Satellite Communications

A satellite is a celestial body that orbits around a

planet.
A satellite radio repeater is called a transponder,
of which a satellite may have many.
The simplest type of satellite is a passive
reflector, which is a device that simply bounces
signals from one place to another.
The moon became the first passive satellite in
1954, when the U.S. Navy successfully
transmitted the first message over this Earth-tomoon-to-Earth communications system.
In 1957, Russia launched Sputnik 1, the first
active earth satellite.
An active satellite is capable of receiving,
amplifying,
reshaping,
regenerating,
and
retransmitting information.
In 1957, Russia launched Sputnik 1, the first
active earth satellite.
An active satellite is capable of receiving,
amplifying,
reshaping,
regenerating,
and
transmitting information.
Sputnik 1 transmitted telemetry information for
21 days. Later in the same year, the United
States launched Explorer 1, which transmitted
telemetry information for nearly five months.
In 1958, NASA launched Score, a 150-pound
conical-shaped satellite. With an on board tape
recording,
Score
rebroadcast
President
Eisenhowers 1958 Christmas message.
Score was the first artificial satellite used for
relaying terrestrial communications. Score was a
delayed repeater satellite as it received
transmissions from earth stations, stored them on
magnetic tape, and then rebroadcast them later
to ground stations farther along in its orbit.

In 1972, Canada launched its first commercial

satellite designated Anik, which is an Inuit word
meaning little brother.
In the United States today, a publicly owned
company called Communications Satellite
Corporation (Comsat) regulates the use and
operation of U.S. satellites and also sets their
tariffs.
A satellite remains in orbit because the
centrifugal force caused by its rotation around
Earth is counterbalanced by Earths gravitational
pull.
German astronomer Johannes Kepler (15711630) discovered the laws that govern satellite
motion.
Keplers first law states that a satellite will orbit
a primary body (like Earth) following an elliptical
path.
Keplers second law, enunciated with the first
law in 1609, is known as the law of areas.
Keplers second law states that for equal intervals
of time a satellite will sweep out equal areas in
the orbital plane, focused at the barycenter.
The velocity will be greatest at the point of
closest approach to Earth (known as the
perigee), and the velocity will be least at the
farthest point from Earth (known as the apogee).
Keplers third law, announced in 1619, is
sometimes known as the harmonic law. The
third law states that the square of the periodic
time of orbit is proportional to the cube of the
mean distance between the primary and the
satellite.
Nonsynchronous satellites rotate around Earth in
an elliptical or circular pattern.
If the satellite is orbiting in the same direction as
Earths rotation (counterclockwise) and at an
angular velocity greater than that of Earth, the
orbit is called a prograde or posigrade orbit.

In 1960, NASA in conjunction with Bell

Telephone Laboratories and the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory launched Echo, a 100-foot-diameter
plastic balloon with an aluminum coating.

If the satellite is orbiting in the opposite direction

as Earths rotation or in the same direction with
the angular velocity less than that of Earth, the
orbit is called a retrograde orbit.

The first transatlantic transmission using a

satellite was accomplished using Echo.

Most nonsynchronous satellites revolve around

Earth in a prograde orbit.

Also in 1960, the Department of Defense

launched Courier, which was the first
transponder-type satellite.

Most low earth orbit (LEO) satellites operate in

the 1.0-GHz to 2.5-GHz frequency range.
Motorolas
satellite-based
mobile-telephone
system, Iridium, is a LEO system utilizing a 66satellite constellation orbiting approximately 480
miles above Earths surface.

In 1962, AT&T launched Telstar1, the first active

satellite to simultaneously receive and transmit
radio signals.
Telstar 2 was used for telephone, television,
facsimile,
and
data
transmissions
and
accomplished the first successful transatlantic
video transmission.
The Syncom 3 satellite was used to broadcast
the 1964 Olympic Games from Tokyo.
Intelsat 1 (called Early Bird) was the first
commercial telecommunications satellite.
Intelsat
stands
for
International
Telecommunications Satellite Organization.
The former Soviet Union launched the first set of
domestic satellites (Domsats) in 1966 and
called them Molniya, meaning lightning.
Domsat are satellites that are owned, operated,
and used by a single country.

MEO satellites operate in the 1.2-GHz to 1.66GHz frequency band and orbit between 6000
miles and 12,000 miles above Earth.
NAVSTAR, is a MEO system with a constellation
of 21 working satellites and six spares orbiting
approximately 9500 miles above Earth.
Geosynchronous satellites are high-altitude
earth-orbit satellites operating primarily in the 2GHz to 18-GHz frequency spectrum with orbits
22,300 miles above Earths surface.
Most commercial communication satellites are in
geosynchronous orbit.
Geosynchronous or geostationary satellites
are those that orbit in a circular pattern with an
angular velocity equal to that of Earth.

Satellites in high-elevation, nonsynchronous

circular orbits between 19,000 miles and 25,000
miles above Earth are said to be in nearsynchronous orbit.
Apogee. The point in an orbit that is located
farthest from Earth
Perigee. The point in an orbit that is located
closest to Earth
Major axis. The line joining the perigee and
apogee through the center of Earth; sometimes
called line of apsides
Minor axis. The line perpendicular to the major
axis and halfway between the perigee and
apogee
All satellites rotate around Earth in an orbit that
forms a plane that passes through the center of
gravity of Earth called the geocenter.
Inclined orbits are virtually all orbits except
those that travel directly above the equator or
directly over the North and South Poles.
An equatorial orbit is when the satellite rotates
in an orbit directly above the equator, usually in a
circular path. All geosynchronous satellites are in
equatorial orbits.
A polar orbit is when the satellite rotates in a
path that takes it over the North and South Poles
in an orbit perpendicular to the equatorial plane.
The Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS) Molniya is an interesting orbital satellite
currently in use. Molniya can also be spelled
Molnya and Molnia, which means lightning in
Russian (in colloquial Russian, Molniya means
news flash). Molniya satellites are used for
government
communications,
telephone,
television, and video.
One sidereal day for Earth is 23 hours and 56
minutes. A sidereal day is sometimes called the
period or sidereal period.
Satellites remain in orbit as a result of a balance
between centrifugal and gravitational forces.
The process of maneuvering a satellite within a
preassigned window is called station keeping.
A geosynchronous earth orbit is sometimes
referred to as the Clarke orbit or Clarke belt,
after Arthur C. Clarke, who first suggested its
existence in 1945 and proposed its use for
communications satellites.
Angle of elevation (sometimes called elevation
angle) is the vertical angle formed between the
direction of travel of an electromagnetic wave
radiated from an earth station antenna pointing
directly toward a satellite and horizontal plane.
Azimuth is the horizontal angular distance from a
reference direction, either the southern or
northern most point of the horizon.
Azimuth angle is defined as the horizontal
pointing angle of an earth station antenna.
A spinner satellite uses the angular momentum
of its spinning body to provide roll and yaw
stabilization.
Three-axis stabilizer, the body remains fixed
relative to Earths surface, while an internal
subsystem provides roll and yaw stabilization.
The geographical representation of a satellite
antennas radiation pattern is called a footprint
or sometimes a footprint map. In essence, a

footprint of a satellite is the area on Earths

surface that the satellite can receive from or
transmit to.
Spot beams concentrate their power to very small
geographical areas and, therefore, typically have
proportionately higher EIRPs than those targeting
much larger areas because a given output power
can be more concentrated. Spot and zonal
beams blanket less than 10% of the Earths
surface.
Hemispherical downlink antennas typically target
up to 20% of the Earths surface and, therefore,
have EIRPs that are 3 dB or 50% lower than
those transmitted by spot beams that typically
cover only 10% of the Earths surface.
The wideband carrier power is the combined
power of the carrier and its associated
sidebands.
Gain-to-equivalent noise temperature ratio is
a figure of merit used to represent the quality of a
satellite or earth station receiver.
A link budget identifies the system parameters
and is used to determine the projected C/N and
E/N ratios at both the satellite and earth station
receivers for a given modulation scheme and
desired
P(e).

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Which of the following is the first

active satellite?
A.
Sputnik I
Which of the following is the first
commercial satellite?
A.
Early Bird
What is the first passive satellite
transponder?
A.
Early Bird
The first satellite to receive and
transmit simultaneously
A.
Telstar I
A helical antenna is used for satellite
tracking because of
A.
circular polarization
Repeaters inside communications
satellites are known as
A.
Transponders
Considered as the unsolved problem in
satellite system
A.
Privacy
___________ is a satellite that rotates
around the earth in a low-altitude
elliptical or circular pattern.
A.
Nonsynchronous satellite
Is the geographical representation of a
satellite antenna radiation pattern
A.
Footprint
The smallest beam of a satellite antenna
radiation pattern
A.
Spot beam
A satellite beam that covers almost
42.4% of the earths surface.
A.
Global beam
What is the frequency range of C-band?
A.
3.4 to 6.425 GHz
A satellite signal transmitted from a
satellite transponder to earths station.
A.
Downlink
Collects very weak signals from a
broadcast satellite
A.
Satellite dish
What is a device that detects both
vertically and horizontally polarized
signals simultaneously?
A.
Orthomode transducer
_________ detects the satellite signal
relayed from the feed and converts it to
an electric current, amplifies and lower
its frequency.
A.
LNA
Is a loss of power of a satellite
downlink signal due to earths
atmosphere.
A.
Path loss
What height must a satellite be placed
above the surface of the earth in order
for its rotation to be equal to earths
rotation?
A.
22,426.4 miles
Point on the satellite obits closest to the
earth.
A.
Perigee
The earth area covered by a satellite
radio beam.
A.
Footprint
What is the local oscillator (mixer)
frequency of the satellite with an uplink
frequency in GHz band?
A.
2225 MHz
What kind of battery panels are used in
some advance satellites
A.
Galium Arsenide solar panel
array
Satellite engine uses
A.
ion propulsion system
A satellite batter has more power but
lighter.
A.
Lithium
What kind of battery used by older
satellites?

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A.
Hydrogen
VSAT was made available in
A.
1979
What band does VSAT first operate?
A.
C-band
The first Philippine Mabuhay satellite
has how many channels?
A.
30
The first Philippine Agila I will have
how many transpoders.
A.
36
How may satellite orbital slots are
requested by the Philippine
Government from ITU?
A.
6
The location of AsiaSat I.
A.
105.5East
AsiaSat I covers how many countries in
Asia?
A.
38
The owner of AsiaSat 2 is
A.
China Great Wall Industry
Corporation
What is the approximate path loss from
satellite-to-earth station?
A.
200 dB
INTELSAT stands for
A.
International
Telecommunications Satellite
The frequency of Ku band for satellite
communications.
A.
14/11 GHz
A satellite cross-link means
A.
Satellite-to-satellite link
Earth station uses what type of antenna
A.
Cassegrain antenna
What is the delay time for satellite
transmission from earth transmitter to
earth receiver?
A.
0.5 s
The bandwidth of C-band satellite
frequency band in U.S.
A.
500 MHz
The most common device used as an
LNA is
A.
tunnel diode
The radiation patterns of earth coverage
antennas have a beamwidth of
approxiamately
A.
17
A mobile satellite array has usually
how many elements?
A.
14
In a typical mobile satellite array
antenna if three elements are activated,
how many elements are deactivated?
A.
11
What circuit is responsible in activating
and deactivating adjacent antenna
elements in a mobile satellite array?
A.
Radial divider
Most mobile satellite array uses
___________ in transforming 50 to 150
impedance.
A.
quarter-wavelength
transformer
The switching from one element to the
other element in a typical mobile
satellite array.
A.
Shunt
A method of multiple accessing where
a given RF channel bandwidth is
divided inot smaller frequency band.
A.
FDMA
What is the delay time for satellite
transmissions from earth transmitter to
earth receiver?
A.
0.5 s
As the height of a satellite orbit gets
lower, the speed of the satellite
_________.

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76.

A.
increases
The main function of a
communications satellite is a/ an
A.
repeater
The key electronic component in a
communications satellite is the
A.
transponder
A circular orbit around the equator with
a 24-h period is called a/an
A.
geostationary orbit
A satellite stay in orbit because the
following two factors are balanced
A.
Gravitational force and
centrifugal force
What is the height of a satellite in a
synchronous equatorial orbit?
A.
22,300 mi
Most satellites operate in which
frequency band?
A.
3 GHz to 30 GHz
The main power sources for a satellite
are
A.
solar cells
The maximum height of an elliptical
orbit is called the
A.
Apogee
Batteries are used to power all satellite
subsystems
A.
during eclipse periods
The satellite subsystem that monitors
and controls the satellite is the
A.
telemetry, tracking, and
command subsystem
What is the basic technique used to
stabilize a satellite?
A.
Spin
The jet thrusters are usually fired to
A.
maintain altitude
Most commercial satellite activity
occurs in which band(s)?
A.
C and Ku
How can multiple earth stations share
a satellite on the same frequencies?
A.
Frequency reuse
What is the typical bandwidth of a
satellite band?
A.
500 MHz
Which of the following is not usually a
part of a transponder are defined by the
A.
Modulator
The satellite communications channels
in a transponder are defined by the
A.
bandpass filter
The HPAs in most satellite are
A.
TWTs
The physical location of a satellite is
determined by its
A.
latitude and longitude
The receive GCE system in an earth
station performs what function(s)?
A.
Demodulation and
demultiplexing
Which of the following types of HPA is
not used in earth stations?
A.
Magnetron
What is the common up-converter and
down-converter IF?
A.
70 MHz
What type of modulation is used on
voice and video signals?
A.
FM
What modulation is normally used with
digital data?
A.
QPSK
B.
Which of the following is not a typical
output from a GPS receiver?
A.
Speed
The total space loss of transmission and
reception for two ground stations with
uplink frequency 8GHz and a downlink

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of 6 GHz with angle of elevations of 3

and 7 A respectively is
A.
403 dB
The maximum propagation delay of a
geostationary satellite is
A.
278 ms
The total propagation delay time from
transmission to reception of signals
from a ground transmitter to ground
receiver with angle of elevation at 10
degrees respectively is
A.
273 ms
A satellite which simply reflects the
signal without further amplification
A.
Passive satellite
Essentially a satellite ___________ is
a radio repeater in the sky
A.
transponder
Satellite the orbits in a circular pattern
with an angular velocity equal to that of
the earth
A.
Geostationary
Satellite that provide services within a
single country
A.
Domsat
The round-trip propagation delay
between two earth stations through a
geosynchronous satellite is
A.
500 to 600 ms
The signal path from earth station
satellite
A.
Uplink signal
Designed to receive a signal from a
transmitting station on the ground and
retransmit it to a receiving station
located elsewhere
A.
Communication satellite
The signal path from satellite to earthbased receiver.
A.
Downlink signal
A satellite position is measured by its
__________ angle with respect to the
horizon.
A.
elevation
The ________ angle measures the
satellite position clockwise from the
direction of true north.
A.
azimuth
incidentally propose the geostationary
scheme or orbit of the satellite in 1940s
A.
Arthur Clarke
B.
Carl Friedrich Gauss
C.
Samuel Morse
D.
Stephen Gray
When the satellite are spaced 4 of the
360 complete circle, how many
parking spaces or orbit slots are
available?
A.
90
The control routine necessary to keep
the satellite in position is referred to as
A.
station keeping
Refers to the satellite orientation with
respect to the earth
A.
Satellite altitude
The first intelsat satellite that was
launched in 1965 was named
A.
Early Bird I
The first satellite launched for a
geosynchronous orbit but unfortunately
lost during orbit injection
A.
Syncom I
When the elevation angle of a
geostationary satellite is 23 and the
transmitting frequency is 3840 MHz,
what is the free space loss in dB?
A.
196 dB
What is the propagation delay when a
signal is transmitter by an earth station
to a geosynchronous satellite about

97.

98.

99.

100.

38,500 km above earths equator and

then received by the same earth station?
A.
256 msec
What is the free space attenuation of a
satellite communications system
operating at 36,000 km above the earth
at 5.0 GHz?
A.
198 dB
Which of the following is the most
common application of satellite?
A.
Communications
Descending pass for a satellite means a
pass from
A.
North to South
Geostationary stationary satellites are
located ___________ with respect to
the equator.
A.
0 latitude