Chapter 5

Satellite
Segments &
Services
Satellite
Earth Station
Satellite
Subsystems
Power
Subsystems
Communication
Subsystems
Satellite
Transponders

Double Conversion Transponder

Satellite
Transponders
 Transponder

Input band limiting device (a band pass filter)

Input low-noise amplifier (LNA), designed to amplify the
signals received from the earth stationA frequency
translator (composed of an oscillator and a frequency
mixer) used to convert the frequency of the received signal
to the frequency required for the transmitted signalAn
output band pass filterA power amplifier (this can be a
Satellite traveling-wave tube or a solid state amplifier)

Transponders The uplinked signal to satellite is 6GHz

The uplinked signal to satellite is 6GHz.it is received at the

satellite and then amplified using a Low Noise Amplifier(L.N.A).
This amplified signal is then down converted at 4GHz. It is sent
through a filter and then power amplifier(TWT). The local
oscillator frequency of the down converter is 2225MHz for C
band and Ex-C band. This signal is then retransmitted at earth
ground station.
 First stage - low-noise amplifier (LNA).

Amplifier adds little noise to the carrier being amplified, and at the same time it
provides sufficient amplification for the carrier to override the higher noise level
present in the following mixer stage mixer stage-which requires a local oscillator
signal for frequency-conversion process. The power drive from the LO to the
mixer input is about 10 dBm. The oscillator frequency must be highly stable and
Satellite have low-phase noise.

Transponders Second amplifier- provide an overall receiver gain of about 60 dB.

Input demultiplexer input demultiplexer separates the broadband input
[covering the frequency range 3.7 to 4.2 GHz], into the transponder frequency
channels.

Power amplifier: A separate power amplifier provides the output power for each
transponder channel each power amplifier is preceded by an input attenuator-to
permit the input drive to each power amplifier to be adjusted to the desired
level. Fixed section and a variable section
 Traveling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs)

To provide amplification over a very wide bandwidth.

Transparent Transponder Amplification and Frequency Translation and No

Processing

Satellite Processing/Regenerative Transponder Amplification and Frequency Translation

Transponders along with Signal Processing
 ATTITUDE CONTROL :Attitude -orientation in space
to ensure that directional antennas point in the proper directions.
Stabilizing a satellite is attitude control
Passive
Active
Passive systems stabilize the satellite without putting a drain on
the satellite’s energy supplies
Eg: spin stabilization &gravity gradient stabilization(interaction of the
satellite with the gravitational field of the central body)
Attitude Control Active control maintains the satellite attitude by sensing its
orientation along the three axes and forming corrections based on
these measurements.
➢ momentum wheels(3-axis/body stabilization)
➢ electromagnetic coils(for satellites relatively close to the earth)
➢ mass expulsion devices

Active control subsystem has three components

➢
one that senses the current attitude of the platform
➢ one that computes the deviations in the current attitude from the
desired attitude
➢ one that controls and corrects the computed errors.
 ➢ Yaw- towards earth’s center
Pitch-normal to orbital plane
➢ Roll-perpendicular to other.

Attitude Control
 ➢ Sensors are used to determine the position of the satellite
axis with respect to specified reference directions
(commonly used reference directions are Earth, sun or a
star).
Attitude Control ➢ Earth sensors sense infrared emissions from Earth and are
used for maintaining the roll and the pitch axis.
➢ Sun and star sensors are generally used to measure the
error in the yaw axis.
➢ The error between the current attitude and the desired
attitude is computed and a correction torque is generated
in proportion to the sensed error.
 Momentum wheel stabilization
uses reaction wheels or momentum wheels to correct orbit
perturbations

The basic control technique used in momentum wheel is

to speed up or slow down the momentum wheel
Momentum depending upon the direction in which the satellite is
perturbed. The satellite rotates in a direction opposite to
wheel that of speed change of the wheel.

stabilization Momentum wheel consists

➢ flywheel
➢ the bearing assembly,
➢ the casing, and
➢ an electric drive motor with associated electronic
control circuitry.
 flywheel is attached to the rotor, which consists of a permanent
magnet providing the magnetic field for motor action.
The stator of the motor is attached to the body of the satellite.
Thus the motor provides the coupling between the flywheel and the
satellite structure.
Speed and torque control of the motor is exercised through the
Momentum currents fed to the stator.
In reaction wheels ,3 reaction wheels are used, one for each axis
wheel They can be rotated in either direction depending upon the active correction
force.
stabilization
 ➢ Spin stabilization may be achieved with cylindrical satellites.
The satellite is constructed so that it is mechanically balanced
about one particular axis and is then set spinning around this
axis.
➢ Spin is initiated during the launch phase by means of small gas jets.
➢ Impulse-type thrusters, or jets, can be used to increase the spin rate
and to shift the axis back to its correct N-S orientation.
Spinning ➢ Spin rate is typically in the range of 50 to 100 rev/min.
Two types of spinner
stabilization ➢ simple spinner
➢ dual spinner
 ➢ The requirements on the attitude and orbit control differ
during the launch phase and the operational phase of the
satellite.
➢ Orbit control is required to correct for the effects of
perturbation forces.During the launch phase, control system
Attitude control maintains the correct attitude of the satellite so that it is able
to maintain a link with the ground Earth station and controls
its orientation
➢ When the satellite is in orbit, the attitude control system
maintains the antenna of the satellite pointed accurately in
the desired direction.
Telemetry
Tracking &
Command
Subsystem
 TT & C support the function of spacecraft management which are vital
for successful operation of all satellite.
Treated separately from communication subsystem
Functions of a TT&C system
➢ Monitor the performance of all satellite sub systems & transmit the
Telemetry monitored data to the satellite control center
➢ Support the determination of orbital parameters
Tracking & ➢ provide a source to earth stations for tracking
➢ Receive commands from the control center for performing various
Command function of the satellite

Subsystem Telemetry subsystem refers to the overall operation of generating an

electrical signal proportional to the quantity being measured and
encoding and transmitting this to a distant station(ES)
Data include
➢ Attitude information
➢ Environmental information Such as the magnetic field intensity and
direction
➢ Temperatures, power supply voltages, and stored-fuel pressure
 Tracking Subsystem deals with velocity and acceleration sensors.

Command Subsystem
Telemetry ➢ Receives commands transmitted from the ES, verifies reception and
executes these commands.
Tracking & Examples
➢ Transponder switching
Command ➢ Switch matrix reconfiguration
➢ Antenna pointing control
Subsystem ➢ Controlling direction and speed of array drive
➢ Battery reconditioning
➢ Thruster firing
➢ Switching heaters of the various sub systems.
Main & auxiliary
propulsion
subsystem

➢ Propulsion system that consists of a medium-speed diesel

engine, a reduction gear with Power Take In (PTI) drive, a shaft
generator, and CP(controllable pitch) propeller.
➢ Most satellites have simple reliable chemical thrusters or jet
rockets for orbital station-keeping and some use momentum
wheels for attitude control.
 ➢ The calculation of power received by an earth station from the satellite
transmitter is the most important thing in satellite communication.
➢ If the transmitting antenna radiates signals in all the direction, then it is
called as an omnidirectional antenna or isotropic source
➢ Consider isotropic source transmitting a total power Pt uniformly in all
the directions
➢ The radiation pattern of an isotropic source will be sphere
➢ The power density at a distance R from such a source is given by
PD= Pt/4πR2
EIRP This is called as inverse square law this law is used by the propagation of EM
(Effective waves in free space.
EIRP(effective or equivalent isotropic radiated power )is the amount of
Isotropic power that an isotropic antenna would emit to produce the maximum
power density in the direction of maximum antenna gain .
Radiated in practice we use directional antenna having gain Gt at the transmitter
whose output power is Pt.
Power) The EIRP can be calculated from the product of power transmitted by the
source and the antenna gain.
EIRP=Pt*Gt
 Types of transmission losses

➢ Free space loss (FSL) or path loss

FSL depends upon
• Signal frequency
Transmission • Distance between Earth station 🌎 and satellite 🛰
In FSL attenuation of signals increases with increase in signal
Losses frequency and distance
FSL also affect on maximum data rate achievable with minimum
errors. This data rate decreases with increase in distance(r)
FSL expression FSL= 10 log 10(4πR2 /λ)
➢ Feeder loss
• Transmitter section to Antenna
• Antenna to Receiver section
➢ Antenna misalignment loss
• Antenna pointing loss
• Polarization misalignment loss
 ➢ Fixed atmospheric loss
Absorption of signal power by atmospheric gases

➢ Ionospheric loss
• Upper region of atmosphere(90Km to 400Km)
• Created by process of ionization of atmosphere b solar
Transmission radiation
Losses Various ionospheric effects
➢ Signal absorption
➢ Variation in signal direction
➢ Dispersion
➢ Propagation Delay
➢ Frequency change
➢ Polarization rotation
GPS(Global
Positioning
System)
GPS(Global
Positioning
System)
GPS(Global
Positioning
System)
GPS(Global
Positioning
System)
 GPS Transmitter

• L1
• L2
• C/A code=1 MbPS PN code=L1=Public
GPS(Global • P code = 10 Mbps PN code=L2=Millitary
Positioning
System)
 GPS Receiver

GPS(Global
Positioning
System)