INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

SATELLITE
Definition:
1. It is an artificial body which is projected from earth to orbit either the earth or another body of
the solar system.
2. It is a physical object that orbits or revolves around some celestial body

Brief History:

MOON AS A SATELLITE
➢ Late 1940s and early 1950s – first satellite transponder
➢ 1954 – US Navy successfully transmitted the 1st
message over the earth-to moon-to earth relay
➢ 1956 to 1962 – A relay services is established between
Washington DC and Hawaii and offered a reliable long
distance communication

Sputnik I
➢ launched by Russia in 1957;
➢ the first active earth satellite;
➢ first satellite equipped with onboard radio transmitter;
➢ transmitted telemetry for 21 days

Explorer I
➢ launched by US in 1957;
➢ transmitted telemetry information for 5 months

SCORE
➢ launched by NASA in 1958
➢ 1st satellite used for relaying terrestrial communication
➢ It was a delayed repeater satellite - it received
transmission from earth stations, stored them on
magnetic tape, and rebroadcast them to ground
station

ECHO
➢ 1960 – NASA in conjunction with Bell Telephone
Laboratories and Jet Propulsion Lab launched ECHO
➢ An artificial moon (Passive Satellite)
➢ 1st transatlantic transmission using a satellite
transponder was accomplished
ECHO I ECHO II
TELSTAR I
➢ launched by AT & T in 1962
➢ the first satellite to receive and transmit
simultaneously
➢ but only lasted for few weeks because the electronic
equipment was damaged by the radiation from Van
Allen Belt
TELSTAR II
➢ launched in 1963
➢ electronically identical to TELSTAR I but more
radiation resistant
➢ used for telephone, TV, facsimile, and data
transmission
➢ 1st successful transatlantic transmission of video was
accomplished

SYNCOM I
➢ Launched in 1963
➢ 1st geosynchronous satellite; it was lost in orbit
SYNCOM II
➢ Launched replacing SYNCOM I
SYNCOM III
➢ Launched in 1964
➢ used to broadcast the Tokyo Olympic Games

Palapa B2P (1987-1996)

➢ Indonesian satellite launched in 1987

Agila-1 (1996-1998)
➢ Also known as Mabuhay Satellite
➢ The first Philippine sateliite through acquisition
while in orbit

MARISAT 1
➢ The first mobile Satellite
➢ First of the series of maritime communication
satellites

SATCOM 1
➢ Launched in 1975
➢ Aided the early cable channels such as HBO, the
Weather Channel and others
 AGILA II
➢ Launched in 1997
➢ The country’s first communication satellite
➢ During that time, the Agila II is the biggest and
most powerful satellite that covered the Asia-
Pacific rim
➢ It became ABS 3 (for Asia Broadcast Satellite)

Kalam SAT
➢ A femto satellite made by Indian High School
students
➢ Launched in 2017
➢ Recorded as the smallest satellite

DIWATA 1
➢ deployed in orbit in 2016
➢ The first Philippine made satellite
➢ A microsatellite sent into space to assist in
disaster management programs, weather
forecasting, agriculture, fisheries, forest
protection, mining, and even the protection of
cultural and historical sites.
DIWATA 2
➢ Launched in 2018
➢ The second Philippine micro satellite
➢ Similar to Diwata-1, Diwata-2 will capture images
for the country’s environmental monitoring and
post-disaster assessment. (Source: DOST-
PCIEERD)

MAYA 1
➢ Launched and deployed in orbit in 2018
➢ The Philippines’ first cubesat
➢ One of the three cube satellite of the Birds 2
project

GENERAL TYPES
1. PASSIVE SATELLITE – one that simply reflects the signal back to earth
2. ACTIVE SATELLITE – one that electronically repeats a signal back to earth

According to orbit:
1. ORBITAL or NON-SYNCHRONOUS SATELLITE – they rotate around the earth in a low-
altitude elliptical or circular with an angular velocity greater than (prograde) or less than
(retrograde) that of earth
 2. GEOSTATIONARY or GEOSYNCHRONOUS – satellites that orbit in a circular pattern with
an angular velocity equal to that of earth

ORBITAL ORBITS
1. low altitude (circular)
2. medium altitude (elliptical)
3. high altitude ( geosynchronous)

ORBITAL PATHS
1. EQUATORIAL ORBIT – satellites rotates in an orbit above the equatorial
2. POLAR ORBIT – satellite rotates in an orbit that take it over the north and south pole
3. INCLINED ORBIT – neither equatorial nor polar

APOGEE – the maximum distance from the earth a satellite orbit reaches
PERIGEE – the minimum distance from earth a satellite orbit reaches
POSIGRADE – the direction of the satellite’s revolution is the same direction as the earth’s rotation
RETROGRADE – opposite direction
POSTGRADE – angular velocity is greater than that of earth
RETROGRADE – angular velocity is less than that of earth
SIDEREAL PERIOD – time that it takes for a satellite to complete one orbit