TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction on Satellite Systems 2
1.2 Objectives 3

Chapter 2 DESIGN AND STRUCTURE OF SATELLITE

COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
2.1 Design Specifications 4
2.2 Applications of Satellite Communication Systems 8

Chapter 3 DISCUSSION
3.1 Analysis on Satellite Communication Systems 12

Chapter 4 CONCLUSION 14

REFERENCE 15
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction on Satellite Communications Systems

A satellite is an object in orbit around the earth. An orbit is a trajectory that maintains
an equilibrium of gravity and can orbit the Earth without power assistance. Orbital mechanics
is governed by the laws of physics designed by Newton and Kepler [1]. The world's first
artificial satellite was launched by the Soviet Union, Sputnik 1, on October 4, 1957. By 2018,
more than 8,100 satellites have been launched from more than 40 countries [2].
A satellite consists of two main components: a satellite and a ground station. The
satellite itself, also called the space segment, consists of three separate units: a fuel system,
satellite and telemetry control, and a transponder. The transponder includes a receive antenna
for receiving signals from ground stations, a broadband receiver, an input multiplexer, and a
frequency converter that is used to redirect the received signal through a powerful downlink
amplifier.
The main task of the satellite is to reflect the electronic signal. In the case of a
communications satellite, the role is to receive a signal from one ground station and send the
signal to another ground station that is far from the first station. This transfer action can be
performed in both directions, for example, a long-distance phone call. Another use of
satellites is observation. In this case, the satellite is equipped with a camera or various sensors
that simply combine all the information received from that viewpoint [3].
Teleports, gateways, and “flyaways” are names of ground stations where satellite
signals reach the ground and data is sent to the satellites. The traditional architecture of a
satellite system is said to have a central complex with an antenna that controls transmission
and reception with the satellite. A small antenna communicates with other ground stations or
terrestrial networks through a central teleport. Teleport acts as a gateway between PSTN,
Internet or cable TV infrastructure and terrestrial networks such as satellites [1].
Satellites play an important role in improving the lives of today's digital economy.
Almost all industries, from agriculture to banking and transportation, rely on satellite
technology. Satellites help save lives in an emergency and provide important knowledge to
better protect the environment. Small satellites, high-throughput satellites, all-electric

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satellites, and LEO (low earth orbit) satellites are one of the pioneering innovations that
enable solutions ranging from digital financial services to better healthcare and more
intelligent cities [4].

1.2 Objectives

The objectives of this project are stated as follows :

i. To study the concept and working principal of satellites.

ii. To compare the different types of satellite communications.
iii. To describe the applications of satellite communications.

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 CHAPTER 2
DESIGN AND STRUCTURE OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

2.1 Design Specifications

Satellite communication researchers are making it a reality to bring data, video, and
voice services to consumers from home, out of office, or on a long journey. Satellite
communication antenna mounted on mobile ground terminals is an essential prerequisite of
successful connectivity. Earth station antennas are at the earth end of satellite links. High gain
is needed to receive the weak signals from the satellite, or to transmit strong signals to the
satellite. The antennas can be divided into three types:

1) Large antennas required for transmit and receive on the INTELSAT type global
networks with gains of 60 to 65dBi (15 to 30m diameter).
2) Medium sized antennas for cable head (TVRO) or data receive only terminals (3-
7m diameter)
3) Small antennas for direct broadcast reception (0.5-2m diameter).

Types I and 2 have to satisfy stringent specifications imposed by regulatory bodies.

When the recommended spacing of satellites in the geostationary arc was 3 degrees, the
pattern envelope was specified by 32 - 35 logθ. This could he met with a symmetric reflector
antenna. With the new spacing of 2 degrees, the pattern spec has been improved to 29 - 25
logθ as in Figure 1. This can best he met with low sidelobe, offset reflector designs. The
minimum receivable signal level is set by inherent noise in the system. Earth stations are
required to detect small signals, so the control of the noise parameters is important.

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 Figure 1: Beam waveguide feed for large Earth stations

Table 1: Band Designation and Applications

Frequency Range Band Designation Applications
(GHz)
0.3-1.0 UHF FLTSAT,UFO
2.0/1.0 L MSS:LEOs and MEOs, Iridium,
GPS, Inmarsat users to/from
satellite
6.0/4.0 C INTELSAT, SES, Hughes,
Inmarsat between stations and
satellite
8.0/7.0 X Military and government, XTAR
14.0/12.0 Ku INTELSAT, direct broadcast, SES
30.0/20.0 Ka Commercial MSS, WGS,
crosslinks and satellite-to-gateway
links of Iridium, INTELSAT IA-8
200.0/30.0 EHF Commercial MSS, Milstar, AEHF

The electromagnetic (EM) spectrum in satellite communications is a continuum of

EM energy traveling at the speed of light. This include the range of frequencies of EM

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radiation from lowest to highest [5]. The higher frequency is always used for the uplink
satellite due to limited power source while ground stations can employ transmission power
easily.

1) The gain can be increased over the standard parabola–hyperbola combination by

shaping the reflectors. Up to an extra 1 dB is possible.
2) Low antenna noise temperatures can be achieved by controlling spill over using a
high-performance corrugated horn and by using a beam waveguide feed system.
3) Beam waveguide feed systems place the low-noise receivers and high-power
transmitters in a convenient, stationary location on the ground.

Figure 2: Example of Antenna for Satellite Communication

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 Figure 3: Satellite Link

Table 2: Uplink frequency plan for mobile satellite communication operator, Inmarsat

Table 3: Downlink frequency plan for the mobile satellite communication operator, Inmarsat

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2.2 Applications of Satellite Communication Systems

Satellite plays an important role in our daily life. There are three types of
communication services that satellites provide which are telecommunication,
broadcasting and data communications. Telecommunication services include telephone
calls and services provided to telephone companies, as well as wireless, mobile and
cellular network providers. Here are some important satellite applications:

1. Navigation

Satellite navigation is a space-based radio positioning system that includes one or

more satellite constellations, augmented as necessary to support the intended operation
also provides 24 hour three dimensional position velocity and time information to suitably
equipped users anywhere on or near the surface of Earth. This provides users with
sufficient accuracy and integrity of information to be usable for critical navigation
applications. Satellites are in orbits with approximately 12 hour periods operating at an
altitude of 20,200 kilometres. GPS satellites transmit on two L-band frequencies which
are 1.57542 GHz (L1) and 1.22760 GHz (L2). The L1 signal has a sequence encoded on
the carrier frequency by a modulation technique which contains two codes, a precision (P)
code and a coarse/acquisition (C/A) code. The L2 carrier contain only P code that is
encrypted for military and authorized civilian users. Most commercially available GPS
receivers utilize the L1 signal and the C/A code.

2. Communication
A communication satellite is a satellite stationed in space for the purposes of
telecommunications. Modern communication satellite use geosynchronous orbits,
Molniya orbits or low Earth orbits.

a. Geostationary Orbits
The geostationary orbit is useful for communication application because ground based
antenna, which must be directed toward the satellite, can operate effectively without
the need for expensive equipment to track the satellite/s motion. Application that
requires a large number of ground antenna (such as direct TV distribution), the

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 savings in ground equipment can more than justify the extra cost and onboard
complexity of lifting a satellite into the relatively high geostationary orbit.

b. Molniya Orbits
The Molniya orbit is highly inclined, guaranteeing good elevation over selected
positions during the northern portion of the orbit. Elevation is the extent of the
satellite’s position above the horizon. When a satellite at the horizon, it will be in zero
elevation and a satellite directly overhead has elevation of 90 degrees. Molniya
satellites are typically used for telephony and TV services as well as mobile radio
systems.

c. Low Earth Orbits (LEO)

LEO satellites are less expensive to position in space than geostationary satellites
because of their closer proximity to the ground that require lower signal strength.

International telephony is one of the most important application for

communication satellites. Fixed-point telephones relay calls to an earth station, where
they are then transmitted to a geostationary satellite. An analogous path is then
followed on the downlink. Mobile telephones (to and from ships and airplanes) must
be directly connected to equipment to uplink the signal to the satellite, as well as
being able to ensure satellite pointing in the presence of disturbances, such as waves
onboard a ship. Cellular phone that used in urban areas do not make use of satellite
communications because they have access to a ground based constellation of
receiving and transmitting stations. There are two types of satellite used for television
and radio:

a. Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS)

DBS is also known as direct-to-home signals is refer to satellite television broadcasts
especially for home reception. It covers both analogue and digital television and radio
reception. It is often extended to other services provided by modern digital television
system, including video-on-demand and interactive features. DBS satellites use
circular polarization on their transponders.

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 b. Fixed Service Satellite (FSS)
FSS is for geostationary communication satellites used for broadcast feeds for
television and radio stations and networks including telephony, data communications
and also for Direct-to-Home (DTH) cable and satellite TV channels. FSS satellites
operate either in C band (from 3.7 to 4.2GHz) and K band (from 11.45 to 11.47GHz
and 12.5 to 12.7GHz in Europe, and 11.7 to 12.2GHz in the USA). FSS satellites
operate at a lower power than DBS satellites and require much larger dish than a DBS
system. FSS satellites transponders is using linear polarization.

3. Weather
Weather forecast use a variety of observations from which to analyse the current state
of the atmosphere. Some satellite instruments allowed improved estimation of
moisture, cloud and rainfall as well as wind velocity. The most basic form of satellite
imagery provides pictures of the current cloud conditions and very familiar sight on
TV weather forecast. Satellite imagery can have various type of quantitative
processing to obtain information on important meteorological variable such as wind
speed and direction, cloud height, surface temperature, sea ice cover, vegetation
cover, precipitation, etc.

4. Earth Observation
Analysing global environment conditions is an essential element of guaranteeing our
safety and quality of life. We need to be able to spot environmental disasters in a
timely manner, and to monitor and manage the Earth’s natural resources. There are a
number of Earth Observation satellites in orbit for this purposes. The utility of
different data sets for different applications are agriculture, forestry, geology, risk
management, cartography, environment and defence.

a. Agriculture
Agriculture is one of the most important application fields which applications include
crop inventory, yield prediction, soil or crop condition monitoring and subsidy
control.
b. Forestry
It is a great importance in forest mapping and management, fire damage monitoring
and the illegal logging monitoring in some countries.
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 c. Geology
Geology and related oil, mineral and gas exploration activities make up an application
segment that takes full advantage of satellite capabilities. The large-scale satellite
view allows the generation of Rock Unit Maps and Tectonic Structure Maps.
Interferometry allows the generation of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and the
monitoring of mining subsidence while radar data are a powerful tool for off-shore oil
seep detection and monitoring.

d. Risk Management
Crisis prevention is currently seen as the main objective. There are three different risk
situations:
 Pre-crisis
 During crisis
 Post-crisis

e. Cartography
Cartography make extensive use of satellite data, where the requirements for accuracy
can be met and alternative data sources are too expensive or even unavailable.
Satellite data with different processing levels are used for the generation of
cartography and digital elevation models.

f. Environment
Environmental monitoring can be used for land use maps, hydrological maps, wildlife
maps and others.

g. Defence
The main application are the generation of maps, target monitoring and detection and
digital elevation model generation.

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 CHAPTER 3
DISCUSSION

3.1 Analysis on Satellite Communication Systems

Satellite communication networks are radio communications network where

communications link is facilitated between two earth stations by use of a satellite, which
serves as in-space repeater for the transmitting station. A satellite communications link can be
made in one of two directions which are earth-to-space (uplink) and space-to-earth
(downlink). There are also two link types, that characterize the flow of information across the
satellite which are the forward and reverse link. The forward link is the communication link
that characterizes the flow of information from the service provider to the user and the
reverse link. The forward link is the communication link that characterizes the flow of
information from user to the service provider.

Based on the design and structure of satellite, there are three main elements which are
space element, control element and earth element. Next, there are several types of satellite
service. These satellite services are typically given names based on type of earth station
utilized in delivering the service. The three main satellite services are Broadcasting-Satellite
Services (BSS). It is a radiocommunication service in which signals transmitted or retransmit
by space stations. The second one is Fixed-Satellite Services (FSS). It is a radio
communications service between earth stations at given positions, when one or more
satellites are used. Mobile-Satellite Services (MSS) is the third services where a
radiocommunication service between mobile earth stations and one or more space stations or
between space stations used by this service. This service may also include feeder links
necessary for its operation. Typical applications for MSS will be the satellite phones capable
of voice and data. Satellite is initially designed as ‘trunks’ which duplicate long-distance
terrestrial link, satellite link has rapidly conquered specific markets.

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 A satellite telecommunication system has three properties which are not or only to a
lesser extent, found in terrestrial networks which are the possibility of broadcasting, a wide
bandwidth and a rapid set-up and ease of reconfiguration [7]. Initially, a satellite system
contained a small number of earth stations. Subsequently, the number of earth stations has
increased with a reduction in size and a greater geographical dispersion. The stations have
become closer to the user, possibly being transportable or mobile. The potential of the
services offered by satellite telecommunications has diversified.

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 CHAPTER 4
CONCLUSION

In conclusion, satellites are widely used in today’s form of communication systems.

Satellites are used for the purpose of acting as relay stations in the sky. Permitting reliable
and long-distance communication worldwide are the main reasons of why the technology is
prominent in the communication field. There are a few significant applications that are
depended on the satellite communication as the main pathway for transmission especially for
navigation, communications, weather forecasting and global-related purposes. Moreover, this
form of communication technology is able to solve the growing gap of communications
needs in of the industry and government.

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 REFERENCE

[1] E. Network and P. Testbed, “NAS Technical Report NAS-04-009 August 2004
INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY FOR
NREN,” 2004.
[2] L. Kumar, “Satellite,” 2019. [Online]. Available:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331634427_Satellite.
[3] W. W. U. William, “Satellite communications,” Proc. IEEE, vol. 85, no. 6, pp. 998–
1010, 1997.
[4] Houlin Zhao, “Evolving satellite communications,” ITU News Magazine, no. 2, p. 1,
2019.
[5] F. Mazda, Telecommunications engineer’s reference book, Third Edit. Elsevier Inc,
1998.
[6]. Suparco.gov.pk, ‘Applications of Satellites’, 2019. [Online]. Available:
http://www.suparco.gov.pk/pages/applications-satellite.asp. [Accessed:11- Dec- 2019].
[7] The satellite communication applications handbook. Norwood, MA; Artech House,
2004.

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