Satellite communication

Kepler’s laws of Planetary

Motion
• Johannes Kepler was a 16th century astronomer who established three laws
which govern the motion of planets around the sun. These are known as
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion.
Kepler’s first law:
• The Law of Orbits: All planets move in elliptical orbits, with the sun at one of
the foci.
• The planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun, with the sun at one of the
two foci of the elliptical orbit. This means that the orbit or path of a planet
around the sun is an ellipse i.e. an oval-shaped and not an exact circle. An
elliptical path has two foci and the sun is at one of the two foci of the elliptical
path. This law is important for us as it helps us discover if other stars have
planets.
Kepler’s second law:
• The Law of Areas: A line that connects a planet to the sun sweeps out
equal areas in equal times.
• Each planet revolves around the sun in such a way that the line joining
the planet to the sun sweeps over equal areas in equal intervals of
time.
• We know that a planet moves around the sun in an elliptical orbit with
sun at one of its focus. Now, since the line joining the planet and the
sun sweeps over equal areas in equal intervals of time, it means that a
planet moves faster when it is closer to the sun and moves slowly
when it is farther from the sun.
In the figure a planet P is moving in an elliptical orbit around the
sun. When the planet is nearer to the sun at position A, it travels
faster and sweeps over an area ABC in time t.
On the other hand, when the same planet is farther from the sun
at position X, then it moves slowly but sweeps over an equal area
XYC in the same time t.
Thus the Kepler's second law states that a planet does not move
with constant speed around the sun. The speed is greater
when the planet is nearer the sun and less when the planet is
farther away from the sun.
A planet could move around the sun with constant speed only if its
orbit were a true circle and not an ellipse.
• Kepler’s third law:
• The Law of Periods: The square of the period of any planet is proportional to the
cube of the semimajor axis of its orbit.
• The cube of the mean distance of a planet from the sun is directly proportional
to the square of time it takes to move around the sun.
• With the help of Kepler’s third law of planetary motion we can show how long
does it takes to reach Mars, how long would it take for a spacecraft from earth
to reach the Sun.
• Though Kepler gave the laws of planetary motion but he could not give an
explanation about the motion of planets.
• It was Newton who showed that the cause of motion of planets is the
gravitational force which the sun exerts on them.
• Newton used the Kepler’s third law of planetary motion to develop the law of
universal gravitation
• The centripetal force keeping it in orbit is provided by the gravitational
force of the central body (e.g., the Sun).
Velocity of an Orbiting Body
• The velocity of a planet in orbit is related to its orbital period T:

•Notice that the right-hand side is constant for all planets orbiting the same
central body (the Sun).
Therefore:
 SATELLITE ORBITS:
• Most of the satellites are orbital satellites, which are nonsynchronous.
• Nonsynchronous satellites rotate around Earth in an elliptical or circular
pattern
• In a circular orbit, the speed or rotation is constant; however, in elliptical
orbits the speed depends on the height the satellite is above Earth.
• The speed of the satellite is greater when it is close to Earth than when it is
farther away.
• If the satellite is orbiting in the same direction as Earth’s rotation
(counterclockwise) and at an angular velocity greater than that of Earth (ωs
> ωe), the orbit is called a prograde or posigrade orbit.
• If the satellite is orbiting in the opposite direction as Earth’s rotation or in
the same direction with an angular velocity less than that of Earth (ωs<ωe),
the orbit is called a retrograde orbit.
 SATELLITE ORBITS:
Most nonsynchronous satellites revolve around Earth in a prograde orbit. Therefore, the
position of satellites in nonsynchronous orbits is continuously changing in respect to a
fixed position on Earth.

Nonsynchronous satellites have to be used when available, which may be as little as 15

minutes per orbit.

Another disadvantage of orbital satellites is the need for complicated and expensive
tracking equipment at the earth stations so they can locate the satellite as it comes into
view on each orbit and then lock its antenna onto the satellite and track it as it passes
overhead.

A major advantage of orbital satellites, however, is that propulsion rockets are not
required on board the satellites to keep them in their respective orbits.
Satellite Elevation Categories:
Satellites are generally classified as having either a low earth orbit (LEO), medium
earth orbit (MEO), or geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO).

Most LEO satellites operate in the 1.0-GHz to 2.5-GHz frequency range and orbiting
approximately 480 miles above Earth’s surface.

The main advantage of LEO satellites is that the path loss between earth stations and
space vehicles is much lower than for satellites revolving in medium- or high-altitude
orbits.

Less path loss equates to lower transmit powers, smaller antennas, and less weight.
 • MEO satellites operate in the 1.2-GHz to 1.66-
GHz frequency band and orbit between 6000
miles and 12,000 miles above Earth.
Medium • Geosynchronous satellites are high-altitude
earth orbit earth-orbit satellites operating primarily in the
2-GHz to 18-GHz frequency spectrum with
(MEO) or orbits 22,300 miles above Earth’s surface.
Geosynchrono • Most commercial communications satellites are
us earth orbit in geosynchronous orbit.
(GEO). • Geosynchronous or geostationary satellites are
those that orbit in a circular pattern with an
angular velocity equal to that of Earth.
• Geostationary satellites have an orbital time
of approximately 24 hours, the same as Earth;
thus, geosynchronous satellites appear to be
stationary, as they remain in a fixed position in
respect to a given point on Earth.
 Medium earth orbit (MEO)
or Geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO).
• Satellites in high-elevation, nonsynchronous circular orbits
between 19,000 miles and 25,000 miles above Earth are said to
be in near-synchronous orbit.
• When the near synchronous orbit is slightly lower than 22,300
miles above Earth, the satellite’s orbital time is lower than Earth’s
rotational period.
• Therefore, the satellite is moving slowly around Earth in a west-
to-east direction.
• This type of near-synchronous orbit is called subsynchronous.
• If the orbit is higher than 22,300 miles above Earth, the satellite’s
orbital time is longer than Earth’s rotational period, and the
satellite will appear to have a reverse (retrograde) motion from
east to west.
 Satellite Orbital
Patterns:
• 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.
 Although there is an infinite number of
orbital paths, only three are useful for
communications

Satellite can follow as it rotates around

Earth: inclined, equatorial, or polar.

Satellite All satellites rotate around Earth in an

Orbital orbit that forms a plane that passes
through the center of gravity of Earth
Patterns: called the Geocenter.
 • Inclined orbits are virtually all orbits except
Inclined orbits: those that travel directly above the equator or
directly over the North and South Poles.
 • The angle of inclination is the angle between the
Earth’s equatorial plane and the orbital plane of a
Inclined orbits: satellite measured counterclockwise at the point in
the orbit where it crosses the equatorial plane
traveling from south to north.
Inclined orbits:

• The point where a polar or inclined orbit crosses the

equatorial plane traveling from north to south is
called the descending node, and the line joining the
ascending and descending nodes through the center
of Earth is called the line of nodes.
• Angles of inclination vary between 0° and 180°.
• To provide coverage to regions of high latitudes,
inclined orbits are generally elliptical.
Inclined orbits:

• Kepler’s second law shows that the angular velocity of

the satellite is slowest at its apogee.
• Therefore, the satellite remains visible for a longer
period of time to the higher latitude regions if the
apogee is placed above the high-latitude region.
 An equatorial orbit is when the
satellite rotates in an orbit directly
above the equator, usually in a
circular path.

With an equatorial orbit, the angle of

Equatorial inclination is 0°, and there are no
ascending or descending nodes and,
orbit: hence, no line of nodes.

All geosynchronous satellites are in

equatorial orbits.
 Polar orbit:

• A polar orbit is when the satellite rotates in a path that takes it

over the North and South Poles in an orbit perpendicular to the
equatorial plane.
• Polar orbiting satellites follow a low-altitude path that is close
to Earth and passes over and very close to both the North
and South Poles.
• The angle of inclination of a satellite in a polar orbit is nearly
90°.
• 100% of Earth’s surface can be covered with a single satellite
in a polar orbit.
• Satellites in polar orbits rotate around Earth in a longitudinal
orbit while Earth is rotating on its axis in a latitudinal rotation.
 • Geosynchronous satellites orbit Earth
above the equator with the same
angular velocity as Earth. Hence,
geosynchronous (sometimes called
stationary or geostationary) satellites
appear to remain in a fixed location
above one spot on Earth’s surface.
Geosynchrono
• Hence, no special antenna
us satellites: tracking equipment is necessary—
earth station antennas are simply
pointed at the satellite.
• A single high-altitude geosynchronous
satellite can provide reliable
communications to approximately 40%
of the earth’s surface.
 Geosynchronous satellites:
• Satellites remain in orbit as a result of a balance between
centrifugal and gravitational forces.
• If a satellite is traveling at too high a velocity, its centrifugal force
will overcome Earth’s gravitational pull, and the satellite will break
out of orbit and escape into space.
• At lower velocities, the satellite’s centrifugal force is insufficient,
and gravity tends to pull the vehicle toward Earth.
• There is a delicate balance between acceleration, speed, and
distance that will exactly balance the effects of centrifugal and
gravitational forces.
• The closer to Earth a satellite rotates, the greater the gravitational
pull and the greater the velocity required to keep it from being
pulled to Earth.
 Geosynchronous satellites:

• Low-altitude satellites orbiting 100 miles above Earth travel at

approximately 17,500 mph.
• At this speed, it takes approximately 1.5 hours to rotate around
Earth.
• Consequently, the time that a satellite is in line of sight of a
particular earth station is 0.25 hour or less per orbit.
• Medium-altitude Earth-orbit satellites have a rotation period of
between 5 and 12 hours and remain in line of sight of a particular
earth station for between 2 and 4 hours per orbit.
• High-altitude earth-orbit satellites in geosynchronous orbits travel
at approximately 6840 mph and complete one revolution of Earth
in approximately 24 hours.
Geosynchronous satellites:

• Geosynchronous orbits are circular; therefore, the

speed of rotation is constant throughout the
orbit.
• There is only one geosynchronous earth orbit;
however, it is occupied by a large number of
satellites.
• In fact, the geosynchronous orbit is the most
widely used earth orbit.
• Ideally, geosynchronous satellites should remain
stationary above a chosen location over the
equator in an equatorial orbit; however, the sun
and the moon exert gravitational forces,
solar winds sweep past Earth, and Earth is not
Geosynchronous satellites:

• Therefore, these unbalanced forces cause

geosynchronous satellites to drift slowly
away from their assigned locations.
• Ground controllers must periodically
adjust satellite positions to counteract
these forces.
• If not, the excursion above and below the
equator would build up at a rate of
between 0.6° and 0.9° per year.
Geosynchrono
us orbital
velocity: