SATELLITE COMMUNICATION MVJ22EC754

Module-1

Introduction to Satellite communication

What is a Satellite?

• A satellite in general is any natural or artificial body moving around a celestial body such
as planets and stars. In the present context, reference is made only to artificial satellites
orbiting the planet Earth.

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. 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.

Applications Of Satellites:

• Weather Forecasting

• Radio and TV Broadcast

• Military Satellites

• Navigation Satellites

• Global Telephone

• Connecting Remote Area

• Global Mobile Communication

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Breif History

• The idea of a geostationary satellite originated from a paper published by Arthur C.

Clarke, a science fiction writer, in the Wireless World magazine in the year 1945.

• The areas of application are multiplying: communication related applications, Earth

observation satellites, remote sensing satellites, weather Forecasting satellites,
Navigational satellites,etc.

• Sputnik-1 was the first artificial satellite that brought the space age to life.

• Launched on 4 October 1957 by Soviet R7 ICBM from Baikonur Cosmodrome, it orbited

Earth once every 96 minutes in an elliptical orbit of 227 km × 941 km inclined at 65.1◦

• Designed to provide information on density and temperature of the upper atmosphere.

• After92 successful days in orbit, it burned as it fell from orbit into the atmosphere on 4
January 1958.

• Sputnik-2 carried an animal, a female dog named Laika, in flight. Laika was the first
living creature to orbit Earth. The mission provided information on the biological effect of
the orbital flight.

• Sputnik-3, launched on 15 May 1958, was a geophysical satellite that provided

information on Earth’s ionosphere, magnetic field, cosmic rays and meteoroids.

• Explorer-1 was the first satellite to be successfully launched by the United States. It was
launched on 31 January 1958 by Jupiter-C rocket from Cape Canaveral.

• The satellite orbital parameters were 360 km (perigee), 2534 km (apogee) and 33.24◦
(orbital inclination).

Orbital aspects of Satellite Communication

• Orbit :The path followed by the motion of an artificial satellite around Earth is an orbit,
that is periodically repeated.

Orbiting Satellites – Basic Principles

• The motion of natural and artificial satellites around Earth is governed by two forces.

➢ the centripetal force directed towards the centre of the Earth due to the gravitational
force

➢ the centrifugal force that acts outwards from the centre of the Earth
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Newton’s Law of Gravitation

• According to Newton’s law of gravitation, every particle irrespective of its mass attracts
every other particle with a gravitational force whose magnitude is directly proportional
to the product of the masses of the two particles and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them and written as

• m1,m2 =masses of the two particles

• r =distance between the two particles

• G=gravitational constant= 6.67 × 10−11 m3/kg s2

Newton’s Second Law of Motion:

• According to Newton’s second law of motion, the force equals the product of mass and
acceleration.

• In the case of a satellite orbiting Earth, if the orbiting velocity is v, then the
acceleration,called centripetal acceleration, experienced by the satellite at a distance r
from the centre of the Earth would be v2/r. If the mass of satellite is m, it would
experience a reaction force of

• If the satellite orbited Earth with a uniform velocity v, which would be the case when the
satellite orbit is a circular one, then equating the two forces mentioned above would
lead to an expression for the orbital velocity v as follows:
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Kepler’s Laws
(The movement of a satellite in an orbit is governed by three Kepler’s laws)

Johannes Kepler, based on his lifetime study, gave a set of three empirical expressions that
explained planetary motion.

1)Kepler’s First Law:

• The orbit of a satellite around Earth is elliptical with the centre of the Earth lying at one
of the foci of the ellipse.

• The elliptical orbit is characterized by its semi-major axis a and eccentricity e.

• The kinetic and potential energies of a satellite at any point at a distance r from the
centre of the Earth are given by

Kepler’s Second Law

• The line joining the satellite and the centre of the Earth sweeps out equal areas in the
plane of the orbit in equal time intervals i.e. the rate (dA/dt) at which it sweeps area A is
constant.

• The rate of change of the swept-out area is given by

• Hence, Kepler’s second law is also equivalent to the law of conservation of momentum,
which implies that the angular momentum of the orbiting satellite given by the product
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of the radius vector and the component of linear momentum perpendicular to the radius
vector is constant at all points on the orbit.

• The angular momentum of the satellite of mass m is given by mr2ω, where ω is the
angular velocity of the satellite. This further implies that the product mr2ω = (mωr) (r) =
mvr remains constant.

• Here v is the component of the satellite’s velocity v in the direction perpendicular to the
radius vector and is expressed as v cos γ, where γ is the angle between the direction of
motion of the satellite and the local horizontal, which is in the plane perpendicular to
the radius vector r .

• This leads to the conclusion that the product rv cos γ is constant.

• The product reduces to rv in the case of circular orbits and also at apogee and perigee
points in the case of elliptical orbits due to angle γ becoming zero.

• It is interesting to note here that the velocity component v is inversely proportional to

the distance r. Qualitatively, this implies that the satellite is at its lowest speed at the
apogee point and the highest speed at the perigee point. In other words, for any satellite
in an elliptical orbit, the dot product of its velocity vector and the radius vector at all
points is constant. Hence,

• where

• vp =velocity at the perigee point

• rp =perigee distance

• va =velocity at the apogee point

• ra =apogee distance

• v=satellite velocity at any point in the orbit

• r =distance of the point

• γ =angle between the direction of motion of the satellite and the local horizontal
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Kepler’s Third Law

• According to the Kepler’s third law, also known as the law of periods, the square of the
time period of any satellite is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its
elliptical orbit.

• The expression for the time period can be derived as follows. A circular orbit with radius
r is assumed. Remember that a circular orbit is only a special case of an elliptical orbit
with both the semi-major axis and semi-minor axis equal to the radius.

• Equating the gravitational force with the centrifugal force gives

• The above equation holds good for elliptical orbits provided r is replaced by the semi-
major axis a. This gives the expression for the time period of an elliptical orbit as

• The above equation holds good for elliptical orbits provided r is replaced by the semi-
major axis a. This gives the expression for the time period of an elliptical orbit as
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Orbital Parameters
1. Ascending and descending nodes

The satellite orbit cuts the equatorial plane at two points: the first, called the
descending node (N1), where the satellite passes from the northern hemisphere
to the southern hemisphere, and the second, called the ascending node (N2),
where the satellite passes from the southern hemisphere to the northern
hemisphere

2. Equinoxes
The inclination of the equatorial plane of Earth with respect to the direction of
the sun, defined by the angle formed by the line joining the centre of the Earth
and the sun with the Earth’s equatorial plane follows a sinusoidal variation and
completes one cycle of sinusoidal variation over a period of 365 days. The
sinusoidal variation of the angle of inclination is defined by

where T is 365 days

• This expression indicates that the inclination angle is zero for t = T/2and T . This is
observed to occur on 20-21 March, called the spring equinox, and 22-23
September, called the autumn equinox.
• During the equinoxes, it can be seen that the equatorial plane of Earth will be
aligned with the direction of the sun. Also, the line of intersection of the Earth’s
equatorial plane and the Earth’s orbital plane that passes through the centre of
the Earth is known as the line of equinoxes.
• The direction of this line with respect to the direction of the sun on 20-21 March
determines a point at infinity called the vernal equinox (Y)
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3. Solstices
Solstices are the times when the inclination angle is at its maximum, i.e.
23.4◦.These also occur twice during a year on 20-21 June, called the summer
solstice, and 21-22 December, called the winter solstice.

4. Apogee
Apogee is the point on the satellite orbit that is at the farthest distance from the
centre of the Earth . The apogee distance can be computed from the known
values of the orbit eccentricity e and the semi-major axis a form
Apogee distance = a (1 + e)

5. Perigee
Perigee is the point on the orbit that is nearest to the centre of the Earth. The
perigee distance can be computed from the known values of orbit.
Perigee distance = a (1 − e)
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6. Eccentricity
Eccentricity: The orbit eccentricity e is the ratio of the distance between the
centre of the ellipse and the centre of the Earth to the semi-major axis of the
ellipse. It can be computed from any of the following expressions:

7. Semi-major axis
This is a geometrical parameter of an elliptical orbit. It can, however,be
computed from known values of apogee and perigee distances as
a= apogee + perigee
2

8. Right ascension of the ascending node

The right ascension of the ascending node tells about the orientation of the line of nodes,
which is the line joining the ascending and descending nodes, with respect to the direction of
the vernal equinox. It is expressed as an angle _ measured from the vernal equinox towards
the line of nodes in the direction of rotation of Earth . The angle could be anywhere from 0◦ to
360◦.
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[Link]
• Inclination is the angle that the orbital plane of the satellite makes with the Earths’s
equatorial plane. It is measured as follows.
• The line of nodes divides both the Earth’s equatorial plane as well as the satellite’s
orbital plane into two halves.
• Inclination is measured as the angle between that half of the satellite’s orbital plane
containing the trajectory of the satellite from the descending node to the ascending
node to that half of the Earth’s equatorial plane containing the trajectory of a point on
the equator from n1 to n2, where n1 and n2 are respectively the points vertical below
the descending and ascending nodes
• The inclination angle can be determined from the latitude l at the injection point and
the angle Az between the projection of the satellite’s velocity vector on the local
horizontal and north. It is given by
cos i = sinAz cos l

10. Argument of the perigee

This parameter defines the location of the major axis of the satellite orbit. It is
measured as the angle ω between the line joining the perigee and the centre of
the Earth and the line of nodes from the ascending node to the descending node
in the same direction as that of the satellite orbit

11. True anomaly of the satellite

True anomaly of the satellite: This parameter is used to indicate the position of
the satellite in its orbit. This is done by defining an angle θ, called the true
anomaly of the satellite, formed by the line joining the perigee and the centre of
the Earth with the line joining the satellite and the centre of the Earth.
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12. Angles defining the direction of the satellite

The direction of the satellite is defined by two angles, the first by angle γ between
the direction of the satellite’s velocity vector and its projection in the local
horizontal and the second by angle Az between the north and the projection of
the satellite’s velocity vector on the local horizontal

Types of Satellite Orbits

• The satellite orbits can be classified on the basis of:
1. Orientation of the orbital plane
2. Eccentricity
3. Distance from Earth
Orientation of the Orbital Plane
• The orbital plane of the satellite can have various orientations with respect to the
equatorial plane of Earth. The angle between the two planes is called the angle
of inclination of the satellite.
• On this basis, the orbits can be classified as equatorial orbits, polar orbits and
inclined orbits.
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• In the case of an equatorial orbit, the angle of inclination is zero, i.e. the orbital
plane of the satellite coincides with the Earth’s equatorial plane.
• A satellite in the equatorial orbit has a latitude of 0◦. For an angle of inclination
equal to 90◦, the satellite is said to be in the polar orbit .For an angle of
inclination between 0◦ and 180◦, the orbit is said to be an inclined orbit.
• For inclinations between 0◦ and 90◦, the satellite travels in the same direction as
the direction of rotation of the Earth. The orbit in this case is referred to as a
direct or prograde orbit
• For inclinations between 90◦ and 180◦, the satellite orbits in a direction opposite
to the direction of rotation of the Earth and the orbit in this case is called a
retrograde orbit

Eccentricity of the Orbit

Based on eccentricity, the orbits are classified as elliptical or circular orbits.
➢ when the orbit eccentricity lies between 0 and 1, the orbit is elliptical with the
centre of the Earth lying at one of the foci of the ellipse. When the eccentricity is
zero, the orbit becomes circular.
➢ When the eccentricity is zero, the orbit becomes circular.
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➢ As an example, the eccentricity of orbit of geostationary satellite INSAT-3B, an
Indian satellite in the INSAT series providing communication and meteorological
services, is 0.000 252 6.
➢ Eccentricity figures for orbits of GOES-9 and Meteosat-7 geostationary satellites,
both offering weather forecasting services, are 0.000 423 3 and 0.000 252 6
respectively.
Distance from Earth
Depending upon the distance, these are classified as
➢ low Earth orbits (LEOs),
➢ medium Earth orbits (MEOs) and
➢ geostationary Earth orbits (GEOs)

Low Earth orbit (LEO)

• Satellites in the low Earth orbit (LEO) circle Earth at a height of around 160 to 500
km above the surface of the Earth.
• These satellites, being closer to the surface of the Earth, have much shorter
orbital periods and smaller signal propagation delays. A lower propagation delay
makes them highly suitable for communication applications.
• Due to lower propagation paths, the power required for signal transmission is
also less, with the result that the satellites are of small physical size and are
inexpensive to build. However, due to a shorter orbital period, of the order of an
hour and a half or so, these satellites remain over a particular ground station for
a short time. Hence, several of these satellites are needed for 24 hour coverage.
• One important application of LEO satellites for communication is the project
Iridium, which is a global communication system conceived by Motorola . A total
of 66 satellites are arranged in a distributed architecture, with each satellite
carrying 1/66 of the total system capacity. The system is intended to provide a
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variety of telecommunication services at the global level. The project is named
‘Iridium’ as earlier the constellation was proposed to have 77 satellites and the
atomic number of iridium is 77. Other applications where LEO satellites can be
put to use are surveillance, weather forecasting, remote sensing and scientific
studies.

Medium Earth orbit (MEO):

Medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites orbit at a distance of approximately 10 000 to 20
000 km above the surface of the Earth. They have an orbital period of 6 to 12 hours.
These satellites stay in sight over a particular region of Earth for a longer time. The
transmission distance and propagation delays are greater than those for LEO satellites.
These orbits are generally polar in nature and are mainly used for communication and
navigation applications.
Geostationary Earth orbits (GEOs):
A geosynchronous Earth orbit is a prograde orbit whose orbital period is equal to Earth’s
rotational period. If such an orbit were in the plane of the equator and circular, it would
remain stationary with respect to a given point on the Earth. These orbits are referred to
as the geostationary Earth orbits (GEOs).
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.
For the satellite to have such an orbital velocity, it needs to be at a height of about 36
000 km, 35 786 km to be precise, above the surface of the Earth.
To be more precise and technical, in order to remain above the same point on the
Earth’s surface, a satellite must fulfil the following conditions:

• It must have a constant latitude, which is possible only at 0◦ latitude.

• The orbit inclination should be zero.

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• It should have a constant longitude and thus have a uniform angular velocity,
which is possible when the orbit is circular.

• The orbital period should be equal to 23 hours 56 minutes, which implies that
the satellite must orbit at a height of 35 786 km above the surface of the Earth

• The satellite motion must be from west to east.

In the case where these conditions are fulfilled, then as the satellite moves from a
position O1 to O2 in its orbit, a point vertically below on the equator moves with the
same angular velocity and moves from E1 to E2, as shown in Figure 2.40. Satellites in
geostationary orbits play an essential role in relaying communication and TV broadcast
signals around the globe. They also perform meteorological and military surveillance
functions very effectively.

A geosynchronous orbit 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.
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.
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.
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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.
Geostationary Satellites:
There are 2 kinds of manmade satellites in the heavens above:
One kind of satellite orbit the earth once or twice a day, and the other kind is called a
communications satellite and it is parked in a stationary position 22 ,300 miles (35,900
km) above the equator of the stationary earth.
A type of the orbiting satellite includes the space shuttle and the international space
station which keep a low earth orbit (LEO) to avoid the deadly Van Allen radiation belts.
The most prominent satellites in medium earth orbit (MEO) are the satellites which
comprise the GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM or GPS as it is called. The global
positioning system was developed by the U.S. military and then opened to civilian use.
It is used today to track planes, ships, trains, cars or literally anything that moves.
Anyone can buy a receiver and track their exact location by using a GPS receiver.
GPS satellites orbit at a height of about 12,000 miles (19,300 km) and orbit the earth
once every 12 hours. About 24 GPS satellites orbit the earth every 12 hours.
These satellites are traveling around the earth at speeds of about 7,000 mph (11,200
kph). GPS satellites are powered by solar energy. They have backup batteries onboard to
keep them running in the event of a solar eclipse, when there's
Small rocket boosters on each satellite keep them flying in the correct path. The
satellites have a lifetime of about 10 years until all their fuel runs out. At exactly 22,300
miles above the equator, the force of gravity is cancelled by the centrifugal force of the
rotating universe. This is the ideal spot to park a stationary satellite.
How the satellite is placed into Geo stationary orbit from Earth
There are two broad categories of launch sequence.
Irrespective of whether a satellite is launched by a re-usable launch vehicle or an
expendable vehicle, the satellite heading for a geostationary orbit is first placed in a
transfer orbit. The transfer orbit is elliptical in shape with its perigee at an altitude
between 200 km and 300 km and its apogee at the geostationary altitude.
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In some cases, the launch vehicle injects the satellite directly into a transfer orbit of this
type. Following this, an apogee manoeuvre circularizes the orbit at the geostationary
altitude.
The last step is then to correct the orbit for its inclination. This type of launch sequence
is illustrated in Figure.

In the second case, the satellite is first injected into a low Earth circular orbit. In the
second step, the low Earth circular orbit is transformed into an elliptical transfer orbit
with a perigee manoeuvre. Circularization of the transfer orbit and then correction of the
orbit inclination follow this. This type of sequence is illustrated in Figure.

Why should the satellite velocity at the apogee point always be less than the
velocity at the perigee point?
Apogee is the farthest point in an orbit from the Earth’s surface whereas perigee is the
nearest point.
As per Kepler’s second law, a satellite will sweep out equal areas in its orbital plane,
focused at the barycentre (a point in space around which two objects orbit. In our
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specific case, because of the enormous difference between the masses of the earth
and the satellite, the centre of mass coincides with the centre of the earth.

Now, consider figure above where the satellite is orbiting around Earth in an elliptical
fashion (Kepler’s first law). Assuming the satellite travels distances S1 and S2 meters in
one second, then the areas A1 and A2 will be equal. For these areas (shaded in grey in
the figure) to be equal, and because of the equal area law, the velocity at S2 is less than
that at S1.
In other words, the satellite velocity at the apogee point (S2) should always be less that
the velocity at the perigee point (S1) because the area covered by a satellite in these
points should be equal for a given fixed period of time. And to satisfy this, the satellite
moves at a less speed at apogee

Look Angles of a Satellite

The look angles of a satellite refer to the coordinates to which an Earth station must be pointed
in order to communicate with the satellite and are expressed in terms of azimuth and elevation
angles.

In the case where an Earth station is within the footprint or coverage area of a geostationary
satellite, it can communicate with the satellite by simply pointing its antenna towards it.

The process of pointing the Earth station antenna accurately towards the satellite canbe
accomplished if the azimuth and elevation angles of the Earth station location are known. Also,
the elevation angle, as we shall see in the following paragraphs, affects the slant range, i.e. line
of sight distance between the Earth station and the satellite. In order to determine the look
angles of a satellite, its precise location should be known.

The location of a satellite is very often determined by the position of the sub-satellite point.

The sub-satellite point is the location on the surface of the Earth that lies directly between the
satellite and the centre of the Earth. To an observer on the sub-satellite point, the satellite will
appear to be directly overhead.
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Azimuth Angle
The azimuth angle A of an Earth station is defined as the angle produced by the line of
intersection of the local horizontal plane and the plane passing through the Earth
station, the satellite and the centre of the Earth with the true north (Figure 3.39). We can
visualize that this line of intersection between the two above-mentioned planes would
be one of the many possible tangents that can be drawn at the point of location of the
Earth station. Depending upon the location of the
Earth station in the northern hemisphere:
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Elevation Angle

The Earth station elevation angle E is the angle between the line of intersection of the local
horizontal plane and the plane passing through the Earth station, the satellite and the centre of
the Earth with the line joining the Earth station and the satellite. Figures (a) and (b) show the
elevation angles for two different satellite and Earth station positions. It can be computed from
E

where

r = orbital radius,

R = Earth’s radius

θs = Satellite longitude,

θL = Earth station longitude

, θl = Earth station latitude

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