King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals

Electrical Engineering Department

EE 672 Satellite Communication (141)
Course Project
Due Date: Sunday, 21 December 2014

Introduction

Satellite technology is considered to be one of the technologies that have experienced tremendous growth
over the past 60 years or so since the launch of the first satellite by the Soviet Union (Sputnik). The
technology has since been progressing at a very fast pace that is matched by only few other technologies.
The advancement of satellite technology is partially attributed to the big explosion in communication
services nowadays. Another attributing factor is the advancement in different technologies that found the
use of satellites to be very appealing. In fact, with the advancement in terrestrial communications, often
satellite communications is found to be a relatively very expensive choice for many communication
systems. Nevertheless, the freedom that using satellites brings to some technologies makes the use of
satellites a technology that is difficult to compete with.

Project Description

In this course project, you are asked to write a term paper about one of the many technologies and trends
that are associated with satellites. You will submit your report at the beginning of Week 15 of the
semester (Sunday, 21 December 2014) and will present your work during the two lecture of that week.
You can pick from the list of topics given below or choose a topic on your own (recommended). If you
pick a topic that is outside the list, you must get permission first. I suggest you investigate first before
committing to a specific topic. You may always change to a different topic later but it is much easier to
find a topic that will work for you rather than jumping from one topic to another. Some of the topics you
may pick are the following (Note that these are just few topics that I got from my mind. I am sure if you
think hard you can get many more):
 Internet and high-speed data communication services using satellites (what technologies are
available and where the technology is heading?),
 Remote sensing using satellites (what applications use satellites for remote sensing?, how useful
is remote sensing using satellites compared to other techniques such as airplanes (pros and cons)),
 Military communications and military weapons monitoring and guidance using satellites (how did
satellites improve military communications? How smart weapons that use satellites
communicate? How are drones operated using satellites?)
 Civilian navigation systems (What systems are available? how they work? Accuracy and
limitations).
 Oil, gas, and natural resources exploration using satellites (How do satellites make oil and gas
exploration easier? What technologies and systems are used for this?)
 Monitoring deforestation and forest fires, wild life migration, and so on using satellites (have
satellites resulted in saving wild life? Any success stories? How are forest fires detected and how
accurate are these systems?
 Weather monitoring and metrology using satellites (what form of data is obtained from satellites
that are used for weather forecasts? How accurate is this data? How much data is obtained),
 Astronomy using space telescopes (What systems are currently available and what systems are
planned for the future? How does astronomy from space defer from that from Earth’s surface?
Advantages and disadvantages.)
Other topics you may also write about include:
 Space debris and its effect on future satellite orbits (Orbits that are highly filled with space debris
and those that are relatively free. What debree exists in space? Is it increasing/decreasing and by
how much? Risk to satellites and humans in space and on the ground? Possible methods for
reducing space debris?),
  Ion thrusters for satellite station keeping (pros and cons),
 Nuclear cells for powering satellites (pros and cons),

Your report MUST be a technical report that contains all the regular parts of a technical paper with the
exception that you are not asked to come up with any new results or conclusions. Think of it as some
form of a literature survey. You will present your work at end of semester (25 min presentation + 15 min
Q/A session).

Grading Scheme

Report 60% (How well is it written, how good you covered the topic,
completeness of topic coverage, quality of reference you
used, … ). Note that your report will be uploaded to
Turn-It-In to check it for plagiarism.

Presentation 25% (How well you present your work, how well you cover
the parts of your report, and how effective you convey
your ideas to your fellow students)

Q/A Session 15% (How effectively and clearly you answer questions of the
instructor and your fellow students)