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L.L 1.2 I.3 L.:L 1.5: Conten')
L.L 1.2 I.3 L.:L 1.5: Conten')
L.L 1.2 I.3 L.:L 1.5: Conten')
PREFACE
CONTEN']
Within the United States, satellites are not used for telephone (voice) links. The development of terrestrial optical fiber links has made satellite transmission of telephone
traffic uneconomic, and the delay associated with GEO satellite link is a nuisance.
Domestic satellites serving the United States now carry video signals for distribution to
cable TV companies or direct to homes and serve networks of VSAT stations linked to
central hubs in major cities. The development of direct'to home satellite broadcast television (DBS-TV) has had a major impact on the marketplace. In rhe United States, digital DBS-TV transmissions are nw received in 15 million homes (2001 figure), and in
Europe a similar number of homes receive satellite television programming. Video distribution, to cable companies and direct to home, accounts for more than half of all the
worldwide earnings from satellite communication systems.
The authors would like to thank heir colieagues and students who, over the years,
have made many valuable suggestions to improve this text. Their advice has been heeded,
and the second edition of Satellite Communication is the better for it. Many more worked
examples have been added to the second edition to illustrate how calculations are carried
out for each topic.
--t
Preface ix
1. Intr
l.l Bacl
1.2 A Br
I.3 Sate
l.:l Over
1.5 Slrm
Relerence:
2.
Orbi
2.1
Orbi
Deve
Kepl
l)esc
Loca
Loca
Orbit
Exan
Exan
Exan
2.2
Look
The
Elev
Azirn
Speci
Visib
Exan
2.3
Orbit
Long
Inclir
Exarr
2.4
Orbit
2.5
Launr
Expei
Placir
Orbitr
2.6
Dopp
Exarn
Rangr
Sola
Sun 1
CONTENTS
'oice) links. The deission of telePhone
link is a nuisance'
s for distribution to
T stations linked to
llite broadcast tele-
Preface ix
1- Introduction I
1.1 Background
1.2 A Brief History of Satellite Communications 3
1.3 Satellite Communications in 2000 6
I 4. Overview of Satellite Communications 15
1-5 Summary l6
1
Refercnces l6
2.
2.1
Orbital Mechanics 11
Developing the Equations of the Orbit l1
Kepler's Three Laws of Planetary Motion 22
Describing the Orbit of a Satellite 23
Locating the Sateilite in the Orbit 25
Locating the Satellite with Respect to the Earth 21
2.2
17
Orbital Elements 29
Exampie 2.1.1 Geostationary Satellite Orbit Radius 29
Example 2.l.2Low Earth Orbit 29
Example 2.1.3 ElliPtical Orbit 30
Look Angle Determination 30
The Subsatellite Point 31
Elevation Angle
Calculation 32
Visibil Test
36
2.4
2.5
2.6
I
i
!t
I
I
lt*
OrbitalPerturbations
38
Doppler Shift 49
Example 2.6.1 Doppler Shift for a LEO Satellite 50
Variations 51
51
EcliPse
Solar
53
Outage
Sun Transit
R.ange
xt
XTI
SONTENTS
2;7
4.4
Summary 54
References 54
Problems 55
4.5
3.
Satellites
3.1
Satellite Subsystems 51
Attitude and Orbit Control Systern (AOCS) 57
Telemetry, Tracking, Command and Monitoring (TTC&M)
Power System 59
Communications Subsysterns 59
Satellite Antennas 59
Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS) 60
3.2
3.4
3.5
Tracking 68
Command 10
Power Systems
1.6
3.7
59
4.7
4.3
Dei
Ove
upl
upl
Dor
Syst
Satf
4.8
Srsl
Sysl
Ku
71
Ku.
Rair
S urr
Syst
75
Qualification
Reliability 88
Redundancy 90
3.8 Summary 92
References 93
Problems 93
4.
4.1
4.2
Upl
Exa
Satellite Antennas 80
Basic Antenna Types and Relationships 80
Example 3.6.1 Global Beam Antenna 82
Example 3.6.2 Regional Coverage Antenna 83
Satellite Antennas in Practice 83
Equipment Reliability and Space Qualification 87
Space
Ex;
E,I;,
Communications Subsysterns 12
Description of the Communications Systeur 12
Transponders
3.6
Sar
Dir
57
3.3
Der
Lin
Lin
L,
Inbo
Mot
Sate
Outt
Dow
87
Opti
Linl
Rain
Path
4.9
Sum
Sum
References
Problems
Introduction 96
Basic Transmission Theory 100
Example 4.2.1 lO4
Exanryle 4.2.2 104
System Noise Temperature and G/T Ratio 105
Noise Temperature 105
Calculation of System Noise Temperature rc1
Example 4.3.1 110
Example 4.3.2 110
Noise Figure and Noise Temperature 111
Example 4.3.3 112
GIT Ratio for Earth Stations 112
Example 4.3.4 ll2
5.
Mod
5.1
Freqr
Wave
Band
Basel
Pre-e
Pre-e
5.2
Anal
Telel
S/N
Exan
.t*l*l::
,,,f,fi
OONTENTS Xi
4.4
Design of
Downlinks ll2
Link Budgets I 13
Link Budget Example: C-Band Downlink for Earth Coverage
4.5
46
Uplink
A1
+-t
Stations
Beam
115
117
4.5.1 123
Design 124
Example
and
C/I
Values in Satellite
4.8
Link
Outbound
144
4.9
Summary
150
References 150
Problems
5.
5.1
5.2
151
Analog FM Transmission by
l*l*ision Siguals
S/N
Example
R.atios
Satellitc
l&
io5
5.2.1
168
i6i
Links
156
Links
121
w
,ii'
.::'
XIV
t:
CONTEITTS
FM Threshold
Ex
168
Links 169
5.2.2 L70
Re
Un
Gu
SCPC FM
Example
Data Transmission Using Analog FM Channels 170
Example 5.2.3 171
5.3
Sy
T.,
Ex
Ex
Sa
6.4
181
Ba
18l
5.3.3
5.3.3
Terminology
6.5
Demodulation
6.6
6.1
6.8
187
187
Channel Synchronization in
TDM
Ex
6.9
r98
212
Er
1.t
1.2
1.3
Er
Cl
7.7
1.8
7.9
(FDMA)
223
Er
E)
Gr
Pe
Ct
in
E)
Cr
Tt
St
Referenc
Problemr
8.
Intermodulation 226
6.3
7.
1.4
1.5
7.6
Problems
Li
Summary 212
References 213
Problems 214
Introduction 22I
Su
Reterencr
5.7
6.
6.1
6.2
Cc
Ex
Ex
191
zll
Pa
Sp
Example 5.4.1
Exarnpie 5.4.2 191
Generation of Quadrature Phase Shift Ke-ving (QPSK) Signals
QPSK Variants 199
Digital Transmission of Analog Signals 201
Sampling and Quantizing 2Al
Nonuniform Quantization: Compression and Expansion 204
Signal-to-Noise Ratio in Digital Voice Systems 206
Ra
D:
189
195
5.6
De
Ex
185
5.5
Sa
182
185
Or
8.1
8.2
FDMA
Pr
In
a
L.
232
8.3
PI
A
C
ooNTEtTS XV
Example 6.3.1 TDMA in a Fixed Station Network 231
Reference Burst and Preamble 238
Unique Word 239
Guard Times 241
Synchronization in TDMA Networks 242
Transmitter Power in TDMA Networks 243
Example 6.3.2 TDMA in a VSAI Network 244
Example 6.3.2 TDMA in a Fixed Earth Station Network 244
Satellite Switched TDMA 246
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.1
6.8
6.9
References 261
Problems 261
7.7
7.8
7.9
7.6.1
287
Summary 292
References 292
Problems 293
8.
8.1
8.2
8.3
Links
295
Introduction 297
Quantifying Attenuation and Depolarization 298
Example 8.2.1 301
Propagation Effects that Are Not Associated with Hydrometeors 306
Atmospheric AbsorPtion 307
Cloud Attenuation 308
Xr,
8.4
8.5
GoNTENTS
Law
325
Example 8.5.3 325
Squared Frequency Scaling
8.6
8.1
Law
326
9.6
9.1
9.8
Depolarizatior
Summary 338
References 339
Problems 340
Prel
Linl
Inbr
Inb<
Out
Sysr
9.9
9.1 0
Son
10.
10. I
IA.2
Lon
Sun
References
Problerns
Equi
Radi
Sun
10.3
9.4
9.5
Introduction 343
Overview of VSAI Systems 345
Network Architectures 347
One-Waylmplementation 347
Spt-Two-Way (Split IP) Implementation 347
Two-Way Implementation 348
Access Control Protocols 349
Delay Considerations 351
Basic Techniques 354
Multiple Access Selection 355
Signal Forrnats 362
Modulation, Coding, and Interference Issues 362
Covr
Gen<
Freq
Elevl
Num
337,
Intrc
Orbi
Inclr
Eilip
Molr
8.8
9.
9.1
9.2
9.3
Sys
Des
sys
Attenuation 333
Power Control 334
Signal Processing 335
Diversity 335
VS
Ant
Tra
Cal
Off-r
Dete,
Radi;
Proje
10.4
10.5
Dela'
Syste
Incre
Interi
10.6
Replt
End-t
Operi
Ellipr
Globr
New
Iridii
Orbci
Skyb:
Wi
16
,,
OONTENTS
9.6
9.7
9.8
9.9
9.10
9.1
372
References 385
Problems
10.
10. I
10.2
-185
Introduction
389
Orbit Considerations
391
Orbits 391
inclined Orbits 392
Elliptical Orbits 394
Equatorial
Molniya
Orbit
Radiation
10.3
'
396
Effects
398
10.4
10.5
End-to-EndSystemlmplernentation
10.6
Ellipso
425
Globalstar 426
New
ICO
Iridium
428
428
()rbcomm 429
Skybridge 429
425
Designs
425
XrlII
1r ,
xvi
coNrENrs
Teledesic 430
10.7
Design 432
References 434
Appendir
Problems 435
11.
I1.1
ll.2
11.3
ll.4
I 1.5
I 1.6
I I .1
I 1.8
1i.9
12.5
L2.6
12.1
12.8
12.9
Appendir
440
Glossary
lndex
Summary
4-56
45'7
Introduction 458
Radio and Satellite Navigation 461
GPS Position Location Principles 463
Position Location in GPS 464
GPS
12.4
439
References
12.
l2.l
12.2
12.3
TV
Radio
Time
466
l2.ll
Differential
GPS
GDOP
481
482
485
Problems 485
Appendix
Decitels
Appendix
in Communications Engineering
487
Signal 491
Multiplexing 493
Baseband Voice
Voice Signal
Signals 496
Bandwidth Caiculation for FDM/FM Telephone Signals 497
Telephone Performance Specihcations 498
Frequency Modulation with Multipiexed Telephone
PracticalExarrples 499
Example
B.1
499
5i
ExamPle
8.2
503
References 503
Appendix
Referenees
Appendix
D.l
References
Glossary
Index
.96
513
522
504
511
51?.
\Ialues
'.
Model
57
504
INTRODUCTTON
1.1 BACKGBOUND
Two developmerts in the tuentieth centurl changed the r.vay people lived: the automobile
and telecommurications. Prior to the wide.spread availability oi personal automobiles, irdividuls hael to travel on lbot. hy bicycle, c.rr on horsehack. Trains provicled faster travel
between ciies. bx he lire.s of nrost people werc cenlered on their honretowns and inrmediate surr<rundingi. A joume_r'of 100 ruiles sas a major e.rpedition tbr nost people.
and the eary mohilitl' that u e all take for sranted in the twen!'"first century was unknown.
Before the telegraph and telephone canle into u'idespread use. all communication was
face-to-face, or in uriiing, tf you wanted to talk Io solleone..vou had to travel to meet
with that perrion. ,n6 1r,el $'as slo' and arduous. If you rvanted to send informatisn, it
had to b,e ',vritten don'n and the papers hand carried to their destination.
Telecomnunication svster'rs hart norv made it possible to colnmunicate with virtually anyone at any time. Earll'telegraph and telephone svstems used copper wire to carry
signals over the earth's surtace and acros oceans. and high tiequency (HF) radio, also
commonly called short rvave radio, made possible intercontinental telephone links. Arti'
ficial earth satellites have been used in communications systems for more than 35 years
apd have become an essential part of the world' telecommunications infrastructure. Sa1ell
litss allow people to talk by telephone and exchange electronic mail from anywhere in
tle world and to receive hundreds of TV channels in rheir homes.
The origins of satellite comrnunications can be traced to an article rvritten by
Arthur C. Clarke in the British radio magazine Wireless World in 1945. At the time,
ClarkE was serving in the British Royal Air Force, and was interested in long-distance
radio eommunieation. He later beeame famous es the author of 2001: A pace Qdyssey,
aud other scienco fico4 booksr. In 1945, HF radio was the only available method for
radio communicarion over transconnental distances, and it was not at all reliable.
unspots and ionospheric disturbances could disrupt HF radio links for days at a time.
Telegraph cabtes had been laid across the oceatrs as early as the mid-lE00s, but cables
capable of carrying voice signals across the Atlantic did not begin service until 1953.
Clarke susgesrd tbar a radlo rclay satellite ir an equatorial orbit with period of.24 h
would remain stationary with rcspect to the eamh's surface and make possible long.
distance radio nks. At the time Clarke wrote, there were no satellites in orbit nor rockets
powerful enough to laucb them. Buf his ideas fpf yhat we now knov as a ggesIstienery
satellite syslem were ilol sclence flction. as the launch of the Russian satellite putnik
in 1957 was to prove. In 1965 the first geostationary satellite, Early Bird, began
to provde telephone service across the Atlantic Ocean, fullling Clarke's vision of
20 years eadier.
Satellite cornmunication systems were originally developd to provide long-distance
telephone service. In the late 1960s, launch vehicles had been developed that could place
a 500 kg satellite in geastationaqy earth orbii ICEO with a capacity of 5000 telephone
circuits, marking e stat of an era of expansion for telecommunication satellites.
Geostationary satellires were soon carrying transoceanic and transcontinental telephone calls.
cHAPTER.. !rgsDucfloN
For the first time; live television links could be established across the Aantic and Pacific
oseans to cany news and spoing events.
The geostationary orbit is prefened for all high capacity comrnunieation satellite
systems because a satellite in GEO appears to be stationary over a fixed point on the
ground. It can estlblish lirrks to one-third of the earth's surface using tixed antennas at
the earth s(ations. This is particularlv valuable for bfoadcasfing. as a single satellite can
sL'r've an entire conlincnl. Direct broadcast satellite television (DBS-TV) and the distrihution oi vicieo sigrtal: for cablc' tclevision reirvorks a'e thc largest single revenue soi"ce
for geostationary satelli{e.. riccounting for $ l 7 B in revenues in I998. By year 200 1. nearly
200 GEO communication satellites rvere jn orbit, serving every part of the globe. Although
television accourrts for much of the tratfic caried by these satellites. international and
regional telephon,. data trrrnsmission. and lnternet access are also irnportant. ln the pop-
ulated parts of the u.orld. the geostalionary orbit i.s trlled with sateliiies every l" or 3o
opcrating in almost ever) ltr-ailatrle frequency band.
GEO satellites have sroun steadily in weight. size, iit-etime. and cost over the vcars.
Sorne ol the largest satellitcs launchc'd to date are the KH and Lacrosse surr,eillance satellites of the U.S. Nationai Rcconnaissance Ofce weighing an estinrated 1.1,600 kg t"10.1100
lb)'t. Bi 2000. connicrcial teleconiilrunications satellites weighirrg 6000 kg with lit'etimes
of 15 years u'ere being ltrnched irrto geostationary orbit at a typical cost around Stl,5 i\,f
for the satellite anrl launch. The revenue earning capacity of these satellites must r-xceed
$2O M per year lor the lenture to be prof,rtable, and they nrust colnpete rith optir-:rl trbers
in carrying voice. data. and lideo signals. A single optical hber can carrv 4.5 Gbps. a capacity similar to that r:f the largest GEO satellites" and optical fibers are never laid singl,
but always in bundles. But GEO satellites can compete effeetively on fleribility of delii'ery
point- Any place rvithin the .saellite co!'erage can be sened by simply installin-e ar earfh
terminal. To do the same x ith a tiber-optic link requires hber to be laid. Fiber-optic transmission systems compeJe effectively with satellites where there is a requirement for high
capacity or, equivalently. shen the user density exceeds.the required economic theshoid.
GEO satellites har,e been supplemented by low and medium earth orbit satellites for
special applications. Low earth orbit (LEO) satellites can provide satellite telephone and
data services over continents or over the entrre world, and by 2000 three systems were in
orbit or nearing pompletion, with a total of 138 LEO satellites. LEO satellites arc also
used for earth imaging and surveillance. Althopgh not strictly a satellite csmmunications
system, the Global Positioning System (GPS), which uses 24 medium earth orbit (MEO)
1.2 I
EOM1
--
t.
'l
tl
tl
tr
a
^:
tl
Ib
put the reduction in thc cost of an international telephone call in perspecr'g we must remember at in'
comes have risen sipicantly over fhis time period.
In the 1950s, a typical blue-collar wage was $1.50 per
hour, so a blue-collar worker hd tn work for 40 min
to pay for a call to Eumpe, ignoring any tar deductions. ln 2000, fhe average worker in the United States
earned $l 1.00 per hour, and had to work less than I
min to pay for the international call. 'Ihe Unired Slates
norv has hundreds of thousands of overseas relephonr
cicuits. and video Iinks daily carry live news rerron
lrom a.ll over the globe.
ol
ol
AT
T,
ic
ve
tir
in
St
CC
r.2 A EEEHS$gx
mtic and
kcific
rication satellite
ed point on the
xgu alltlllla5 t
gle satellite can
) and the distri: revenlle sQulce
'ear 2001, nead"
globe. Although
nternationll and
tant. In the PoP-
i etery 2" or 3o
it over the
Year.
xtalling an earth
Fiber-Qptiq trans-
for high
omic threshold.
rrbit satellites for
te telephone and
systems were in
.atellites are also
e,omnunicatiols
rrth oit (MEO)
rsmeQt
international tele-
n
:
remem'be hal
ill-
this me period.
,age was $1.50 per
to work for 40 min
ing any tax deduc-
t.
ci'erseas telephone
1 live news reports
E!ilEt.l"rrEffiffirffims 3
atcllit& has rsolutioaiasil navigatih. GPS eivrs hate bcomc a sonsumer product.
Ewntually every car and cellular telephone will,have a GH resciver built into it so that
driyers will ro get lost and emergenry calls from cellular phones will automatically carry
infoYian bout the phone's location.
of u.. poticy in regard to satellite cornmunicaons,amd made the fint r*rmrnbiguaus r_efersncss to a siugle rrorfdwide system. 0 De.cennber 20. 196tr, the U. Cqqgress recommended that *te Intemational Telecomnrunications Union (ITU) trordd exarne the
aspects of space communicaons for which international cooperation would be necessary.
The most critical step was in August 1962, when the U.S. Congress prssed tle Cammunicafions Satellite Ac. This set the stage for commercial investment in an irrternational
satellite organization and, oq July 19, 1964, representatives of the first 12 countries to invat in what becane Intclsat (the Internaonal Teleeommunications atellite Organization) signed an initial agreement. The company that represented the Uniled Sates at this
initial signing ceremony was Comsa:. an entity specifically created tc act for the United
States within lntelsat. lt should be remembered that, at this point, the Bell System had a
complete monopoly of all longdistance telephone communications within the United
CHAPTER
lNTRoDUcrtoN
States. When Congress passed the Communications Satellite Ac, the Bell System was
specifically barred from directly participating in satellite communications, although it was
permitted to invest in Comsat.
Comsat essentially managed Intelsat in the fonlative years and should be credited
rvith the remarkable success of the international venture. The llrst five Intelsat series of
satellites (INTELSAI I through V) w'ere selected. and their procurement managed. b'
teams put in place under Comsrt leadcrship. Over this saure phase. though. laree portions
of thc Cornsat engineering and operations groups transt'erred oYer to Intelsat so that. hen
the Permanent Management Amangements came into force tn 1919. manv fomer Comsat
groups were now part of lnlelsat.
In mid- 1963. 99Vo of all satellites had been iaunched into LEO. LEO. and the sli.uht11'
higher medium earth orbit (MEO), were much easier to reach than GEO ivith the srall
launchers available at that time. Thc intensc debate was eventualiv settled on launcher rcliability issues rather than on payload capabilities. The first 6 vears ofthe so-called space
itge w'as a period ol both parlclad and launcher deveioprnent. The nerv fronticr \\ils \cr\
risky, with about one launch in four being fully successful. The svster architecturt- of thc
tlrst proposed courntercial conrmunications satellite system empkryed l2 satellites in an
equatorial MEO constellation. Thus, with the launch failure rate at the tit.ne. ,18 launches
u,ere envisioned to suarantee l2 operational satellites in orbit. Without ll satellites in orbit. continuous 24-h coverage could not be offered. Twenty-lbur hours a daY. seven day-s
a week-refen-ed to as 24/7 operation-is a requirement for any successful comtnunications service. A GEO systems architecture requires only one satellite to proride )4 11 op'
eration over essentially one-third of the inhabited world. On this basis. four launches * rulcl
be required to achier,'e coverage of one third of the earth: l2lbrthe entire irthabited rrorld.
Despite its unproven technological approach, the geostationary orbit was selected b1' the
entities that became IntelsatThe first Intelsat satellite, INTELSAI I (formerly Earh Bird was iaunched on April
16, 1965. The satellite weighed a mere 36 kg (80 lb) and incorporated two 6/4 GHz
transponders, each with 25-MHz bandwidth. Commercial operations commenced betrveen
Europe and the United States on June 28, 1965. Thus, about 2 decades after Clarke's landmark article in Wireless WorM, GEO satellite communications began. Intelsat was highly
successful and grew rapidly rs many countries saw the value of improved telecommunications, not just internationally but for national systems that provided high quality satellite
communications within the borders of large countries.
Canada was the first country to build a national telecommunication system using
GEO satellites. Anik lA was launched in May 1974, just 2 months before the frst U.S.
domestic satellite, WESTAR 1. The honor of the first regional satellite system, howeveq
goes to the USSR Molniya system of highly elliptic orbit (HEO) satellites, the hrst of
which was Iaunched in April 1965 (the same month as INTELSAI I). Countries that are
geographically spread like the USSR, which covers 11 time zones, have used regional
satellite systems very effectively. Another country that benefited greatly from a GEO regional system was Indonesia, which consists of more than 3000 islands spread out over
more than a thousand miles- A terrestrially Lrased telecommunication system was not economically feasible for these countries, whiie a single GEO satellite allowed instant communications region wide. Such ease of communications via GEO satellites proved to be
very profitable. Within less than 10 years, Intelsat was self-supporting and, since it u's
not allowed to make a profiL it began retuming substantial revenues to what u'ere knot', l
as its Si-natories. rrVithin 25 1'e:irs, lnteisa; h:iti inore than t;i Sigiratoriesl and. in eai..
2000, iilere were 143 memixr countries and Sigiiatories thal fonned part of the intematiolal Intelsat cornntunity.
pl
In
l!
br
bc
ci,
to
in
Nr
llll
S1r
I Ll
for
C
]lt(
sllKr-
the
SF
crr
sat
lo
has
]-E
CO\
a1ll
of
cos
the establishn
New Skies. Ir
and, on 30 Nc
ferred from Ir
was one INT
183" E). one
at 57" E).
t\
US-803 at 33
INTELSAT-K
and a new sate
ices l(-./
at
businesses pia
distribution ar
;hould be credited
: Intelsat series of
nent rnanaged, bY
lgh, large portions
elsat so that" when
ny former Comsat
O. and the slightlY
the small
lO with
by
the
launched on APril
fed two 614 GHz
lnmenced between
rfter Clarke's land.ntelsat was highlY
rved telecommunigh quality satellite
The astonishing commercial success of Intelsat led many nations to invest in eir
satellite systems. This was particularly true in the United States. By the end of 1983, telephone trafc carried by the U.S. domestic satellite systems earned more revenue than the
Intelsar system. Many of the original lntelst Signatories had been privatized by the early
1990s and were, in effecf, competing not only with each other in space communications,
but with Intelsat. It was clear tht some mechanisn-r had to be tbund whereby lntelsat could
be tumed into a for-profit, privte entity, which could then compete with other commercial organizations while still safeguarding the interests of the smaller nations that had come
to depend on the remarkably low communications cost that Intelsat offered. The first step
in the move to privatizing Intelsat was the establishment of a commercial cot.npany called
New Skies and the transfer of a number of Intelsat satellites to New Skies'
In the 1970s and i980s there was rapid development olGEO satellite slstems tor
international, regional, and domestic telephone trathc and video distribution. ln the United
States, the expansion ol fiber-optic links with very high capacity and low delay caused virtually all telephone trafhc to move to terrestrial circuits by 1985. However. the demand
for satellite systems grew steadily through this period, and the available spectrurn in
C band was quickly occupied, leading to expansion into Ku band. ln the United States.
(\'ery
most of the expansion after 1985 was in the areas of video distribution and VSAf
at
capacity
orbit
the
GEO
that
was
clear
it
small aperlure temrinal) networks. By 1995
to
handle
needed
would
be
systerns
satellite
Ku band would soon be filled, and Ka-band
the expansion of digital traffrc, especially wide band delivery of high-speed Internet data'
SES, based in Luxemburg, began two-way multimedia and Internet access service in westem and centrai Europe ai Ka band using ihe Astra I H satellite in 20016. Several Ka-band
sateliite systems are expected to be operational in the United States by 2003-'.
The ability of sateilite systems to provide communication with mobiie users had
(Inmarsat)
long been recognized, and the International Maritime Satellite Organization
price'
at
a
high
although
decades,
has provided service to ships and aircraft for several
worldwide
with
system
telephone
LEO satellites were seen as one way to create a satellite
coverage; numerous proposals were floated in the i990s, with three LEO systems eventually reaching completion by 2000 (kidium, Globalstar, and Orbcomm). The implementation
of a LEO and MEO satellite system for mobile communication has proved much more
costly than anticipated, and the capacity of the systems is relatively small compared to
COMMUNtcAnoNS
Intelsat is current (2000) in the process of renewing its major asses through the purchase of up to
seven INTELSAI IX satellites from SS-Loral to replace the curent fleet of INTELSAT VI, and some of
the INTELSAT VII, satellites. Each of these satellites
carries the equivalent of 96 units of 36 MHz bandwidth. The satellites will be located at 62' E,60" E,
335.5'E, 3?5.5" 8.332.5" E, 342" E, and 328.5" E'
More details on the Intelsat fleet of satellites can be
found at http://www.intelsat.int. Intelsat is moving
forward with plans to privatize the remainder of the
organization inthe20O2l2O03 time frame' AIY reorganization will coiain strong safeguards for smaller
users [o the system.
cluPTEB
E{TRoDrrGRoN
GEO sateite sys&rtrs, leadiug to a higtrcrcost per transmittcd bit. Satellite telep}rrc.systems were unable to compce with cellular tclephone systcrns because of e high cost
and relatively low capacity of the space ssgment. The Iridium system, for example. cost
over $5 B to irnplement, but provided a total capacity for the United States of less than
10.000 telephorre cirsujts.. lridiq.rr. !4c., dec.lqred ba+krqptcy in early 2000. having friled
to eslablish a .sufficiently large custorner ba.e to make the venture viable. The entire lridium system was sold to lridiuur Satcllite LLC for a reported $25 M, approxinratell' 0.5"
of the system's constnrction cosi. The future of the other LEO ancl MEO satellite telephone
systems also seemed uncefain at the time this book was written.
atellite navigation systeihs, rrotbly tlie Global Positioi ystm. haVe fevolutionized navigation and surveying. The Global Positioning System took almost 20 years
to design and fully implement. at a cost of $12 B. By 2000. GPS receives could be built
in Original Equipment Manulacturer (OEM, form for less than $25, and the rorldu,ide
GPS industr-v was earning billions of dollars from equipment sales and sen,ices. In the
United States. aircraii navigation rvill depend almost entirely on GPS by'1010, and blind
landing systems using GPS rvill also be available. Accurate nvieation of shirs. especiall
in coastal rvaters and bad weathet is also heavily reliant rn GPS. Europe is building a
comparable satellite navigation systurr calieti Callileo.
0
fE
o.
o
tr
$
L
1.3
LI,
1.2, and 1.3 list the rnajority of the GEO. MEO, and LE communication
satellites in orbit in 2000. The list is rrot exhaustive, and qxq\ldqs ia.tgtlltes. rse{ soiqil,
for milirary cornrnunjcations and .surveillance. and those u.sed primarily for lveather foresti d i1h iinaig. Not all the communications satellites are includgd, and experimental aad scietific satellites are omitted.,In all, Thbles 1.1 and 1.2 list a total of 172
geosttionary comrmrnication satellites. When other satellites in geostatindry orbit are
considered, there rvere close to 200 CEO satellites in operation in 2000 (Tab,le 1.4).
GEO satellites have always been the backbone of the cqr-r_E_nprQial safellite cqrnrnunications industry. Large GEO satellites can serve op,e-third of the earth's surface, and can
carry up to 4 Gbps of data o-r fa$mit up to 16 high power dircct hodcast satellite television (DBS-TV) signals, each of which can devsr- seeral video channels. The weight
and pewer ef E0'.sateilites have also increasixl In 2000 a large GEO satellite could
weigh 10,000 kg (10 !ons), might generate.l2 kW of power, and carry 60 transponders,
with a tred toward even higher po\sers but lower weight For examplg,in 200I pace
ystem/Loral contracted wirh APT atellite Company Ltd. in Hong Kong to build the
Apsr-V satelte, a GEO satelte serving Asia with a mass of f845 kg,when injected
into geastationpry orbit and an expected feue of 13 years. Apstar-V will generate an
ititial pgler
ltl,6li
tomers in the United States. The high capacity of GEO satellites results from the use of
high-power terrestrial transmitters and relatively high gain earth station antennas. Eanh
station antcnfla gain translates directly inlo communieation capacity, and therefore inro
rsvenue. Increased capacity lowers the delivery cost per bit for a customer. Systems with
fixed directional antennas can deliver bits at a signi-rcantly lower cost than systerns using
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14
cl{ArrEn't Ifinu)ucrlg{
TABLE
t,[
Sy3tem
Satellites
Global positoning
System (GPS),
operated by U.S.
Navstar GPS
through
22 through
13
Application
Orbhs
Navigation,
early warning
Six orbital
planes with
21
four satellites
20,200 km
www.laafb.af.mil/SMC/
CZlhomepage/
altitude.
lnclination
of orbital
plane is 55"
40
ti
al
per plane at
Air Force
43, 44, 45
II
http://gps.faa.gov/
http://www-spacecom.
af"mil
ltl
al
is
ol
1.4 0
COMM
low gain antennas, such as those designed for use by mobile users. Consequently. GEO
satellites look set to be the largest revenue earners in space for the foreseeable fulure.
Figure 1.1 shows the estirnated growth in revenue from all satellite communication
services, projected to 2010.
All radio systems require frequency spectrum, and the delivery of high-speed data
requires a wide bandwidth. Satellite communication systems started in C trand. with an
allocation of 500 MHz, shared with terrestrial microwave links. As the GEO orbit fi1led
up with satellites operating at C band, satellites were truilt for the next available tiequency
Lrand, Ku band. There is a continuing demand for ever more spectrun to allow satellites
to provide new services, with high speed access to the Internet forcing a move to Ka-band
and even higher frequencies. Access to the Internet from small transrnitting Ka-band earth
stations located at the home offers a way to bypass the terrestrial telephone network and
achieve much higher bit rates. SES began two-way Ka-band Internet access in Europe in
1998 with the Astra-K satellite, and the next generation of Ka-band satellites in the United
States
Sr
in
re
pl
ar
e(.
its
-s(
SC
al
3t
el,
ea
w
co
200
).
@
=
OU
co
by
SII
E
c
ne
.9
3
c
ch
100
st
ce
(l)
(1)
.EE
US
E'
E
ati
an
in
1
980
2010
990
tht
Year
wi
lor
f .r OVERIVIEW OF SATEIIJTE
OOMI/|U|!|CATIONS
15
Successive World Radio Conferences have allocated oew frequency bands for commercial satellite services that now include L, S, C, Ku, K Ka Y and Q bands. Mobile satellite systems use vhf, uhl L, and S bands with carrier frequencies from 137 to 2500 MHz,
and GEO satellites use frequency bands extending from 3.2 to 50 GHz. Despite the growth
of fiber-optic links with very high capacity, the demand for satellite systerns continues to increase. Satellites have also become itegrated into complex comrunications achitectures that
use each element of the network to its best advantage. Examples iue VSAI/WLL 1very srnal1
apefture terminalVwireless local loop) in countries where the communications infrastructure
is not yet mature and GEO/LMDS (local multipoint distribution s)'stems) tbr the urban fringes
of developed nations where the build-out of fiber has yet to be an econotnic proposition.
Orbits
Six orbital
planes with
four satellites
per plane at
20,200 km
altitude.
I ncli nation
of orbital
plane is 55"
Sateliite communication systems exist because the earth is a sphere. Radto r.vaves travel
)seeable future.
communication
places on the earth that are thousands of miles apart, are a good place to locate a repeater,
high-speed data
band. rvith an
allow satellites
rove to Ka-band
g Ka-band earth
network and
'ne
:ss in Europe in
:es
in the United
and a GEO satellite is the best place of all. A repeater is simpll a receiver linked to a
transmitter, always using different radio frequencies. that can receive a signal from one
earth station, amplify it, and retransmit it to another earth station. The repeater derit'es
its name from nineteenth century telegraph links, which had a maximum length of about
50 miles. Telegraph repeater stations were required ei'ery 50 miles in a long-distance link
so that the Morse code signals could be re-sent before they became too weak to read.
The majority of communication satellites are in geostationary earth orbit, at an
altitude of 35,786 km. Typical path length from an earth station to a GEO satellite is
38,500 km. Radio signals get weaker in proportion to the square of the distance traveled, so signals reaching a satellite are always very weak. Similarly, signals received on
earth from a satellite 38,500 km away are also very weak, because of limits on the
weight of GEO satellites and the electrical power they can generate using solar cells. It
costs roughly $25,000 per kilogram to get a geostationary satellite in orbit. This obviously places severe restrictions on the size and weight of GEO satellites, since the high
cost of building and launching a satellite must be recovered over a 10 to 15 year lifetime
by selling communications capacity.
Satellite communication systems are dominated by the need to receive very weak
signals. In the early days, very large receiving antennas, with diameters up to 30 m, were
needed to collect sufficient signal power to drive video signals or multiplexed telephone
channels. As satellites have become larger, heavier, and more powerful, smaller earth
station antennas have become feasible, and Direct Broadcast Satellite TV (DBS-TV) receiving systems can use dish antennas as small as 0.5 m in diameter.
Satellite systems operate in the microwave and millimeter wave frequency bands,
using frequencies between 1 and 50 GHz. Above 10 GHz, rain causes significant attenuation of the signal and the probability that rain will occur in the path between the satellite
and an earth station must be factored into the system design. Above 20 GHz, attenuation
in heavy rain (usually associated with thunderstorms) can cause sufficient attenuation that
the
For the rst 20 years of satellite commurications, analog signals were *'ideiy used,
with most links employirrg frequency modulation (FM). Wideband FM can operate at
Iow carrier-to-noise ratios (C/N), in the 5 to 15 dB range, but adds a signal-to-noise
.4.::.1:
rith signal-to-noise
Cio frequencY (RF)
ORBITAL MECHANICS
AND LAUNCHERS
t in signal-to-noise
rne and data transrssion over satellite
rs the major analog
g seems destined to
llow six TV signals
2.1
TV (HDTV), will
radio broadcasting,
the LEO and MEO
: compression techstream at 4'8 kbPs.
r video comPression
; less
ORBITAL MECHANICS
anten-
Newton,slarvsofmotioncanbeencapsulatedintofourequations:
hnology, AerosP ace Source
3,
s:ut+(l)at'1
u2:u2+zat
t:ulat
P: ma
(2.1a)
(2.1b)
(2.1c)
(2.td)
Putintowords,Eq.(2.1d)Statesthattheforceu"tingonabodyisequaltothemassof
17
fB
cHAprER2 oRBITALMECHANICSANDLAUNcHERS
wi
the body multiplied by the resulting acceleration of the body. Alternatively, the resulting
acceleration is the ratio of the force acng on the body to the mass of the body. Thus, for
a given force, the lighter the mass of the body, the higher the acceleration will be. When
in a stable orbit, there are two main forces acting on a satellite: a bentrifugal force due to
the kinetic energy of the satellite, which attempts to fling the satellite into a higher orbit,
frt
wi
of
and a centripetal force due to the gravitational attraition of the planet about which the
sateilire is orbiting. which artempts to pull the salellite dorvn toward the planet. lf these
nvo forces are equal, the satellite will rernain in a stabie orbit. It will continually fail tou,ard the planet's surface as it lnoves forwad in its orbit but, by virtue of its orbital velocity. it rviil have moved foru,ard just far enough to compensate fbr the "lall" toward the
planet and so it u i11 remain iit the salrie orbital height. This is why an object in a stable
orbit is sorltetimes described as being in "free lall." Figure 2.1 shows the two opposing
fbrces on a satellite in a stable orbitr.
Force - mass X acceleration and the unit o[ force is a Newton, ,,vith the notation
is the force required to accclerate a mass of I kg with an acceleration of
A
Ner.,,ton
N.
units of a Newton are thcrefore (kg) x m/sr. ln hnperial Units,
unclerly,ing
n/sr.
The
I
ft
lb. The standard acceleration due to gravity at the earth's sur0.1248
Neu,ton
one
x
which is often quoted as 98i cnr./s2. This value decreases
l0'r
kn,/sr,
is
face 9.80665
ic
l0
for
In
wh
Ifr
her
If{
-\-
dis
orb
Gir
occ
TAI
ofl
2.1 Forces acting on a satellite in a stable orbit around the eah (from Fig. 3.4 of
reference 1). Gravitational force is inversely proportional to the sguare of the distance between
the centers of gravity of the satellite and the planet the satellte is orbiting, in this case the
earth. The gravitational force inward (EN, the centripetal force) is directed toward the center of
gravity of the earth. The kinetc energy of the satellite (Four, the centrifugal force) is directed
dianretrically opposite tc the gravtationai force. Knetic energy is proportional to the square r:f
the veiocity of the satelite. When these inward and outward forces are balanced. the satellite
moves around the earth in a "free fall" trajectory: the satellite's orbit. For a description of the
units, please see the text.
FTGURE
Sat,
I
nte
Nev
skv
lridi
Mea
eartl
2.toRBrrALMEcHANtcs
ely, e resulng
e body. Thus, for
rn will be. When
ugal force due to
to a higher orbit,
about which the
e planet. If these
rntinually fall to-
with height above the earth's surface. The acceleration, a, due to gravity at a distance r
from the center of the earth isl
n acceleration of
r Imperial Units,
.t the eanh's suri vaiue decreases
12
tf
(2.1)
kmls2
where the constant ,r is the product of the universal gravitational constant G and the mass
of the earth Mu.
The producf GMu.is called Kepler's constant and has the value 3.9860044i8 X
: 6.612 X 10 Ir Nmr/kg) ot 6.612 X
105 kmr/sr. The universal gravitational constant is G
l0 r0 krr/kg sl in lhe older units. Since force : mass X acceleration, the centripetal
Fw:mx(t/r-)
: m x (GM6/r2)
19
In a similar fashion.
(2.2a)
(2.2b;
: ut/,
(2.31
as
Four: mx(/r)
If the forces on the satellite are balanced, FrN : F61 and, using Eqs. (2.2a)
(2'4)
and (2.4)'
mxp./r2:mxul/r
hence the velocity
'
,:
()
Q"/r)rP
5\
If the orbit
7:
{2rr)/o
Giving
T:
(nr)/l(p./r)1a)
(Zrr3P)/(t"rP)
(2.6)
Table 2.1 gives the velocity, u, and orbital perio4 7n, for four satelte systems that
occupy typical LEO, MEO, and GEO orbits around the earth. In each case, the orbits are
TABLE
2.1
Satellite
system
height
1*ml
Orbital
Orbital
velocity
lkm/sl
35,786.03
3.O7 47
New-lCO (MEO)
10,255
(LEO)
1,469
4.8954
7.1272
1.4824
lntelsat (GEO)
Skybridse
iridium {LEO}
78
Orbital period
lh min sl
23 56 4.1
555 48.4
155 11.8
i40 27.4
Mean earth radius is 6378.137 km and GEO radius from the center of the
earth is 42,164.17 km.
20
cHAprER
Satellite
6378.137 kmr. A number of coordinate systems and reference planes can be used to describe the orbit of a satellite around
a planet. Figure 2.2 illustrates one of these usin-e a cartesian coordinate s),stem * ith the
earth at the center and the reference planes coincidine with the equator and the pol;lr a-ris.
This is referred to as a geocentric coordinate s),stem.
with the coordinate system set up as in Figure 2.2, and with the satellite mass ,??
located at a vector distance r from the center of the earth, the gravitational force F on the
satellite is given by
F:-
as
be
ax
ere
Eqr
aC
GMnti
(2.1)
x lO-tr
,1cl'r
F:mdt'
mass
(2.8)
and
i
r'1l:
d2l
d-
d'r r
- *;r.
dt'
r'
(2.e)
Which yields
o
(2.10)
This is a second-order linear differential equation and its solution will involve six
undetermined constants called the orbital elements. The orbit descritred by these orbital
elements can be shown to lie in a plane and to have a constant angular momentum. The
solution to Eq. (2.10) is difficult since the second derivative ofr involves the second derivative of e unit vector r. To remove this dependence, a different set of coordinates can
zo
2.1 oRBtrAL
nitial coordinate
be used to deship between the
ie. A Cartesian
with the geo.he earth as the
re simplest coor;et up. The rota)arth is about the
the center of the
ls through the
pole. Axes cx, cY,
ly orthogonal
cy passing
s geographic
)r r locates the
,ith respect to the
MEcHAflrcs 21
Yo
FIGURE 2.3 The orbital plane coordinate system. ln this coordinte system, the orbital plane of the satellite
is used as the reference plane. The
orthogonal axes xo and yo lie in the
orbital plane. The third axis. zr, is
perpendicular to the orbital plane.
The geographical z-axis of the earth
(which passes through the true i'lorth
Pole and the center of the earth, c)
does not lie in the same direction as
the z6 axis except for satellite orbits
that are exactly in the plane of :he
geographical equator.
l.
(2.1)
t force
mass X
(2.8)
be chosen to descibe the location of the satellite such that the unit vectors in the three
axes are constant. This coordinate system uses the plane of the satellite's orbit as the reference plane. This is shown in Figure 2.3.
Expressing Eq. (2.10) in terms of the new coordinate oXes -t, -y,,, and give::
,2.1 1)
v:z:
Equation (2.1 1) is easier to solve if it is expressed in a pglar coordinate system rather than
a Cartesian coordinate system. The polar coordinate system is shown in Figure 2.'1.
With the polar coordinate system shown in Figure 2.4 and using the transformations
:
y6 :
.in :
:
9o
x6
@s
(2.12a)
r sin @e
(2.r2b)
16
cos
,i
ocos {o f
io cos@e
d'ro
r and
{e
@p
( do\
dr-"\a,):
sin@6
(2.12c)
{6
{2-t2d)
i6 sin
_t,
Q.r3)
r2g
(2.e)
(2.10)
"
22
cHAprER2 oRBTTALMEcHANTcsANDLAUNcHERs
and
,,(#).,(*)(#):,
Q'4,
Using standard rnathematical procedures, we can develop an equation for the radius
ru, namely
t'n
I -ecos(f6
(2. I 5)
0o)
Kepler's lawr
years later, b
ematical mor
ton was one (
ential calc!lltl
was able ro
mathematical
,:
qtt))/u
(1.16)
and /i is magnitude of the orbital angular momentum of the satellite. That the equation of
the orbit is an ellipse is Kepler's first larv oi planetary n.lotion.
1. The orbit of any srnaller bocly about a larqer body is always an ellipse, with the center of mass of the larger body as one of the trvo fbci.
2. The orbit of the smaller body sweeps out equal areas in equal time (see Figure 2.5..
De
De
The
axe
and
di sc
The
of
tl
and
and
chos
therr
time
FIGURE 2.5 lllustration of Kepler's second faw of planetary motion. A satellite is in orbit
about the planet earth, E. The orbit is an ellipse with a relatively high eccentricity, that is,
it is far from being circular. The figure shows two shaded portons of the elliptical plane in
which the orbit moves, one is close to the earth and encloses the perigee while the other
is far from the earth and encloses the apogee. The perigee is the point of closest approach to the earth while the apogee is the point in the orbit that is furthest from the
earth. While close to perigee, the satellite moves in the orbit between times t, and f, and
sweeps out an area denoted by A.r. While close to apogee, the satellite moves in the orbit
between times f3 and to and sweeps out an area denoted by A.o. lf \
tz = f3 - f1 then
Art
Azr.
Rem
the r
is Kt
the
peric
24
cHAprER
(a)
cor
tor
sat(
rec{
not,
toa
_-1 I
CTOS
Apogee
mea
I
ong
a[ o]
the
:i der
Loc
r+a(1
ltt
ltt
+e)
a(1-e)
.i
FIGURE 2.6 The orbit as it appears in the orbital plane. The point O is the center of
the earth and the point C is the center of the ellipse. The two centers do not coincide
unless the eccentricity, e, of the ellipse is zero (i.e., the ellipse becomes a circle and
a : b). The dimensions a and b are the semimajor and semiminor axes of the orbital
ellipse, respectively.
Cons
rnay
The
alv.
from
This equation is the mathematical expression of Kepler's third law of planetary motion: the square of the period of revolution is proportional to the cube of the semimajor
axis. (Note that this is the square of Eq. (2.6) and that in Eq. (2.6) the orbit was assumed
to be circular such, that semimajor axis a : semiminor axis : circular orbit radius
from the center of the earth r.) Kepler's third law extends the result from Eq. (2.6), which
was derived for a circular orbit, to the more general case of an elliptical orbit. Equation (2.21) is extremely important in satellite communications systems. This equation
determines the period of the orbit of any satellite, and it is used in every GPS receiver
in the calculation of the positions of GPS satellites. Equaon (2.21) is also used to find
the orbital radius of a GEO satellite, for which the period Imust be made exactly equal
to the period of one revoluon of the earth for the satellite to remain stationary over a
point on the equator.
An important point to remember is that the period of revoluon, I, is referenced to
inefial space, namely, to the galactic background. The orbital period is the time the orbiting body takes to retum to the same reference point in space with respect to the galactic background. Nearly always, the primary body will also be rotating and so the period
of revolution of the satellite may be different from that perceived by an observer who is
standing still on the surface of the primary body. This is most obvious with a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite (see Table 2.1). The orbital period of a GEO satellite is exactiy equal to the period of rotation of the earth,23h56 min4.l s, but, to ax observer
on the ground, the satellite appears to have an infinite orbital period: it always stays in
the same place in the sky-
term
itive
.r
to the
are gi
olutior
is thus
If the
the sat,
cle of t
a const
Ias th
the poir
intersec
(A) n:al
2.1 oRBnAL
MEcHANtcs
Zs
rrgee
sidereal day.
a(t - d)
'o-t+".oso
v of planetary mo-
of the semimajor
orbit was assumed
rcular orbit radius
m Eq. (2.6), which
:
The angle $o (see Figure 2.6) is measured from the xs axis and is called the true anontaly. f,Anomall, was a measure used by astronomers to mean a planet's angular distance
frm its perihelion (closest approach to the sun), measured as if viewed from the sun' The
postenn wai adopted in celestial mechanics for all orbiting bodies.l Since we dehned the
perigee
the
from
itive -r:s axis so that it passes through the perigee, 4| measures the angle
to the instantaneous position of the satellite. The rectangular coordinates of the satellite
are given by
:
y6 :
xs
r stationary over
Z, is referenced to
t) ))
cos
@s
re sin
{6
16
(2.23)
(2.24)
As noted earlier, the orbital period Z is the me for the satellite to complete a revolution in inertial space, traveling a total of 2t tadians. The average angular velocity 4
is thus
, : (Zr)/T :
1tl
/2)/(a3/2)
(2.25)
If the orbit is an ellipse, the instantaneous angular velocity will vary with the position of
the satellite around the orbit. If we enclose the elliptical orbit with a circumscribed cirwith
c/e of radius rz (see Figure 2.1), thert an object going around the circumscribed circle
period
same
the
in
exactly
a constant angular velocity 4 would complete one revolution
I as the satellite requires to complete one (elliptical) orbital revolution.
Consider the geometry of the circumscribed circle as shown in Figure 2.7. Locate
the point (indicated as A) where a vertical line drarvlt throLlgh the posliion of the satellie
point
inteisects the circumscribed circle. A line fron the center of the eilipse (C) to this
(A) makes an angle E with the x6 axis; E is called the eccentric anomaly of the satellite'
i;
26
cHAprERz oRBITALMEcHANEsANoLAUNcHERs
yoax|s
No
xo axis
l-o
to
At
the
cat
wh
We
Crrcumscribed Circle
FIGURE 2.7 lhe circumscribed circle and the eccentric anomaly E. Point O is the cente of
the earth and point C is both the center of the orbital ellipse and the center of the circumscribed circle. The satellte location in the orbital plane coordinate system is specified bv,x,,
y). A vertical line through the satellite ntersects the circumscribed circle at point A. The
eccentric anomaly E is the angle from the x0 axs to the line joining C and A.
frol
torl
za
the
Thi
bit
lhe
firsr
equ
rs:a(L-ecosE)
(2.26)
cali
Thus
- fo:
ae cosg
(2.27)
We can also develop an expression that relates eccentric anomaly E to the average
angular velocity 4, which yields
Tdt:(l-rcosD)dE
(2.28)
ro be the time of perigee. This is simultaneously the time of closest approach to the
earth; the time when the satellite is crossing the "16 axis; and the time when E is zero. If
we integrate both sides of Eq. (2.28), we obtain
Let
rt(t
- tp):
esinE
(2.2e)
The left side of Eq. (2.29) is called the mean anomaly, M. Thus
M:rtQ-lo):E-esinE
(2.30)
The mean anomaly M is e arc length (in radians) that the satellite would have traversed
since the perigee passage if it were moving on the circumscribed circle at the mean angular velocity 4.
trf we know the time of perigee, fo, the eccentricity, e, and the length of the sernimajor axis, , we now have e necessary equations to deterrnine the coordinates (ro, $o)
2.1 oRBfrAL
mEcHANtcs
27
and (xs, yo) of the satellite in the orbital plane. The process is as follows
-r"6
and
'r'n'
Now we must locate the orbital plane with respect to the earth.
will therefore develop the transformations thet permit the satellite to be located
from a point on the rotating surface of the earth. \\ rvill begin with a geocentric eqtru'
torial coordinate s)-stem as shown in Figure 2.8. The rotational axis of the earth is the
z axis, which is through the geographic North Pole. The ,r axis is from the center of
the earth roward a fixed location in space called the.first point of Aries (see Figure 2.8,).
This coordinate system moves through space: it translates as the earth moves in its orbit around the sun, but it does not rotate as the eanh rotates. The "t direction is always
the same, whatever the earth's position around the sun and is in the direction of the
first point of Aries. The (x, y,) plane contains the earth's equator and is called the
rt O is the center of
er of the circumr is specified bY (x6,
at point A. The
14.
equatorial plane.
(2.26)
Angular distance measured eastward in the equatorial plane from the x axis is
called right ascension and given the symbol RA. The two points at which the orbit
(2.27)
tiy E to the average
FIGURE 2.8 The geocentric
equatorial system. This geocentric
system differs from that shown in
Figure 2.1 only in that the xi axis
points to the first point of Aries.
The first point of Aries s the direction of a line from the center
of the earth through the center of
(2.28)
;est approach to the
: when E is zero.
If
(2.2e)
(2.30)
ould have traversed
:cie at the mean an-
,,
''
2a
CHAPTER
penetrates the equatorial plane are called nodes; the satellite moves upward through
the equatorial plane at fhe ascending node and downward through the equatirrial
plane at the descending node, given the conventional picture of the earth, with north
at the top, which is in the direction of the positive axis for the earth centered coordinate set. Remetnber that in space there is no rrp or down; that is a concept we are
familiar with because of gravity at the earth's surface. For a weightless body in space,
such as an orbiting spacecraft, up and do*n have no meaning unless they are defined
with respect to a reference poinl. The right ascension oJ the ascendirtg ttode is called
f). The angle that the orbital plane makes rvith the equatorial plane (the planes intersect at the line joining the nodes) is called the inclincuion, i- Figure 2.9 illustrates these
quantities.
The variables l) and i together locate the orbital plane with respect to the equatoplane.
To locate thc orbital coordinate system with respect to the equatorial coordirial
nate system we need a, the urgunrent o.f'perigee v'est. This is the angle measured along
the orbit fiom the ascending node to thc pcligee.
Standard time for space opcrations rLntl niost other scientific and engineering purposes is univer.ral tintc (UT, also knowr as;.ulu tine (z). This is essentially the mean
solar time at the Gree nwich Observatory near London. England. Universal time is measured in hours, minutes, and seconds or in fractions of a day. It is 5 h later than Eastern
Standard Time, so that 07:00 EST is l2:00:00 h UT. The civil or calendar day begins
at 00:00:00 hours UT, frequently written as 0 h. This is. of course, midnight (24:00:00)
on the previous day. Astronomers employ a second dating system involving Julian day,t
and Jttlian dates. Iulian days start at noon UT in a counting system whereby noon on
December 3 I , I 899, was the beginning of J ulian day 24 15020, usualiy written 241 5020.
These are extensively tabulated in reference 2 and additional information is in reference
14. As an example, noon on December 31, 2000, the eve of the twenty-first century, is
the start of Julian day 245 1909. Julian dates can be used to indicate time by append-
and
se
e)
rh
0
'l-"
k:
tic
ar(
orl
ha
ity
inr
tin
E)
Thr
ofr
A
D--
For
Thir
EX
The
250
mos
perir
velo
An
662t
xi
FIGURE 2.9 Locating the orbit in the geocentric equatorial system. The satellite penetrates
the equatorial plane (while moving in the positive z drection) at the ascending node" The
right ascension of the ascending node is O and the inclination i is the angle between the
equatorial plane and the orbitai plane. Angle o, measured in the orbtai piane, locates the
perigee with respect to the equatorial plane.
Henr
29
r upward through
h the equatorial
earth, with north
th centered coora concePt we are
ss bodv in sPace.
Orbital Elements
To specify the absolute (i.e., the inertial) coordinates of a satellite at time I, we need to
know six quantities. (This was evident earlier when we determined that a satellite's equation of motion was a second order vector linear differential equation-) These quantities
are called the orbital elements. More than six quantities can be used to describe a unique
orbital path and there is some arbitrariness in exactly which six quantities are used. We
have chosen to adopt a set that is commonly used in satellite communications: eccentriciry (r), semirnajor axis (r), time of perigee (1p). right ascension of ascending node (O),
(M) at a gir
en
I en-uineering Pur-
EXAMPLE
The carth rorafes once per sidereal day of 13 h -56 min -1.09 s. Use Eq. {?.21) to show that the radius
of the GEO is 42,164.1 7 km as given in Table 2.l.
idnight (2'1:00:00
2.1.1
Answer
u,hereby noon on
'nvritten
2-1
T)
I 5020.
ion is in reference
(4:t)/tL
ty-first centurY, is
'
r time bY
:
a:
dr
a1
T2p,/(4n2)
86,164.09 s. Hence
(86,164.1.r
3.9a600n418
105/(4172):7.4920251
101r km3
42,164.17 km
EXAMPLE
2.1-2
2.1-
The Space Shuttle is an example of a low earth orbit satellite. Sometimes, it orbits at an altude of
250 km above the earth's surface, where there is still a finite number of molecules from the atmosphere. The mean earth's radius is approximately 6378.14 km. Using these figures, calculate the
period of the shuttle orbit when the altitude is 250 km and the orbit is cicular. Find also the linear
veloc of the shuttle along its orbit.
Answer
6628.14 km
From Eq. 2.21, the period of the orbit is
7z
satellite penetrates
rding noie. The
ile between the
ane, locates the
+ h) =
where
: (4tr1a3)/p:4r2 x (662s.A)3/3.986004418 x
: 2.88401145 x 107 s2
of the orbit is
f:
5370.30 s
6379.14
89 min 30.3
s"
10-5 s2
250.0
3O..
cHAprER
This orbit period is about as small as possible. At a lower altitude, friction with the earth's atrosphere will quickly sl,ow the Shuttle down and it will retum to earth. Thus, all spacecraft in'stable
earth orbit have orbital periods exceeding 89 min 30 s.
The circumference of the orbit is 2a' : 41,645.83 km.
Hence the velocity of the Shuttle in orbit is
2ra/T
41,645.83/5370.13
= 7.755 kn/s
Alternatively.youcoulclusc Eq. {1.5): r - ttL,t t)".Thetermr - 3.98600-1418 x l05kmr/srand
the ternr r : (6378.14 + 250.0) km, yielding r - 7.7-55 kn/s.
Note: If
or
and r had bce n quoter-i in units of m'/sr and m, respectively, the answer r,ould havc bcen
in meters/second. Be sure to keep the units thc same during a calculation procedure.
A velocity of about 7.8 knlis is a typical velocity tbr a low ear-th orbit satelltte. As the alti
smaller.
EXAMPLE
2.1.3
contFaa
made to lil
,r,
Frequencir
registered
tration Bo
Geneva. T
tion and u
United St
prove the
IFRB. The
Elliptical orbit
A satellite is in an elliptical orbit rvith a perigee ol' 1000 km and an aposee of 4000 km. Using a
mean eafih radiu.s of 178. l4 km. llnd the penod of the orbit in hours. urinutes. and seconcls. rnd
rl
Answer
The major axis of the elliptical orbit is a straight line betw,een the apogee and perigee.
as seen in Figure 2.7. Hence. fbr a semimajor axis length r, eah radius r-. perigee height /rn. and
apogee height ft,,
2a
2r"
hp
lt.,
6318 11
1000.0
8878.
4000.0
8325.1864s
138min45.19s
ti
o in Eq. (2.21
-:
t(
7t : (4r1at)/*: 47 x (98i8.07)38.986004418 x
: 6.930872802 X 107 sl
f :
r1
17.756.28 kni
105 sr
2h 18min45.19
The eccentricity of the orbit is given by e, which can be found from Eq. (.2.27 ) by considerthe
instant at which the satellite is at perigee. Referring to Figure 2.7, when the satellite is at
ing
perigee, the eccentric anomaly E : 0 and ro : re + o. From F4. Q.27), at perigee
1i
rt
tt
Hence
a!
r.
* hr: a(l - e)
e:1-(r"+hr)la:1-'7,378.14/8878.14:0.169
m
pi
ul
F]
2.2
lo
p(
TI
rh
lir
ge
,i;i:.
in
stable
i8
10s
kmr/sr and
edure.
-1000
km. Using
not surprisingly, drew its reference longitude through Paris. France. Since the British
Admiralty chose to give away their maps and the French decided to charge a fee for
it was not surprising that the use of Greenw'ich as the zero reference longitude
became dominant within a few years. [It was the start of .com market dominance through
giveaways three centuries before E-commercell Geometry was a much older science
than navigation and so 90" per quadrant on the map rvas an obvious selection to make.
theirs,
l.28
km
.l
is at
lrigee
i9
Thus, there are 360' of longitude (measured from 0' af the Greenx'ck Meridian, the
line drawn from the North Poie to the South Pole through Greenwich, England. and
+90' of latitude, plus being measured north of the equator and minus south of the equator. Latitude 90" N (or +90") is the North Pole and latitude 90' S (or -90') is the South
Pole. When GEO satellite systems are registered in Geneva, their (subsatellite) location
over the equator is given in degrees east to avoid confusion. Thus, the INTELSAT primary location in the Indian Ocean is registered at 60" E and the primary location in the
Atlantic Ocean is at 335.5" E (not24.5" W). Earth stations that communicate with satellites are described in terms of their geographic latitude and longitude when developing
the pointing coordinates that the earth station must use to track the apparent motion of
the satellite.
The coordinates to which an earth station antenna must be pointed to communicate with a satellite are called the look angles. These are most commonly expressed
as azirnuth (Az) and elevation (El), although other pairs exist. For example, right
ascension and declination are standard for radio astronomy antennas. Azimuth is
measured eastward (clockwise) from geographic north to e projection of the satellite
path on a (ocally) horizontal plane at the earth station. Elevation is the angle measured upward from the local horizontal plane at the earth station to the satellite path.
Figure 2.10 illustrates these look angles. In all look angle determinations, the precise
location of the satellite is critical. A key location in many instances is the subsatellite
point.
. given reference
r, there were two
gland drew its refgland, and France,
32
cHAprER2 oRBTTALMEcHANtcsANDLAUNcHERs
Local vertical
Projection of
path onto iocal
horizontal plane
I
i
East
2.lO The definition of elevation lEl) a:d azimuth (Azl.fhe elevation angle is
measured upward from the local horizontal at th? earth station and the azimuth angle is
measured from true north in an eastward directior to the projection of the satellite path
onto the local horizontal plane.
FIGURE
Fr(
cer
poi
poi
tio r
bea
sub
two
nun
thos
22
n angle is
th angle s
tellite path
ellite point. As
,\tlantic
Ocean
:ionary satellite
rd Pacific) tend
between using
33
FIGURE 2.f 1 Zenith and nadir pointing directions. The line loining the satellite and tle
center of the earth, C, passes through the surface of the earth at point Sub, the subsatellite
point. The satellte is directly overhead at this pont and so an observer at the subsatelte
point would see the saellite at zenth (i.e., at an elevation angle of 90"). The pointing direction from the satellte 10 the subsatellite point is the nadir direction from the satellite. lf the
beam from the satellte anfenna is to be pointed at a location on the earth that s not at the
subsatellite point, the pointing dlrection is defined by the angle away from nadir. ln general,
two off-nadir angles are given: the number of degrees north (or south) from nadir; and the
number of degrees east (or west) from nadir. East, west, north, and south directions are
those defined by the geography of the earth.
rperators, all of
rcome accepted
tionary satellite
Satellite
Loc horizontal
reference their
d
rs
13
(
Earth sta tion
Figure 2.12, r,
'\v -\\
-.,,\r"
-.o
Center
of earth
rir
34
cHAprER
satellite, and ry' is fhe angle (within the triangle) measured from r" to d. Defined so that
it is nonnegative, 7 is related to the earth station north latitude I" (i.e., L" is the number of degrees in latitude that the earth station is north from the equator) and west longitude l" (i.e., /" is the number of degrees in longitude that the earth station is west
from the Greenwich meridian) and the subsatellite point at north latitude l, and west
longitude 1* by
cos
(y)
(/.
1")
sin
tl.-11 i
The law of cosines allows us to relate the rnagnitudes of the vectors joining the center of the earth, the satellite. and the earth station. Thus
..1' .'
(;)' -,(r).".r,r]'"
) 1)r
-r!-90'
].JJ,)
alvtical Crr
program in
subseries. r,
g hen that :r
dr
S
Fo
an
Eq
have
/!
(1.3-+)
sin(r/)
sin(7)
Su
the
cosll)
popular
launch serv
pr
Since the local horizontal plane lt the earth station is perpendicular to re, the elevation
airgle E1 is related to the central anrle g by
El
e1e
: trII(7)
d
sin(7)
(;)'-
(2.3s)
,(t)"",1,,r]'"
Equations (2.35) and (2.31) permit the elevation angle El to be calculated from knowledge of the subsatellite point and the earth station coordinates, the orbital radius r,, and
e earth's radius r.. An accurate value for the average earth radius is 6378.137 kml but
a common value used il approximate determinations is 6370 krn.
For
diu
me(
azit
(bar
Ca-s
Cas
Defined so that
, l" is the numr) and west lonstation is west
rde L,
and west
tl.3l.l
joining the cen-
12.32)
popular suite
of
ANGI.E
DEIEEiIuNAnoN
35
provide the necessary additional velocity to circularize the orbit at geostationary altitude. A number
of organizations offer web sites that provide orbital
plots in a three-dimensional graphical format with
rapid updates for a variety of satellites (e.g., the
NASA sitel).
of l0
software
cos(7)
(2.34)
L)r
cos(L")cos(i,
\
- 1l)
Q-36)
Substituting
r,:
d
cos
(2.3s)
42,164.1711.A2288235
,-,,
t"'/ -- t.ozzll23s [
0.30253825 cos(7)ir/r km
'in(f
0.30253825 cos(7)]'
(2.31)
(2.38)
.=
For a geostationary satellite with an orbital radius of 42,164.L7 km and a mean earth radius of 6378.L37 km, the rutio r"f r.: 6.6107345 giving
arcd from knowlital radius rs, and
El:
lerably eased bY a
variety of orbital
cosfl/sinr]
(2.39)
To nd e azimuth angle, an intermediate angle a must first be found. The inter='mediate angle permits the correct 90o quadrant to be found for the azimuth since the
azimuthal angle ian lie anywhere between 0o (true north) and clockwise through 360"
(back to true north again). The intermediate angle is found from
a:
subsatellite Point
the satellite is the
.s is more diffrcult
olved depends on
tan-1[(6.6107345 --
- rJll
L *,(J l
tan ,f
tanl(/,
(2.40)
Having found the intermediate angle a, the azimuth look angle Az can be found from:
Case
Case
1:
2:
(2.41a)
(2.41b)
(c) Satetlite
(d) Satettite
(2.41c)
(2.41d)
"-
r''
"i,l
ttr
gl'
[,
cHAprER
Sr
_T
l
re
cos
Subsatelite
pont
St
7
Earth
station
Str
Re
in
is)
Visibility Test
cu!
For a satellite to be visible from an earth station, its elevation angle El must be above
some minimum value, which is at least 0o. A positive ar zero elevafion angle requires that
(see Figure 2.13)
r"
(2.42)
cos(7]
, = *.-,(f)
For a nominal geostationary orbit, the last equation reduces ta y
to be visible.
2.2.1
Sur
eas
>l
.
EXAMPLE
sat
an(
tle
tha
gen
(2.43)
wh
visr
b"r
ifr
pos
Thi
ope
gen
An eath station situated in the Docklands of [,ondon, England, needs to calculate the iook angle
to a geostationary satellite in e Indian Ocean operated by Intelsat. The details ofthe earth station
site and the satellite are as
follows:
!r-"
o.E_
and O'.
nol
cati
trac
the
stan
Tho
com
Step
1:
cos(7)
:
:
cos(L")cos(l.
= 75'4981'
Thc centrrl angle yis lesslhan
2:
El :
:
/.)
cos(52.0)cos(66.0)
Yiclding Y
Step
37
8l.J'so
0.2504
E1.
75
l9El
= 5 847'
Step
3:
n -liln
r r,[ran'1
I
-
I .rlr.1rf(tani6.()
- tan
- 7t).661'
Step
etry of the
;atellite is said to
;tation if the
ve. This requires
3 gi-eater than the
:he radius of the
angle.
(2.42)
earth station and
(2.43)
4:
()rtr'sin(51.t-))
: l3fl, -
180
10.667
norrh)
Note that. in the example above. the eleretion engle is relatil'el1'1ou (-5.85-').
Refractive efiects in rhe atmosphere wiii cause the lnean ray path to the satellite to bend
in the elevation plane (making the satellite appeff to be higher in tlie sky than it actually
is) and to cause the amplitude of the signal to flucruate with time. These aspects are discussed more fully in the propagation etl-ects chapter. While it is unusual to operate to a
satellite below established elevation angle minima (typically 5' af C band, 10" at Ku band.
and in most cases, 20o at Ka band and above), many times it is not possible to do this.
Such cases exist for high latitude regions and for satellites attempting to reach extreme
east and west coverages from their given geostationary equatorial location. To establish
whether a particular satellite location can provide service into a given region, a simple
visibility test can be carried out, as shown earlier in Eqs. (2.42) and (2.43).
A number ofgeosynchronous orbit satellites have inclinations that are much larger
than the nominal 0.05'inclination maximum for current geosynchronous satellites. (In
general, a geosynchronous satellite with an inclination of <0.1o may be considered to
be geostationary.) In extreme cases, the inclination can be several degrees, particularly
if the orbit maneuvering fuel of the satellite is almost exhausted and the satellite's
position in the nominal location is oniy controiled in longitude and not in inclination.
This happens with most geostationary communications satellites toward the end of their
operational lifetime since the reliability of the payload, or a large part of the payload,
generally exceeds that of the lifetime of the maneuvering fuel. Those satellites that can
no longer be maintained in a fully geostationary orbit, but are still used fbr communications services, are referred to as inclined orir satellites. While they now need to have
tracking antennas at the earth terminals once the inclination becomes too large to allow
the satellite to remain r.,,,ithin the l-dB bearnrvidth of the earth station antennas, substantial additioral revenue can be earned beyond the normai lifetime of the sateiiite
Those sateilites that eventually reach significantly inclined orbits can also be used to
communicate to parts of the high latitude regions that were once beyond reach, but only
"
3a
cHAprER
for a limited part of the day. The exceptional reliability of electronic components in
space, once they have survived t}te launch and deployment sequences, has led spacecraft designers to manufacture satellites with two end-of-life criteria. These are: end of
design life (EODL), which ret'ers to the lifetirne expectancy of the payload components
and end of maneuvering life (EOML), which refers to the spacecraft bus capabilities,
in particular the anticipated lil-etime of the spacecraft with full maneuver capabilities in
longitude and inclination.
Current spacecraft are ciesigned with fuel tanks that have a capacity that usually
significantly exceeds the requirement for EODL. Once the final mass of the spacecraft
(without fuel) is known, a decision can be made as to how much additional fuel to load
so that the economics of the launch and the anticipated additional return on investlnent
can be balanced. Having additional. fuel on board the spacecraft can be advantageous
for many reasons, in addition to adding on-orbit lifetime. In many cases, satellites are
moved to new locations during their operational lifetime. Examples for this are opening up service at a new location with an older satellite or replacing a satellite that has
had catastrophic failure with a satellite from a location that has fewer customers. Each
maneuver, however, consumes tuel. A rule of thumb is that any change in orbital location for a geostationary sateliite reduces the maneuvering lifetirne by abot"lt 1 lnonth.
Moving the satellite's location by l'in longitude takes as much additional fuel as Inoving the location by I80": both changes require an acceleration burn, a drift phase, and
a deceleration burn. The 180' location change n'ill clearly take longer. since the drift
rates are the same in both cases. Another use for additional fuel is to allow for orbital
perturbations at anY location.
Th
thr
bit
lut
ela
fer
c1-
m:t
Lo
Ef
Th,
tri
MC
noi
tor
ave
c0r
tori
Tht
spe
rvit
2.3
nor
the
ORBITAL PERTURBATIONS
The orbital equations developed in Section 2.1 modeled the earth and the satellite as point
masses influenced only by gravitational attraction. Under these ideal conditions, a "Keplerian" orbit results, which is an ellipse whose properties are constant with time. In practice, e satellite and the earth respond to many other influences including asyrnmetry of
the earth's gravitational field, the gravitational fields of the sun and the moon, and solar
radiation prssure. For low earth orbit satellites, atrnospheric drag can also be importanl
All of these interfering forces cause the true orbit to be different from a simple Keplerian ellipse; if unchecked, they would cause the subsatellite point of a nominally geosynchronous satellite !o move with time.
Historically, much attention has been given to techniques for incorporating additional perturbing forces into orbit descriptions. The approach normally adopted for communications satellites is fust to derive an osculating orbit far some instant in time (the
Keplerian orbit the spacecraft would follow if all perturbing forces were removed at that
time) with orbital elements (a, e, t* O, j, ar). The pernrrbations aro assumed to cause the
satr
wil
wa!
the
off
on'
celt
riur
poi
Ifa
AY
at tl
hiII.
orbital elements to vary with time and the orbit and satellite location at any instant are
and
taken from the osculating orbit calculated with orbital elements corresponding to that time.
To visualize the process, assume that the osculating orbital elements at time to arc (a6, e,
fp, f}0, i0, are). Then assume that the orbital elements vary linearly wi time at constant
rates given by (da/dt, de/dt, etc.). The satellite's position at any time /1 is then calculated
from a Keplerian orbit with elements
any
as
da.
\tt -
r,eo
de
\tt -
t. etc.
252
slig
poit
onc
(cer
gral
ag(
..*.,
:.::,-1i1.ff..i,
components in
, has led spacehese are: end of
oad comPonents
bus capabilities,
:r capabilities in
city that usuallY
rf the spacecraft
cnal fuel to load
'n on investment
rc advantageous
es, satellites are
satellite as point
nditions, a "Kepith time. In pracng asymmetry of
moon, and solar
lso be important.
a simple Kepler-
,tsg
This approach is particularly useful in practice because it permits the use of either
theoretically calculated derivatives or empirical values based on satellite observations.
As the perturbed orbit is not an ellipse, some care must be taken in defining the orbital period. Since the satellite does not retufn to the same point in space once pr revolution. the quantity most frequently specified is the so-called anomalistic period: the
elapsed time betrveen successive perigee passages. In addition to the orbit not being a perfect Keplerian ellipse, there will be other influences that will cause the apparent position
of a -qeostationary satellite to change with time. These can be viewed as those causing
rnainly longitudinal changes and those that principally affect the orbital inclination.
Longitudinal Changes:
Effects of the Earth's Oblateness
The earth is neither a perfect sphere nor a perfect ellipse; it can be better described as
triaxial ellipsoidr . The earth is flattened at the poles; the equatorial diameter is about 20 kn'r
more than the average polar diarneter. The equatorial radius is not constant, although the
noncircularity is sm:all: the radius does not vary by more than about 100 m around the equa-
torr. In addition to these nonregular features of the earth, there are regions where
the
average densit, of the earth appears to be higher. These are referred to as regions of mass
concentrarion or Mctscons. Th" ryrphgJg of the earth, th. ,tglgulu.iy of the equatorial radius, ar.rd rhe Masconslead-to a rtg-udf-o-rr-glaJllalreua!-figlg*alggtd-"t}-g-eal-thThe force on an orbiting satellite will therefore vary with positionFor a low earth orbit satellite, the rapid change in position of the satellite with respect to the earth's surface will lead to an averaging out of the penurbing lorces in iine
with the orbital velocity vector. The same is not true for a geostationary (or geosynchroncus) satellite.4. gggqfong_ry_"8U1lg.igC-ry]gylrS!.is-q!1, The smallest force on
the satellite will cause it to accelerate and then drift away from its nominal location. The
satellite is required to maintain a constant longitudinal position over the equator, but there
will generally be an additional force toward the nearest equatorial bulge in either an eastward or a westward direction along the orbit plane. Since this will rarely be in line with
the main gravitational force toward the earth's center, there will be a resultant component
of force acting in the same direction as the satellite's velocity vector or against it, depending
on e precise position of the satellite in the GEO orbit. This will lead to a resultant acceleration or deceleration component that varies with longitudinal location of the satellite.
Due to the position of the Mascons and equatorial bulges, there are four equibrium poiqg in the geostationary orbit: tyg-g"-thea[sfahland#s-gLs-lable. The stable
p[nTlre analogous to the bottom of a valley, and the unstable points to the top of a hill.
If a ball is perched on top of a hill, a small push will cause it to roll down the slope into
a valley, where it will roll backwards and forwards until it gradually comes to a final stop
at the lowest point. The satellite at an unstable orbital location is at the top of a gravity
hill. Given a small force, it will drift down the gravity slope into the gravity well (valley)
and frnally stay there, at the stable position. The stable points are at about 75o E and
252' E and the unstable points are at around 162" E and 348" E1. If a satellite is perturbed
slightly from one of the stable points, it will tend to drift back to the stable point without
any thruster firings required. A satellite that is perturbed slightly from one of the unstable
points will immediately begin to accelerate its drift toward the nearer stable point and,
once it reaches this point, it will oscillate in longitudinal position about this point until
(centuries later.) it stabilizes at that point. These stable points are sometimes called the
graveyard geosynchronous orbit locations (not to be confused with the graveyard orbit for
a geosynchronous satellite, which is the orbit to which the satellite is raised once the
40
CHAPTER
satellite ceases to be useful). Note at, due to the nonsphericity of the earth, etc., the stable points are neither exactly l80o apart, nor are the stable and unstable points precisely
T,
90o apart.
Sr
lnclination Changes:
Effects of the un and the Moon
The plane of the earth's orbit around the sun-the ecliptir:-is at an inclination of 7.3' to
the equatorial plane of the sun (Figure 2.1-1). The earth is titled about 23" away from the
normal to the ecliptic. The moon circles the earth with an inclination of around 5o to the
equatorial plane of the earth. Due to the fact that the various planes-the sun's equator.
the ecliptic, the earth's equator (a plane normai to the earth's rotational axis), and thc
moon's orbital plane around the earth-are all different, a satellite in orbit around the earth
will be subjected to a vuiety ol out-of-plane forces. That is, there will generally be a net
acceleration force that is not in the plane of the satellite's orbit, and this will tend to tr_r,
Io chiinge the inclination of the sateilite's orbit from its initial inclination. Llnder rhese
conditions. the orbit rvill precess and its inclination will change.
The rnass of the sun is significantly larger than that of the moon but the moon is considerably closer to the earlh than the sun (see -fable 2.2). For this reason. the acceleration
fbrce induced by the moon on a -eeostationary satellite is about twice as large as that of the
sun. The net effect of the acceleration forces induced by the moon and the sun on a
rja
ge
ol
ral
ilg
slil
(u.
o1'
rvl
tia
clir
rhi
_\'e
Moon
fue
in
for
nec
to2
Thi
grei
oft
con
clin
sate
FIGURE 2.14 Relationship between the orbtal planes of the sun, moon, and earth. The
plane of the earth's orbit around the sun isthe ecliptic. The geostationary orbit plane (the
earth's equatorial plane) is about 23" out of the ecliptic, and leads to maximum out-ofgeostationary-orbit-plane forces at the solstice periods (approximately June 21 and
December 21). The orbt of the moon is inclined about 5" to the earth's equatorial plane. The
moon revolves around the earth in 27.3 days, the earth (and the geostationary satellite)
rotates once about 24 h, and the earth revolves around the sun every 365.25 days. ln
addtion, the sun-which has a greater girth at the equator than at the poles-has its equator
inclined about 7.3' to the ecliptic. All of these various angular differences and orbital periods
lead to conditions where all of the out-of-plane gravitational forces are in one drection with
respect to the equatorial (geostationary orbitali plane at a given time as well as to conditions
where the various gravitational out-of-plane forces partiaily cancel each other out. The
precessional forces that cause the nclination of the geosiationary satellite's orbit to move
away from the equatoral plane therefore vary with time.
sot
in l
rect
neu,
bur
char
reas
of
ar
of
a.
abot
attin
the r
to
c(
2.3 OREITAL
TABLE
2.2
41
Mean
radius
Sun 696,000 km
Moon 3,476 km
Earth 6,378.14 km
of 7.3o to
l" away frorn the
PERTURBANONS
Mass
333,432 units
0.012 units
1.0 units
km
years
Spin period
25.04 earth days
The orbit radius refers to the center of the home galaxy (Milky Way) for the sun, center
of earth for the moon, and center of the sun for the eah, respectively.
Lnation
al axis), and
the
. the accelelation
trge as that of the
nd the sun on
geostationary satellite is to change the plane ofthe orbit at an initial averase rate ofchanse
o1'0.S5"/ycar from the equatorial planer.
When both thc sun and moon are acting on the sanre sidc ol the satellitc's orbit. the
rate of change of the plane of the geostationary satellite's orbil will be higher than average. Whe n they are on opposite sides of the orbit, the rate of change of the piane of thc
stellite's orbit will be less than average. Examples of rnaxirrurn years are 1988 and 20{l
10.94'lyear) and cxartples of nrinimurn ycars are 1997 and 2015 $.l5"lyear)r. These rrle-r
of change are neither constant with time nor with inclination. They are at a nraxinir.im
u,hen the inclination is zero and they are zero when the inclination is 1.1.67". Fon'r an initial zero inclination, the plane of the geostationary orbit will change to rr maxirnulr inclination of 14.61" over 26.6 years. The acceleration tbrces lviil then chan-qe direction at
this maxinum inclination and the orbit inclination will move back to zero in another 26.6
vears and out to - 14.67" over a further 26.6 years, and so rn.
In sorne cases, to increase the orbital maneuver lif'etirne of a satellite for a sivet't
fuel load, rnission planners deliberately place a satellite planned fclr geostationary orbit
into an initial orbit with an inclination that is substantially larger than the nominal 0.05'
for a geostationary satellite. The launch is specifically timed, however, so as to set up the
necessary precessional forces that will automatically reduce the inclination "error" to close
to zero over the required period without the use of any thruster firings on the spacecraft.
This will increase the maneuvering iifetime of the satellite at the expense of requiring
greater tracking by the larger earth terrninals accessing the satellite for the hrst year or so
nd earth. The
lry satellite)
5 days. ln
lillll
irliri
:t,i
42
cHAprER
mid-1990s, one of the heaviest items that was carried into orbit on a large satellite was
the fuel to raise and control the orbit. Abqut 9Q7o g-f lhiq fuel load, once on orbit, was to
control the inclination of the sateltite. Newer rocket motors, particularly arc jets and ion
thrusters, offer increased efficiency with lighter mass. In generai, these low thrust, high
efficiency rocket rnotors are used for N-S tllaneuvers leaving the liquid propellant thrusters,
with their inherently higher thrust (but lower efficiency) for orbit raising ancl in-planc
changes. In order to be able to calculate the required orbit maneuver lor a given satellitc,
the controliers irust have an accurate knowledge of the satellite's orbit. Orbrt delemrination is a malor aspe ct of satellite control.
EXAMPLE
2.5
Satellite
a circular equatorial orbit closc to geosynchronous altitudc. Thc quasiGEO satellite. horve','cr. dtcs not have a per-iod of one sidereal day: its orbital period is exactly
A quasi-GEO sar!.llir is in
2-1
h-one
(i)
(ii )
(iii)
the ratc of drilj :round thc e.lurtor rf lhc subsatcllitc point in de_srecs per (so1ar de,.
An obsen'er on the rrrrth sees that the satellitc is driliin._e across thc sk)/.
Is the satellite moving toward the east ol'toward the rvestl
Answer
Pan (i) The orbital radius is ibund fiom Eq. (2.21). as in u'orked Example 2.1.1. Equation (1.11) gives the squarr' of the orbital period in seconds (remembering that I here is one solar day)
T)
Rearranging the equation. the orbital radius
_ (4)aJ)/p
r
is given by
: T)p/(4rr) : (86,400)r x
: 7.537 1216 x 10rr kmr
:
42-241.095 km
a
u'
3.986004418
x lo'/hr:
(ii)
The orbital period of the satellite (one solar day) is longer than a sidereal day by 3 min
55.9 s : 235.9 s. This will cause the subsateliite point to drift at a rate of 360" x 235.9/86400 per
day or 0.983' per day.
Part (iii) The earth moves toward the east at a faster rate than the satellite, so the drift will appear
I
to an observer on the earth to be toward the west.
Parf
I
I
t
i
I
I
t
r
2.4
OBBIT DETERMINATION
i
I
I
t
t
t
I
I
I
I
i
I
:
I
I
I
I
i
a
t
I
t
I
[*.
',,r,,.
q_,.
"-
ryf,.:_:r;.
,]
systems.
rropellant thrusters,
2.5
tr a given
satellite.
t. Orbit determina-
r (solar)
da).
235.9/864A0 per
A satellite cannot be placed into a stable orbit unless two parameters that are uniquely
coupled together-the velojEJ"gg.tor and the o:IslJ.lgb-are simultaneously correct.
There is little point in obtaining the correct height and not having the appropriate velocity cornponent in the correct direction to achieve the desired orbit. A geostationary satellire, for example, must be in an orbit at a height of -3-.786.0-i km above the surtace of the
earth (:+2,164. I7-km radius from the center of the earth; uith an inclination ol zero degrees. an ellipticity of zero, and a velocity of 307-1.7 m/s tangential to the earth in the
plane of the orbit, which is the eafth's equatorial piane. The iurther out from the earth the
orbit is. the greater the energy required frorn the launch vehicle tr reach that orbit. In any
eanh satellite launch, the largest fraction ofthe energy expended b the rocket is used to
accelerate the vehicle fron rest until it is about 20 miles (31 kln)abole the earth. To make
the most efficient use of the fuel, it is comrnon to shed excess mass fiom the launcher as
it moves upward on launch: this is called staging. Fi-eure 2. 1-5 _eir e; a schematic of a Proton
launch from the Russian Baikonur complex at Kazakhstan. near T,uratam.
Most launch vehicles have multiple stages and. as each stage is completed. that portion ofthe launcher is expended until the final stage places the satellite into the desired trajectory. Hence the term'. e.tpendnble launch vehicle (ELV).The Space Shuttle. called the
Stace Trutsportatiott System (SfS) by NASA, is partially reusable. The solid rocket boosters
are recovered and refurbished for future missions and the shunle vehicle itself is flown
back to earth for refurbishment and reuse. Hence the term: reusable launch vehicle (RLV)
for such launchers. More advanced launch vehicles are being developed that would provide both single stage to orbit (SSIO) and RLV capabilities. The )'iASA series of X-33 and
X-34 test vehicles form the public portion of this quest (see the NASA home pagea).
F%
a#
.
etermine uniquely
ite, and hence calt within the nomi-
05:34 Payload
fairing jeison
;,"?"1i'j^*'" iii[i',n"
05:41 2ndstage
separation
06:10 3rd stage
ignition
Separation/
FIGURE
2.15
2s:oo4th
ctrApTER
There are also a number of private ventures that aim to achieve RLV capabilities in
e first decade of the twenty-first century. T[vo excellent web sites to keep abreast of
these, and related space issues, are those maintained by spaceviews6 and orbrepofT. of
equal importance to the orbital height the satellite is intelied for ii tliij-i"tination of the
orbit that the spacecraft needs to be launched into.
The earth spins toward the east. At the equator, the rotational velocity of a sea level
site in the plane of the equator is (2z x radius of the garth)l(one sidereal day) : 0.4651
knvs. This velocity increnrenl is approxirnately 1000 mph (-1610 km/h). An easrerly
launch trom the equator has a velocity increment of 0.465 km/s imparted by the rotation
of the earth. A satellite in a circular, equatorial orbit at an altitude of 900 km requires an
orbital velocity of about Z4*(nls-tangential to the surface of rhe earrh.Xl-6;re1aii?
fiom the equator needs to irnpart an additional velocity of (7.4 - 0.4i) km/s : 6.93 km/s:
in other rvords, the equatorial launch has reduced the energy required by about 6Vo.This
equatorial launch "bonus" led to the concept of a sea launch by Hughes and Boeing8. If
the launch is not to he intc an equatorial orbit. the payload capabilities ofany given rocket
uili reduce as the inclination increases.
A sate.llite launched into a prograde orbit from a latitude of @ degrees will enter an
orbit with an inclination of @ degrees to the equator. If the satellite is intended for geostationarv orbit, the satellite must be given a signihcant velocity increment to reorient the
orbit into the earth's equatorial plane. For example, a satellite launched from Cape
Canaveral at 28.5" N latitude requires a velocity increment of 366 rrls to attain an equatorial orbit from a geosynchonous orbit plane of 28.5'. Ariane is launched from the Guiana
Space Center in French Guiana, located at latitude 5' S in South America, and Sealaunch
can launch from the equator. The lower latitude of these launch sites results in significant
savings in the fuel used by the apogee kick motor (AKM).
o
(o
{/t
r)
Gs
rof-!
(
c, r
rA
*iry.*.-,
RLV capabilities in
to keep abreast of
and OrbreportT. Of
e inclination of the
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of an given rocket
0.4651
easterlY
kri/h). An
'ted by the rotation
)00 km requires an
A rocket launched
kn/s : 6.93 km/s:
by about 6Vo.This
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45
46
CHAPTER
TI
$M
200
Pr
180
Re
160
De
140
120
100
Atlas ll
ia o
Atlas llAS
Atlas llA
Ariane
BO
Long March 3B
Ariane 5
++L
Sp
|rl I
F.t"" Dfa
Zenit
60
tr^
40
II(
Sul
Lat
Av
20
0
.1
Ma
12
FIGURE 2.17 Launch vehicle market price vs performance, 1996 prices (after reference 5).
The launch vehicles have been normalized to a launch into geostationary transfer orbit at an
inclination of 28". The trend line for launchers is shown as $12,000 per pound. Note that
Long March, Zenit, and Proton are well below this trend line, mainly due to aggressive pricing objectives to break into a market long dominated by U.S. and European launchers.
s25
Rus
flec
used for Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) injection during the 1990s. plus the Ariane 5
launcher. The 1996 pricing of these vehicles is shown in Figure 2.17. Not included in these
data are the advanced Chinese launch vehicles being developed for both unmanned and
manned missions in the twenty-fi.rst century. The largest of these Chinese launch vehicles
rivais the Ariane 5 vehicle with a geostationary transfer orbit capability of 26,000 lb.
was
GT(
laur
the
and
tury
TABLE
to
{kgl
Weight
Launcher
Ariane 44
Ariane 5
Atlas llAS
Atlas lllA
orbit
cost
($Ml
Total
payload Launch
{m) lattude ('}
Lead time
Max.
(months}
diameter
4000
130
36
3.65
6800
120
Jb
4.57
5.2
100
36
3.45
28.5
4120
125
36
4.19
28.5
Atlas lllB
4500
135
48
4.19
28.5
Atlas V
Delta lll
Delta lV(small)
Delta lV(med.)
Delta lV(heavy)
6500
48
5.40
28.5
3800
130
36
4.00
28.7
2177
60*
120*
36*
36*
3.00
28.7
4.00
48n
5.00
4500
400*
260
36
3.65
28.6
5700
435
48
4-57
28.6
4800
80
z4
3_68
51.6
Itan
-l'itan
lll
lV
Proton M
4173
13200
Laur
tra
3700
50*
varir
Pric
. Reli
Dep
28.7
Perf,
28.7
'Spai
. Fligi
. Safe
. Laur
. Avail
. Marl
val--s.
The Atlas V and Proton M vehicles are planned for operational flights beginning in 2002 or
2003. The Delta V family of launch vehicles will become operational from 2002 to 2004.
FIGUI
given
'...
Bi1fs''.'i
,P
I
TABLE
2.4
vEHtcLEs
,4V
Price/cost
Reliability
13.9 ---+Ariane 5
.4L
:nit3
{
rl
Safety issues
Launch site location
FffiD-l*I
Availability
What is the launcher Lracklog of orders?
What is the launch site backlog of launches?
Market issues
What will the market bear at this particular time?
1a
fter reference
5).
?nsfer orbt at an
included in these
th unmanned and
,e launch vehicles
of 26,000 lb.
se
44
It can be seen frorn Figure 2.17 that there was a well-established trend line of about
525,000 per k_u into GTO prior to the introd-Lrction of the Chinese Lclg March and the
BUSsian Z_enit and Prolon vehicies. The pricing of the Chinese and Russian launchers retlected an agqressjve marketing strategy to break into the launch services he1d. Ariane 5
was the tlrst of the next-generation launchers aimed at both large, single payloads into
GTO and rnultiple payload injection into LEO.and MEO. Some more next-generatlon
launchers are shown in Table 2.3 on the previous page. It is anticipated that the bulk of
the large satellite launches will be conducted with Atlas V, Delta IV and Ariane vehicles
and their Russian and Chinese equivalents over the first 2 decades of the twenty-first century. The decision on which particular rockei to use in a given situation wili depend on a
variety of factors. Some of these are set out inTable 2.4.
The decision-making routine using the above criteria is shown in Figure 2.18.
Launch
titude {"}
5.2
5.2
28.5
28.s
28.5
28.5
28-7
. Pricelcost
. Fteliability
- Flecent
28.7
28.7
28.7
28.6
28.6
5 t.b
2or
t.
failures
. Pedormance
. Spacecraft flt
Flight proven
. Safe
,,
'
llt*'
;
I
48
cHAprER
't
.
'
GEo
FIGURE 2.f
lllustration of the
(AI
nati
Some of the launch vehicles deliver the spacecraft directly to geostationary orbit
(called a direct-insertion launch) while others inject the spacecraft into a geostationary
transfer orbit (GTO). Spacecraft launched into GTO must carry additional rocket motors
and/or propellant to enable the vehicle to reach the geostationary orbit. There are three
basic ways to achieve geostationary orbit.
Ge
rath
utes
bun
the
ing
hou
sola
Syncom,
in
raisr
apol
lon
bit,
orbi
to r:
the
Di
the l
the r
ifs o
an-
2.6
oRt
SYSTEM
Dol
Toa
mittt
lllustration of the
.
1l
ll
l'
tr
\rl
(AKM). The AKM is used both to circularize the orbit at GEO and to remove any inclination error so that the final orbit of the satellite is very close to geostationary'
qeostationary orbit
rto a geostationary
rlnal rocket motors
rit. There are three
raer than employ an apogee kick motor that imparts a I iqorous acceleration over a few minof
utes, the spacecraft thrusters are used to raise the orbit from GTO to GEO over a number
(so
to
infringe
not
as
the
GTO
during
burns. Since the spacecraft cannot be spin-stabilized
the
the Hughes patent), many of the satellite elemnts are deployed while in GTO, including
raisorbit
powerful
more
for
one
thrusters:
of
sohr pLels. 1'he satellite has two power levels
ing maneuvers and one for on-orbit (low thrust) maneuvers. Since the thrusters take many
gradually
hours of operaon to achieve the geostationary orbit, the perigee of the orbit is
the
about
symmetrically
occur
fuings
raised over successive fhruster firings. The thruster
min
to
80
60
typically
are
The
bums
well.
perigee
IS
apogee alttrough they could occur at the
tong on succeisive orbits and up to six orbits can be used. Figure 2.20 illustrates th processI the first two cases, AKM and slow orbit raising, the GTO may be a modified orbit with the apogee well above the required altitude for GEO. The excess energy of the
orbit due to the higher-than-necessary altitude at apogee can be traded for energy required
to raise the perigee. The net enelgy to circularize e orbit at GEO is therefore less and
2.6
,ir
lrll
l
50
cHAprER
lruNcHERs
frequency that the transmitter would send when at rest) isfi, the received frequency/ is
higher than/r when the transmitter is moving toward the receiver and lower thanfi'when
the transmitter is moving away from the receiver. Mathematically, the relationship [Eq.
(2.44a)l between the transmitted and received frequencies is
.f'*-.f,
f. -
re
A./- Yl
.f ,'
t,
(2.14a
i ),
Lf:Vf/c:V/t
(2.44b)
VC
where V1 is the component of the transmitter velocity diected toward the receiver. u, : c
the phase velocity of light (2.9979 X lOs : 3 X 10E m/s in free space), and,tr is the u'avelength of the transrnitted signal. If the transmitter is moving away from the receir er. then
7 is negative. This change in frequency is called fhe Doppler shi;t't,the Doppler etf'ect, or
more coll-ulonly just "Doppler" after the Gemran physicist who first studied the phenomenon in sound waves. For LEO srtellites, Doppler shift can be quite pronounced. requiring
the use of frequency-tracking receivers. For geostationa+' safellites, the effect is negligible'
Er
o[-
sit
of
1or.v earth orbit satellitc is in a circular polar orbit with an altitude, ft.
on the sateilite has a frequency of 2.65 GHz-. Find
(i)
(ii)
oi
1000 km.
A tlnsmitter
LE
bur
CAI
in.o
The component of velocity toward an tbserver at an earth station as the satellite appears over
the horizon, for an observer vvho is in the plane of the satellite orbit.
(iii) Hence, find the Doppler shift of the received signal at the earth station. Use a mean earth ra-
(iv)
Sc
As
is.
OCC
l\nswer
T2:14n2a3)/u
T2
:4r2 x
:
T:
ecli
(6378
3.977754
6306.94
107
1000)3/3.986004418
lOs
erat
46,357.3
where
46,357.3/6306.94
7.350 km/s
(ii) The component of velocity toward an observer in the plane of the orbit as e satellite apt-r. cos0, where d is the angle between the satellite velocity
pears over the horizon is given by
at
the satellite. The angle 0 can be found from simple geomof
the
observer
direction
vector and the
Parf
,, :
etry to be
cos0
: r./(r"-r h):
6378/7378
0.8645
u,:
(ii
ofd
the
cov(
a,
D,cos6
6.354knils
6354 m/s
The Doppler shilt of the received signal is given by Eq. (2.44b). Hence, for this satellite and observer, with a transmitter frequency of 2.65 GH4 ,\ : 0.1132 m, and the Doppler shift
Prt
earl
s2
abo
enc
pow
ofc
tull)
eclitr
cons
of
dr
pOwt
exits
tivel
is su
ler
rTr!-ffiwl,i
,ed frequency/R is
Af
vr/
6354rcJ13.2: 56,130 Hz
5I
56'130 kHz
Part (iv) A Ka-band transmitter with frequency 20.0 GHz has a wavelength of 0.015 m. The corresponding Doppler shift at the receiver is
Lf : w/t:
(2'44a)
6354/0.015
423.60 kHz
Doppler shilt at Ka band with a LEO satellite can be lery large and requires a fast frequencytracking receiver. Ka-band LEO satellites are better suited to widebnd signals than narrowband
(2.44b)
re receiver, Dp: c
and tr is the waver the receiver, then
Doppler effect, or
died the phenomenounced, requiring
ffect is negligible.
:)0
km. A transmitter
volce communlcatlons
Range Variations
Even with the best station-keeping systems available for geostationary satellites, the position
of a sarellite wirh respect to the earth exhibits a cyclic daily variation. The variation in position will lead to a variation in range between the satellite and user terminals. If time division multiple access (TDMA) is being used, caretul attention must be paid to the timing
of the frarnes within the TDMA bursts (see Chapter 6) so that the individual user frames
arrive at the satellite in the conect sequence and at the correct time. Range variations on
LEg satellites can be significant, as can path loss variations. Whiie guard times between
bursts can be increased to help in any range and/or timing inaccuracies, this reduces the
capacity of the transponder. The on-board capabilities of some satellites permit both timing control of the burst sequence and polver level control of individual user streams.
Solar Eclipse
it eclipse when the earth prevents sunlight from reaching it, that
is, when the satellite is in the shadow of the earth. For geostationary satellites, eclipses
occur during two periods that begin 23 days before the equinoxes (about March 21 and
about September 23) and end 23 days after the equinox periods. Figure 2.21 from tefetence 11 and Figure 2.22from reference 12 illustrate the geometry and duration of the
eclipses. Eclipses occur close to the equinoxes, as these are the times when the sun, the
earlh, and the satellite are all nearly in the same planeDuring full eclipse, a satellite receives no power from its solar array and it must opfrom its batteries. Batteries are designed to operate wi a maximum depth
entirely
erate
e
better e battery, the lower the percentage depth of discharge can be. If
discharge;
of
below its maximum depth of discharge, the battery may not reis
discharged
the battery
once recharged. The depth of discharge therefore sets the
capacity
to
full
operational
cover
power drain mit during ecpse operations. Nickel-Hydrogen batteries, long the mainstay
of communications satellites, can operate at about a 1A% depth of discharge and recover
A satellite is said to be
ierver.
satellite in orbit is
r.r,
rit
eclipse operations to ensur the best battery performarce during the eclipse. The routines
consist of deberately discharging the ba[eries until they are close to their maximum depth
of discharge, and then fully recharging the batteries just before eclipse season begins.
The eclipse season is a design challenge for spacecraft builders. Not only is the main
power source *ithdru*n (the sun) but also the rapidity with which the satellite enters and
exits the shadow can cause extreme changes in both power and heating effects over relatively short periods. Just like a cortlmon light bulb is more likely to fail when the current
is switched on as opposed to when it is under steady state conditions, atellites can suf-
fer many of their component failures under sudden stress situations. Eclipse periods are
52
CHAPTER
the
me
t
Earth
shadow
Sun
Du
()n
of'
Earth
s{it
wit
(4
the
terl
Geostatonary orbit
70 B0 90 .100
60
80
occ
10
260 270
Full
280
290
shadow
7A
,.:
950
il
o
E
o
an
ul
30
\\
t,
.C
.s
60
Half
shadow
.C
E50
il
E+o
6
so
20
10
11
21
31 10
March
April
Date
20
2871727717
August September
FIGI
does
October
Date
the
behi
SUN
cies
ten n
therefore monitored carefully by ground controllers, as this is when most of the equipment failures are likelY to occur.
unications bY
)r Saddle River,
arch 21 and
,.e far sde of the
, it
will
The sun
Pass
year
f the
270 280
290
Communicatons
sional
\ \/
\.7
//
27717
)tember
October
Date
Communicatians
ion, Upper Saddle
54
cHAprER
than one satellite at their disposal, traffic can be off-loaded to satellites that are just out
of, or are yet to enter, a sun outage. The outage in this situation can therefore be limited
as far as an individual user is concerned. However, the outages can be detrimental to operators comlnilted to operations during davlight hours.
PROBLE
1. Explain wl
mean q'ith re
earth.
-r
2.7
SUMMARY
dccreases. and the perioci oi the srltellite increases. Clculation procedures tbr obtainins the penod cl r srtel-
lrte and its velocitv are s.I out. lt is .ecn that Kepier's
constant. the product of thc universal graVitational
constant. G. ancl the nlass of the earth -11,.. i: funda
mental to n-iany of the equatirrns that eive the forces
on the satellite and thc relocitr ol the satellite in its
orbrt. Kepler's threc iil\\': j:.cribing the mtlion of tne
bodv orbitrn-s another ac girer, nii lhe ternllnology
employed in satellite ephemeri: data is erplained. The
relationship between the astronomers' use of Jrlia
dates and Julru r drzls and the L niversai Time Constant
3. http://www.stk.com
,1. The NASA liftoff home page is hnp:/Aiftoff.msfc.nasa.
gov/realtime/JTrack/Spacecraft .htm1 The home page allows you to see the Intemational Space Station, weather
and research satellites, ad the Shuttle track if it is in
orbit. The page specializing in three-dimensional graphical views of satellites is http://liftoff.msfc.nasa. gov/realtime/j tracU3d/J tracklC.hrnl
5. Private communication. EE -1&l-1 Sprin,e 1997. D.wto
WersH and Crlt Gnorrs.
6. http://ri'rvrv.spacevieu's.com
http://rvrvrv.orbrcport.com
sJl.iiai lJirnsp(-r:itior
8.
inl: jiry
ol
l-q
IR.
Hughes
and
centrills
its orbit.'
velocilr
Cl1r,r
o1' th,
su'er in knr/,r.
satellitc in this
utcs. and secr
of the carth i t
the valuc -l.tlE
2. A satcllir.:
termine:
a. The orhital
b. The orbrtal
c.
The orhitel
Note:
r\ssr"u-ne
6378.1-17 knr
-1.986()()l-+lY
3. The
sanre
circular orbit)
a. Deternrine
REFERENCES
7.
sarel1,1c
Thr rltitutl.
oi'ihe erli, i.
b. If
an earth
mean sea level
can receive tl
an elevation a
Doppler shifr t
clude the eartt
the marimum
cicular orbit.
4.
What are Kt
lau, of planerer
and apogee me
a satellite orhit
A sarellite i
has an apogee .
\\'hat is the orb
answer in hour:
PROBI."EMS
55
PROBLEMS
)imental to oP-
earth.
direction as the carth's rotation. Using a synthelic aperIure radr svstem. thc srtcllitii rvill store data on sur-
A satellile i: in
l'ece haronrctric prcssilrL'. and othcr u'cather rclated panllrcters. as it tlies o\!'rhead. Thcse data rl,ill latcr be
-of thc earth i.s 1-l()0 knr. il \\'hat arc thc ccntnfctal
MT. is gircn. Thc
t noon. uas itllrom to rnake tbser
he dal' changc tn
rbit is a comPlcr
e tiatte I of rcicr
velocity ol the satcllite in this orbit? Givc vounnswer in knr/s. iiil \\'hat is the orbital pcriod of the
satellitc in this orbit I Civc r our answer in hours. nlinutes, and seconds. \r)tc: A\surllc the avcra-ge ladius
of thc earth is 6-37E.1-17 krtt arttl Kcplcr'\ constanl llits
'ussed. Proccdurcs
. thc earth to a go0-
2. A satellitc
ridnight
t.
i'
termine:
sect'rt.td:
ancl
echnique. FinallY,
cit'cular orbit) canjes a 100-\4Hz transmittera. Determine the maximum frequency range over
which the eceived signai u'ould shift due to Doppler
effects if received by a stalionary observcr suitabil'
iocated in space. Noe: The frequency can be shifted
both up and down. depending on whether the satellite is moving toward or away from the observer. You
need to,determine lhe mdmun possible change in
frequency due to Doppler (i.e., 2A).
:e kick motor
at
in ref-
cations by Satellite,
eb site given
NJ. 1977.
Satellite
.S,1'sferns,
NJ,1978.
rital analysts tools,"
.. December 1, 1998.
rsoN, eds.. Space MisC., Kluu'er Academic
901-
1.
llst
2'1.
century
lnces." .,1r'iaion
trl''l'
Doppler shift that this station will observe. Note: Include the earth's rotation and be sure you consider
fhe marimtm possible Doppler shift for a 322-kr
circular obit.
are Kepler's three laws of planetary motion?
Give the mathematical foimulation of Kepler's third
laq, of pianetar)' motion. What do the terms perigee
and apogee mean u'hen used to describe the orbit of
a satellite orbiting the earth'l
A satellite in an elliptical orbit rround the elh
j
has an al-.i',tte ri 19. l!l l:nt :n'i : pr:-i-l'--e of 5rrr -:
\lihat rs the oriital period o this sa'.el1;tc'l Gire iour
answer in hours. Note: Assume the average radius of
the earth is 6178.137 km and Kepler's constant has
rhe value 3.986004418 x 105 kmr/s2.
4. What
radius of the earth is 6378.137 km and Kepler's constant has the value 3.986004418
105 krn3/s2.
7. For a variety of reasons, typical minimum elevation angles used by earth stations operating in the
commercial f-ixed services using satellites (FSS' communications bands are as follows: C band 5"; Ku band
le'; anri Ki .rnd ?2..
(ii Deieminr th": nraxirnurn and minimuu rairge
in kiiomelers fronr an earth staiion to a geotationLr)'
satellite in the three bands- (ii) To what round-trit
signal propagation times do these ranges correspond?
lrj{
li
56
cHAprER
You may assume the signal propagates with the velocity of light in a vacuum even when in the earth's
lower atmosphere.
geostationary communications
ray bending in the atmosphere may be ignored, processing delays on the satellites mav initially bc as
sumed to tre zero. the earth mav be assumed to bc
pcrfectly ciicuiar *,ith a flat (i.e.. not hilly) surlacc.
and the velocitv of the signals in free spacc (u'hethcr
in the earth's lower atntosphere or essentiallv in a vac-
8. Most commercial
satellite
tllult
9. An interactive experiment
(approximatelv
359.5' E, 53.5" N) and tl.rc Tcchnical Universit_v ol
Craz, Austr ia (approximately 15" E, 17 .5" N) that u,ill
make use of a geostationary satellite. The earth stations at both universities are consfrained to work only
above elevation angles of 20o due to buildings. etc.,
near their locafions. The ,eroups at the two universities need to tlnd a geostationary satellite that will be
vrsible to both universities simultaneously, with both
earth stations operatine at. or above, an eievation angle of 20". What is lhe mnge of sub-satellite points
between which the selected geostalionary satellite
must lie?
SAT
,\'1
lc
vacuum.
al
t()
in
5A
tai
lcr
tel
tl rl
LI,
pr(
In
i)r
ele
I
tur
sys
als,
suc
mu
sat(
nec
con
abo
ope
add
3.1
-
SA
The
plod
indir
Afl
This
corT(
that
,:t:l
surface of the
eafh,
of
SATELLITES
velocity of light in
:t t\'()
geostationuy
still communicatc
.th between the tu'o
rn
,
ln connected through
lites. equals 400 ms?
.ach earth stalion and
communicatins with
such as
e fiber at each
reliabilit.v-.
. l
end
addresses.
3.1
SATELLITE ST.IBYTEMS
an exThe major subsystems required on the satellite are given below. Figure 3.1 shows
the
subsystems
of
with
several
(GEO)
satellite
geostationary
ploded iier" ol a typical
indicated.
57