A Satellite is a solid object which revolves around some heavenly body due to the effect of gravitational forces which

are mutual in nature.

COMMUNICATION SATELLITEA communication satellite is an artificial satellite that act as a radio relay station in orbit above the earth that receives, amplifies, and redirects analog and digital signals carried on a specific radio frequency. It act as a repeater in long distance communication path.

Natural Satellite E.g. moon Artificial Satellite E.g. Aryabhata, INSAT.. Active Satellite Passive Satellite

ACTIVE SATELLITE
It is a functioning satellite that receives and transmits or retransmits radio-communication signals to or from a base station. They have more 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 and performs the frequency translation of the incoming signal to avoid interference between the incoming and outgoing signals.

PASSIVE SATELLITE
Passive satellites are relay stations in space. It simply reflects light or radio waves transmitted from one ground terminal to another without amplification or retransmission.

Satellite communication is simply the communication of the satellite in space with large number of earth stations on the ground. A Communication Satellite can be looked upon as a large microwave repeater.

Users are connected to the earth station via some telephone switch or some dedicated link. They generate baseband signals, which is processed at the earth station and then transmitted to the satellite through dish antennas. The satellite receives the uplink frequency and the transponder present inside the satellite does the processing function and frequency down conversion and then 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.

Uplink

Downlink

Long distance communication beyond 10 20 MHz in three modes failed:Ground wave due to conduction losses Space wave due to limited line of sight Sky wave due to penetration of the ionosphere by the higher frequencies beyond critical frequency. And thus, there came the need of satellite communication. We have seen that the waves of freq.> 30MHz can not propagate by conventional modes due to penetration of frequencies beyond 30MHz through ionosphere.

A single satellite can provide coverage to over 30% of Earths surface and thus was adopted for long distance communication. Communication links could be setup through out the entire world using satellites. This cant be done with other modes of communication due to some severe limitations. It is often the only solution for some isolated areas. And a new concept of communication, the communication through a Satellite revolutionized communication technology.

Frequency Band
L-Band S-Band C-Band X-Band Ku-Band Ka-Band

Range
1 to 1.5 GHz 1 to 3 GHz 3 to 8 GHz 8 to 12GHz 10 to 18 GHz 18 to 22 GHz

FREQUENCY BAND C-Band X-Band Ku-Band Ka-Band

UPLINK 6.00GHz 8.00GHz 14.00GHz 30.00GHz

DOWNLINK 4.00GHz 7.00GHz 11.00GHz 20.00GHz

C-Band Adv. : Broad Footprint, little rain fade Disadv. : Weak signals, interference, large antenna sizes and amplifiers
Ku-Band Adv. : Focused Foot prints, no terrestrial interference small antenna and amplifier Disadv. : Interference to rain. Ka-Band Adv. : Focused Foot prints, large unused bandwidths Disadv. : Interference to rain.

Space Segment 1. The Satellite 2. Tracking, Telemetry and Telecommand

The Ground Segment 1. Earth Stations

Ground segment is basically consist of an earth station. An earth station provides a complete uplink and downlink chain for the signal. It transmits and receives the signal to and from the satellite. It is also consist of an antenna. Since the user baseband signal cannot be transmitted directly, it is also consist of amplifiers, modulators and demodulators, frequency up- and down- converters.

The user generates the signal to be transmitted known as baseband signal. This baseband signal is consist of video(5MHz),2 audio subcarriers(5.5MHz and 5.75MHz) and energy dispersal signal(25 MHz). After modulation(70 MHz) and up conversion(6 GHz),the carrier is amplified and uplinked through solid parabolic dish antenna(PDA). Downlink signal can be received through same PDA using trans-receive filter (TRF) and low noise amplifier(LNA). After down conversion to 70 MHz it is demodulated to get audio and video signal.

Parabolic dish antenna Diameter - gain (as a function of frequency) Noise - temperature (as a function of elevation) Cross-polarisation isolation Wind resistance Temperature variations tolerance Tracking...

Prime Focus Antenna

Single Reflector Antenna. Feed horn is placed at the Focal point of the Reflector. Antenna Electronics are placed on Feed. More susceptible to Interference from Low elevation sources. More Blockage because feed. Antenna Efficiency is in the range of 60%. Low Cost Antenna. Primarily Used for Receive only applications.

Cassagrain Antenna
Main reflector is Parabolic Sub-Reflector is hyperboloid and placed at Prime Focus Feed is Corrugated Horn and is placed at Center of the Main Reflectors. The paraboloid converges towards the Sub Reflector ( prime focus), which is then reflected by SubReflector to form a Spherical Wave converging on the Feed.

Gregarion Antenna
Main reflector is Parabolic Sub-Reflector is Parabolic and placed at Prime Focus Feed is Corrugated Horn and is placed at Center of the Main Reflectors. The paraboloid converges towards the Sub Reflector (prime focus), which is then reflected by SubReflector to form a Spherical Wave converging on the Feed.

Offset Fed Antenna

Used for Smaller Earth Stations. Main Reflector is a section of Parabolic, cutoff above the axis. Feed is located below the axis giving a completely unblocked Aperture. High Antenna efficiency

 LNA - amplifies RF signal from the antenna and feeds it into frequency converter (typically IF of 70/140 MHz) LNB - amplifies RF signal from the antenna and converts it to an L-band signal (950-2100 MHz) LNA is more precise and stable but more expensive than LNB (LO stability). Transmit power amplifiers provide amplification of signals to be transmitted to the satellite Transceiver takes 70/140 MHz signal and amplifies it to either C or Ku-band final frequency. Block Up-Converter takes L-band signal

The space segment is consist of the satellite itself. A satellite has various transmitting and receiving antenna, transponders and other control systems like temperature control, power supply control, orbit and altitude control, tracking, telemetry and command equipment etc..

An orbit is the path that a satellite follows as it revolves around Earth. In terms of commercial satellites, there are three main categories of orbits:

1. LEO( Low Earth Orbit)

500-2,000 km above the earth These orbits are much closer to the Earth, requiring satellites to travel at a very high speed in order to avoid being pulled out of orbit by Earth's gravity At LEO, a satellite can circle the Earth in approximately one and a half hours

2. MEO( Medium Earth Orbit)

8,000-20,000 km above the earth These orbits are primarily reserved for communications satellites that cover the North and South Pole MEO's are placed in an elliptical (ovalshaped) orbit

3. GEO ( Geosynchronous Orbit)

35,786 km above the earth Orbiting at the height of 22,282 miles above the equator (35,786 km), the satellite travels in the same direction and at the same speed as the Earth's rotation on its axis, taking 24 hours to complete a full trip around the globe. Thus, as long as a satellite is positioned over the equator in an assigned orbital location, it will appear to be "stationary" with respect to a specific location on the Earth. A single geostationary satellite can view approximately one third of the Earth's surface. If three satellites are placed at the proper longitude, the height of this orbit allows almost all of the Earth's surface to be covered by the satellites.

Three geosynchronous satellite covering entire earth

R=6400 km R=7100 km

T=84 minutes T=99 minutes (LEO)

R=11400 km
R=42350 km

T=201 minutes
T=24 hrs

(MEO)
(GEO)

So, an object placed at the orbit approx. 36 000 km above the equator will be seen at the same position in the sky from Earth.

1. Circular orbit: An orbit that has an eccentricity of 0 and whose path traces a circle. 2. Elliptic orbit: An orbit with an eccentricity greater than 0 and less than 1 whose orbit traces the path of an ellipse. 3. Hyperbolic orbit: An orbit with the eccentricity greater than 1. Such an orbit also has a velocity in excess of the escape velocity and as such, will escape the gravitational pull of the planet and continue to travel infinitely. 4. Parabolic orbit: An orbit with the eccentricity equal to 1. Such an orbit also has a velocity equal to the escape velocity and therefore will escape the gravitational pull of the planet and travel until its velocity relative to the planet is 0. If the speed of such an orbit is increased it

1. Equatorial orbit: An orbit whose inclination in reference to the equatorial plane is zero degrees.
2. Polar orbit: An orbit that passes above or nearly above both poles of the planet on each revolution. Therefore it has an inclination of (or very close to) 90 degrees 3. Inclined orbit: An orbit whose inclination in reference to the equatorial plane is not zero degrees.

The choice of orbit depends upon the nature of mission, the acceptable interference and the performance of the launcher: The extent and latitude of the area covered. The elevation angle for earth station. Transmission duration and delay. Interference. The performance of launcher.

Geo-Synchronous Satellite Orbit on the equatorial plane - appears stationary Altitude of 36000 Kms. Circular orbit around earth with period of 24 hours. Coverage of about 1/3 of Earth. 2 deg. apart. Identified by Longitudinal position with ref. to Greenwich. Advantage Of Geostationary Satellite Simple ground station tracking requirements. Removes Satellite hand-over problems. Negligible Doppler shift

Polar Orbiting Satellite

These satellites orbit the earth in such a way as to cover the north and south polar regions. These satellites if in a low earth orbit have to travel at a very high speed.
These satellites can be kept in low earth orbit (800 -900 km) or at 36000km apart.

Inclined Orbit Satellite

A disadvantage of Geostationary satellites is that points on Earth beyond about 80 deg latitude are not visible. Inclined orbits, on the other hand can provide visibility to the higher northern and southern latitudes, although they require earth stations to continually track the satellite

Geosynchronous
Geosynchronous means that the satellite is synchronized with the earth in time and direction. It means that is time taken by a satellite to complete its orbit around earth is equal to the time taken by to earth rotates around its own axis

Satellite Footprint
Coverage of entire surface of earth that is visible by the satellite.

A communications satellites transponder, is the series of interconnected units which form a communications channel between the receiving and the transmitting antennas .

A transponder is consist of: An input band limiting device (a band pass filter). An Input low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify the (normally very weak, because of the large distances involved) signals received from the earth station. A frequency translator (normally composed of an oscillator and a frequency mixer )used to convert the frequency of the received signal to the frequency required for the transmitted signal.

A output band pass filter. A power amplifier (this can be a TWT or a solid state amplifier). Frequency band on the satellite is divided into several channels. Each channels are called transponder Each transponder have 40 MHz .

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A SATELLITE TRANSPONDER

6GHz

4GHz

LOW NOISE AMPLIFIER(L.N.A)

DOWN CONVERTER

FILTER

POWER AMPLIFIER(P.A)

The uplinked signal to satellite is 6GHz.it is received at the satellite and then amplified using a Low Noise Amplifier(L.N.A). This amplified signal is then down converted at 4GHz. It is sent through a filter and then power amplifier(TWT). The local oscillator frequency of the down converter is 2225MHz for C band and Ex-C band. This signal is then retransmitted at earth ground station.

GEO MEO LEO

15 Yrs 10 Yrs 5 Yrs

$2B $2-3B $1.5-3B

Lease
Own

1 Yrs
5-15 Yrs

LARGE MEDIUM MINI

>1000Kg 500-1000Kg 100-500Kg

MICRO
NANO PICO

10-100Kg
1-10Kg <1 Kg

1. Can reach over large geographical area. A single satellite can provide coverage to over 30% of Earths surface. With just 3 geosynchronous satellite we can cover the entire earth. 2. Point to Multi point communication is possible. 3. Only solution for developing and isolated areas. 4. Ideal for broadcast applications. 5. No need for the local loop. 6. Wide bandwidths (155 Mbps) are available now. 7. Transmission cost and quality of signal is independent of distances. 8. During critical condition earth stations can be removed and relocated easily.

1. Delay of 270+270 msec makes one feel annoying. 2. Delay reduces the of satellite in data transmission during long file transfer. 3. Communication path between TX and RX is approximately 75000 km. 4. High atmospheric losses above 30 GHz limit carrier frequencies. 5. Large up front capital costs (space segment and launch) 6. Terrestrial break even distance expanding (now approx. size of Europe) 7. Congestion of frequencies and orbits

1.Communication Satellite Services 2.Broadcasting Satellite Services [BSS] 3.Mobile Satellite Services

4.Navigational Satellite Services

5.Metrological Satellite Services.

6.Military Satellite Services.

1. Positioning in orbit
This can be achieved by several methods One method is to use small rocket motors. These use fuel - over half of the weight of most satellites is made up of fuel. Often it is the fuel availability which determines the lifetime of a satellite. Commercial life of a satellite typically 10-15 years

2. Stability
It is vital that satellites are stabilised to ensure that solar panels are aligned properly to ensure that communications antennae are aligned properly Early satellites used spin stabilisation Either this required an inefficient omnidirectional aerial Or antennae were precisely counter-rotated in order to provide stable communications Modern satellites use reaction wheel stabilisation - a form of gyroscopic stabilisation Other methods of stabilisation are also possible Including: eddy current stabilisation forces act on the satellite as it moves through the earths magnetic field

3. Reaction wheel stabilisation

Heavy wheels which rotate at high speed - often in groups of 4. 3 are orthogonal, and the 4th (spare) is a backup at an angle to the others. Driven by electric motors - as they speed up or slow down the satellite rotates. If the speed of the wheels is inappropriate, rocket motors must be used to stabilise the satellite - which uses fuel

4. Power
Modern satellites use a variety of power . Solar panels are now quite efficient, so solar power is used to generate electricity. Batteries are needed as sometimes the satellites are behind the earth - this happens about half the time for a LEO satellite. Nuclear power has been used - but not recommended

5. Harsh Environment
Satellite components need to be specially hardened Circuits which work on the ground will fail very rapidly in space Temperature is also a problem - so satellites use electric heaters to keep circuits and other vital parts warmed up they also need to control the temperature carefully

6. Alignment
There are a number of components which need alignment Solar panels Antennae These have to point at different parts of the sky at different times, so the problem is not trivial

7. Antennae alignment
A parabolic dish can be used which is pointing in the correct general direction. Different feeder horns can be used to direct outgoing beams more precisely. Similarly for incoming beams A modern satellite should be capable of at least 50 differently directed beams

8. Rain fade
Above 10 GHz rain and other disturbances can have a severe effect on reception. This can be countered by using larger receiver dishes so moderate rain will have less effect. In severe rainstorms reception can be lost In some countries sandstorms can also be a problem

5/9/2012

T.Shanmugaraju,ADE,STI[T],Delhi

60

 1988

Insat-1C launched by Ariane space from French Guyana in July.

1990

Insat-1D launched using the American Delta launch vehicle.