ETHIO PARENTS SCHOOL

PHYSICS ASSIGNMENT

ABOUT SATELLITES

Name: Kidus Tessema

Class: 11-C
Roll Number: 18

Due To: 31/01/2022

What is a satellite?
A satellite is an object that has been intentionally placed into orbit. The term "satellite" usually
refers to a machine launched into space that orbits Earth or another celestial body. It is
basically a self-contained communications system with the ability to receive signals from
Earth and to retransmit those signals back with the use of a transponder—an integrated receiver
and transmitter of radio signals. It can be also referred to as a moon, planet, or machine orbiting
a planet or star. Because it orbits the sun, for example, Earth is a satellite. Similarly, because it
orbits Earth, the moon is a satellite. It can be classified as a natural and artificial satellite

What are natural and artificial satellite?

1. Natural satellite
The materials or stars which revolve round a planet are called satellites. The satellites which are
created naturally are called natural satellites. In the most common usage, is an astronomical
body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body (or sometimes another natural
satellite). For example the moon has been created for the natural cause. It revolves round the
earth. So, the moon is a natural satellite of the earth. Similarly, other planets have also natural
satellites.

Fig 1.1: The moon, a natural satellite revolving around the earth

2. Artificial satellite
What is an artificial satellite?
An artificial satellite is an object that people have made and launched into orbit using rockets. It
is an artificial object that is manufactured by humans and launched into the Earth’s orbit or in
another planet’s orbit. It’s also satellite that is created by man based on this theory in order to go
in the outer space. One of this examples is Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite that was
launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. In space, there are currently over a thousand
active satellites orbiting the Earth.
 Fig 2.1: Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite human have made

This satellites vary in size. Some cube satellites are as small as 10 cm. Some communication
satellites are about 7 m long and have solar panels that extend another 50 m. The largest artificial
satellite is the International Space Station (ISS). The main part of this is as big as a large five-
bedroom house, but including solar panels, it is as large as a rugby field.
Altitudes of satellites above the Earth’s surface also vary. These are three common orbits:
Low Earth orbit (LEO) – from 200 to 2,000 km, for example, the ISS orbits at 400 km with a
speed of 28,000 km/hour, and time for one orbit is about 90 minutes. It is the orbit most
commonly used for satellite imaging, as being near the surface allows it to take images of higher
resolution. It is also the orbit used for the International Space Station (ISS), as it is easier for
astronauts to travel to and from it at a shorter distance.
Medium Earth orbit (MEO) – most MEO satellites are at an altitude of 20,000 km, and time for
one orbit is 12 hours. The most common use for satellites in this region is for navigation,
communication, and geodetic/space environment science. The most common altitude is
approximately 20,200 kilometers which yields an orbital period of 12 hours, as used, for
example, by the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Geostationary (high orbit) (GEO) – It orbits Earth above the equator from west to east,
following Earth's rotation – which takes 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds – by traveling at the
same speed as Earth. Satellites in GEO appear to be 'stationary' over a set location as a result of
this. At an altitude of 35 786 km, the speed of GEO satellites should be around 3 km per second
in order to properly match Earth's rotation. In comparison to many satellites, this is a long way
from Earth's surface. Geostationary orbits of 36,000km from the Earth's equator are best known
for the many satellites used for various forms of telecommunication, including television. Signals
from these satellites can be sent all the way round the world. They are also used to provide
infrared images of the Earth surface and atmosphere.
What are the components of an artificial satellite?
The parts of a satellite vary depending on the satellite’s function; however, there are some
components commonly found on most satellites. These include:

Fig 2.2: Parts or components of a satellite

Antennas: Satellite antenna systems are used to receive and transmit signals to and from Earth.
Command and Data Handling: The operational heart of a satellite, command and control
systems monitor every aspect of the satellite and receive commands from Earth for operation.
Guidance and Stabilization: Sensors monitor the satellite’s position to ensure it remains in the
correct orbit and is oriented toward the correct target. If necessary, thrusters and other maneuvers
allow a satellite to fine-tune its position and orientation.
Housing: Constructed from strong materials that can withstand the harsh space environment.
Power: Most satellites rely on a solar array to convert sunlight into energy.
Thermal Control: Guards satellite equipment against extreme changes in temperature.
Transponders: Uplink and downlink signals arrive and depart at different frequencies.
Transponders convert uplinked frequencies to downlink frequencies and then amplify the
converted transmission for sending to Earth.
What are the uses of satellite?
Satellites are manmade objects put into orbit. They often affect our lives without our realizing it:
they make us safer, provide modern conveniences, and broadcast entertainment. Here are some
of the jobs satellites do:
Television: Satellites send television signals directly to homes, but they also are the backbone of
cable and network TV. These satellites send signals from a central station that generates
programming to smaller stations that send the signals locally via cables or the airwaves. "At the
scene" news broadcasts, whether live reporting on a vote at the Capitol or from the scene of a
traffic accident, are sent from the field to the studio via satellite, too.
Telephones: Satellites provide in-flight phone communications on airplanes, and are often the
main conduit of voice communication for rural areas and areas where phone lines are damaged
after a disaster. Satellites also provide the primary timing source for cell phones and pagers. In
1998, a satellite failure demonstrated this dependence; it temporarily silenced 80 percent of the
pagers in the United States, National Public Radio was not able to distribute its broadcasts to
affiliates and broadcasted only via its website, and on the CBS Evening News, the image of Dan
Rather froze while the audio continued.
Navigation: Satellite-based navigation systems like the Navstar Global Positioning Systems
(known colloquially as GPS) enable anyone with a handheld receiver to determine her location to
within a few meters. GPS locators are increasingly included in in-car direction services and
allow car-share services like Zipcar to locate their cars. GPS-based systems are used by civilians
and the military for navigation on land, sea, and air, and are crucial in situations like a ship
making a difficult course in a harbor in bad weather or troops lost in unfamiliar territory, where
other navigation tools may not exist.
Business & finance: Communications satellites have the ability to rapidly communicate between
a numbers of widely dispersed locations. This is an important tool, allowing big manufacturing
companies and department stores to perform inventory management, provide instant credit card
authorization and automated teller banking services to even small towns, pay-at-the-pump gas at
freeway gas stations, and video conferencing for international corporations.
Weather: Satellites provide meteorologists with the ability to see weather on a global scale,
allowing them to follow the effects of phenomena like volcanic eruptions and burning gas and oil
fields, to the development of large systems like hurricanes and El Niño.
Climate & environmental monitoring: Satellites are some of the best sources of data for climate
change research. Satellites monitor ocean temperatures and prevailing currents; data acquired by
satellite-borne radars were able to show sea levels have been rising by three mm a year over the
last decade. Imaging satellites can measure the changing sizes of glaciers, which is difficult to do
from the ground due to the remoteness and darkness of the Polar Regions. Satellites can
determine long-term patterns of rainfall, vegetation cover, and emissions of greenhouse gases.
Safety: Earth observation satellites can monitor ocean and wind currents as well as the extent of
forest fires, oil spills, and airborne pollution; together this information helps organize emergency
responders and environmental cleanup. Satellites can take the "search" out of "search and rescue"
for people in distress in remote regions. Distress radio beacons directly linked to a search and
rescue satellite can lead rescuers quickly and accurately to a land, sea, or air emergency location.
Land stewardship: Satellites can detect underground water and mineral sources; monitor the
transfer of nutrients and contaminants from land into waterways; and measure land and water
temperatures, the growth of algae in seas, and the erosion of topsoil from land. They can
efficiently monitor large-scale infrastructure, for example fuel pipelines that need to be checked
for leaks, which would require enormous hours of land- or air-based inspection. Imaging
satellites produce high-resolution data of almost the entire landmass on earth; such data used to
be a closely guarded military capability, but now, nearly anyone with an internet connection can
find his house using Google Earth.
Development: Satellites are increasingly important to the developing world. For a country like
India, with populations separated by rough terrain and different languages, communications
satellites provides remote populations access to education and to medical expertise that would
otherwise not reach them. Earth observation satellites also allow developing countries to practice
informed resource management and relief agencies to follow refugee population migrations.
Space science: Before the Space Age, astrophysicists were limited to studying the universe via
ground-based telescopes, and so could only use information from the parts of the electromagnetic
spectrum that penetrated the Earth's atmosphere. Many of the most interesting phenomena are
best studied at frequencies that are best or only accessible from space—satellite telescopes have
been critical to understanding phenomena like pulsars and black holes as well as measuring the
age of the universe. The Hubble Space Telescope is arguably the most valuable astronomical tool
ever built!