speed these MEO satellites will
be capable of providing.)

Based on orbital period

Geo stationary and Non Geo-stationary orbits

A geostationary orbit is one in which a satellite orbits the earth at exactly the same speed as the earth turns and at the same
latitude, specifically zero, the latitude of the equator. A satellite orbiting in a geostationary orbit appears to be hovering in
the same spot in the sky, and is directly over the same patch of ground at all times.
Geostationary objects in orbit must be at a certain distance above the earth, any closer and the orbit would decay, and farther
out they would escape the earth's gravity altogether. This distance is 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles)from the surface.

A satellite in a geostationary orbit appears to be stationary with respect to the earth.

Three conditions are required for an orbit to be geostationary:
1. The satellite must travel eastward at the same rotational speed as the earth.
If the satellite is to appear stationary it must rotate at the same speed as the earth, which is constant
2. The orbit must be circular.
Constant speed means that equal areas must be swept out in equal times, and this can only occur with a
circular orbit
3. The inclination of the orbit must be zero.
Any inclination would have the satellite moving north and south, and hence it would not be geostationary.
Movement north and south can be avoided only with zero inclination
The first geosynchrous satellite was orbited in 1963, and the first geostationary one the following year. Since the only
geostationary orbit is in a plane with the equator at 35,786 kilometers, there is only one circle around the
world where these conditions obtain.
This means that geostationary 'real estate' is finite. While satellites are in no danger of bumping in to one another yet,
they must be spaced around the circle so that their frequencies do not interfere with the functioning of their
nearest neighbors.
The person most widely credited with developing the concept of geostationary orbits is noted science fiction author
Arthur C. Clarke (Islands in the Sky, Childhood's End, Rendezvous with Rama, and the movie 2001: a Space Odyssey).
Others had earlier pointed out that bodies traveling a certain distance above the earth on the equatorial plane would
remain motionless with respect to the earth's surface. But Clarke published an article in 1945's Wireless World that made
the leap from the Germans' rocket research to suggest permanent manmade satellites that could serve as communication
relays.
A geosynchronous orbit(GSO)
Is one in which the satellite is synchronized with the earth's rotation, but the orbit is tilted with respect to the plane of the
equator. A satellite in a geosynchronous orbit will wander up and down in latitude, although it will stay over the same
line of longitude.
Although the terms 'geostationary' and 'geosynchronous' are sometimes used interchangeably, they are not the same
technically, geostationary orbit is a subset of all possible geosynchronous orbits.

Both GEO and GSO satellites carry satellite television signals.

GSOs can also forecast the weather and support other types of global communication.
It only takes three GEO or GSO satellites to cover the entire planet because of their altitude. If you’re accessing satellite
TV or radio, you don’t have to use the antenna to track the satellite because it’s always going to be in the same place.
Other orbits
Polar Orbit
Within 30 degrees of the Earth’s poles, the polar orbit is used
for satellites providing reconnaissance, weather tracking,
measuring atmospheric conditions, and long-term Earth
observation.

Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO)

A type of polar orbit, SSO objects are synchronous with the
sun, such that they pass over an Earth region at the same local
time every day.

Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO)

An HEO is oblong, with one end nearer the Earth and other
more distant. Satellites in HEO are suited for communications,
satellite radio, remote sensing and other applications.
Apogee and perigee heights
Calculate the apogee and perigee heights for the orbital parameters given assuming the
radius of earth R=6371 km
Orbital parameters: eccentricity of the orbit e=0.0011501,semimajor axis=7192.3km
Orbital Perturbations:

• The orbit described by Keplarian element set so far is elliptical and known as Keplarian orbit.
• Theoretically, an orbit described by Kepler is ideal as Earth is considered to be a perfect sphere and the force
acting around the Earth is the centrifugal force.
• This force is supposed to balance the gravitational pull of the earth.
• In reality, other forces also play an important role and affect the motion of the satellite.
• These forces are the gravitational forces of Sun and Moon along with the atmospheric drag.
• Effect of Sun and Moon is more pronounced on geostationary and don’t effect low earth orbiting satellites
much.
• Where as the atmospheric drag effect is more pronounced for low earth orbit satellites below 1000km and do
not effect Geostationary satellites.

Effects of non-Spherical Earth :

• As the shape of Earth is not a perfect sphere(Oblate sphere), it causes some variations in the path followed
by the satellites around the primary.
• As the Earth is bulging from the equatorial belt, and keeping in mind that an orbit is not a physical entity,
and it is the forces resulting from an oblate Earth which act on the satellite produce a change in the orbital
parameters.
• This causes the satellite to drift as a result of regression of the nodes and the latitude of the point of
perigee (point closest to the Earth).
• This leads to rotation of the line of apsides.
• As the orbit itself is moving with respect to the Earth, the resultant changes are seen in the values of
argument of perigee and right ascension of ascending node.
• Due to the non-spherical shape of Earth, one more effect called as the “Satellite Graveyard” is seen.
• A graveyard orbit, also called a junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an orbit that lies away from common
operational orbits. One significant graveyard orbit is a super synchronous orbit well
above geosynchronous orbit. Some satellites are moved into such orbits at the end of their operational
life to reduce the probability of colliding with operational spacecraft and generating space debris.
• The non-spherical shape leads to the small value of eccentricity (10-5) at the equatorial plane. This causes
a gravity gradient on GEO satellite and makes them drift to one of the two stable points which coincide
with minor axis of the equatorial ellipse.

Atmospheric Drag:
• For Low Earth orbiting satellites, the effect of atmospheric drag is more pronounces.
• The impact of this drag is maximum at the point of perigee.
• Drag (pull towards the Earth) has an effect on velocity of Satellite (velocity reduces).
• This causes the satellite to not reach the apogee height successive revolutions.
• This leads to a change in value of semi-major axis and eccentricity.
• Satellites in service are maneuvered by the earth station back to their original orbital position.

Effect of Non spherical Earth

Calendar
Calendar->Months->Days-> hours
• Calendar Day->based on earth’s motion relative to sun
• Mean sun-Motion of mean sun around earth->Tropical year
• Mean solar day->a day measured with mean sun ->mean solar day
• A tropical year contains365.2422 mean solar days
• Civil calendar -> contains 365 days
• Additional 0.2422 day adds 24.22 days over 100 years and
• Approximately 0.2422*4= 1 day every 4 years
• Therefore there would be a difference of 24 days between calendar year ant tropical year every 100 years
• Julius Ceaser made first attempt to compensate this discrepancy by adding concept of leap year, in which an
extra day is added in the month of February whenever the year is divisible by 4->this gave Julian Calendar
• According to which one civil year is 365.25 days on average a reasonable approximation to the tropical year
• But this again created discrepancy after 400 years between civilian and tropical calendar
• To compensate this Pope Gregory created new calendar concept by adding an extra day every 400 years to
match civilian and tropical calendar
• Hence a year ending with two zeros and divisible by 400 also considered as leap year to add 3 missed
out days every 400 years
• This calendar is known as Gregorian calendar which is the on in use today which has 365.2425 days in
an year
 Universal Time

Calculate the time in days, hours , minutes and seconds for the epoch day
324.95616765
• UTC is similar to GMT(Greenwich Mean Time and there are many other time reference systems
with same mean solar day.
• To avoid confusion a standard representation known as Universal Time (UT) is used
Sidereal Time
Sidereal Time is the time measured relative to the fixed stars. It is seen that one complete rotation of earth
relative to fixed stars is not a complete rotation relative sun, as earth moves in its orbit around the sun.
Measurement of longitude on earth’s surface require the use of sidereal time
The Orbital Plane
For example Calculate the time of perigee passage for a satellite with Mean motion n= 14.23304826 rev/day, Mean
Anomaly M0 =246.6853 degrees and t0 =223.79688452 days

Solution: wkt 𝑀0 =n(t0 -T)

𝑀0
i.e T = t0 - 𝑛

Substitute 𝑀0 in degrees , n in degrees/sec

n=n*360

T= 223.79604425
Caculate the position vector 5 seconds after the epoch, for near circular orbit defined by eccentricity
e=9.5981 10 ^-3 and mean anamoly at epoch as 204.9779 degrees . The mean motion is n=
14.23304826 rev/day. The semi major axis is given by a=7194.9km
Geostationary Orbits
Refer previous sections for defn, to fine radius and explanation

Antenna Look angles

 Antenna Look angles for ground station antenna are the Azimuth and Elevation angles required at
the antenna so that it points directly at the satellite.
• In case of elliptical orbits the look angles have to change to track satellites
• In case of Geostationary Orbits the situation is simpler as satellite is stationary relative to earth.
 In case of Commercial communications involving narrow beam width antennas tracking is needed
to compensate movement of satellite about geostationary position.
 In applications such as satellite reception where beam width is quite large no tracking is necessary
• Points to be considered while calculating look angles.
The Geometry used to determine the look angles for a Geostationary satellite.
 The plane triangle obtained from figure

The Spherical geometry related to above figure

Six angle viz A, B, C and the angles between the planes as shown in Fig.
Also find and the elevation angle by finding the distance d.
Polar Mount antennas
Combining Eqn.s A abd B angle of tilt can be expressed as

Polar mount antenna, Limits of visibility, Earth eclipse of

satellite, Sun transit outage.-Refer Text1 Chapter3
 Module2
Satellite Subsystems: Transponders, Satellite antennas (concept only), Satellite Control System,
Power system, Telemetry, Tracking and Command system (TTC), Structures, Thermal Control
System, Reliability, Steps in satellite mission realization. Test and Evaluation of the Satellite
components, Satellite subsystems and Satellite as a system.
Radio wave Propagation: Atmospheric Losses, Ionospheric effects, Rain Attenuation, Other
Propagation Impairments
Introduction
Power supply, Thermal control and Transponder –Refer Text1 Chapter7