SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS:

Satellite Subsystem

Dr Razali Ngah
 CONTENTS

Satellite System Elements

Space Segments

Communication Subsystems (Payload)

Antennas

Transponders

Bus Subsystems (Platform)

Tracking, Telemetry and Command (TT&C)

Satellite Control (Attitude and Orbit Control System (AOCS)

Propulsion Engine

Power System

Ground Segments

Transmitter

Receiver

Antennas

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Satellite System Elements

Space Segment

Satellite Coverage Region

Earth SCC
Stations
TT&C Ground Station

Ground Segment
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…Satellite System Elements

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 Satellite Subsystems

Communications (Payload)

Antennas

Transponders

Common Subsystem (Bus Subsystem)

Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TT&C)

Satellite Control (antenna pointing,attitude)

Propulsion

Electrical Power

Thermal Control

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 Telemetry, Tracking & Command

The TTC subsystem contains a receiver that picks up commands from

a ground station and translates them into control signals that initiate
some action on board.
Telemetry

The telemetry system monitors physical conditions within the satellites
taken by sensors and converts them into electrical signals that are
transmitted back to earth.

Two basic categories of telemetry:

Health and status: e.g. pressure in the fuel tanks, temperature of

the subsystems, etc.

Payload data: data on operation and status of the satellite

payload.

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 …Telemetry, Tracking & Command

Tracking

Determining a satellite position, altitude and other orbital
parameters.

Tracking is perform by earth station (SCC).

An accurate predictions can be made of where the satellite will be in
the future.
Commanding

The act of controlling satellite in the orbit to;

Make changes in altitudes and corrections to the orbit

Control the communication system

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 Attitude and Orbit Control System

The attitude of a satellite refers to its orientation in space.

AOCS is a a spacecraft subsystem which consists of rocket motors
that are used to move the satellite back to the correct orbit when the
external forces cause it to drift off station.

This is important for GEO satellites since the earth station antennas
that are used with GEO satellites are normally fixed.

The movement of the satellite away from its pointed position in the
sky will cause a loss of signal.

A number of forces, referred to as disturbance torques, can alter the
attitude :
- the gravitational fields of the earth & the moon
- solar radiation

Station keeping maintaining a satellite in its correct orbital position.

There must be some measure of a satellite’s orientation in space and
of any tendency for this to shift : infrared sensors are used. 8
 Station Keeping

Objective: To make sure satellite back to the correct orbit when
external forces cause it to drift off station.

It is necessary so that the antennas which often have narrow beams
are pointed correctly at the earth.

Two types:

NS Keeping

EW Keeping

EW Keeping

This maneuvers are termed east-west station-keeping maneuvers.

Satellites must be kept within ±0.1o of the designated longitude.

Gravitational gradients and solar radiation pressure cause longitude
drift.

Only small maneuvers necessary.

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 …Station Keeping
NS keeping

This maneuvers are termed north-south station–keeping maneuvers,
and are much more expensive in fuel than east-west station-keeping
maneuvers.

Satellites are required to stay within 0.1o of equator.

Solar forces tend to increase orbit inclination with time.

NS keeping burns typically once per month

Requires significant amount of propellant.

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…Station Keeping

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 The Power Supply

The primary electrical power for operating the electronic equipment is
obtained from solar cells.

Solar cells convert incident sunlight into electrical energy.

Individual cells can generate only small amounts of power, and
therefore arrays of cells in series-parallel connection are required.

At the beginning of life the solar panels produce 940W dc power, while
may drop to 760W at the end of 10 years .(for the HS 376 satellite)

During eclipse (earth prevents sunlight from reaching it), power is
provided by two nickel-hydrogen long-life batteries, which will deliver
830W.

Higher power can be achieved with solar panel arranged in the form of
rectangular solar sails.

The sails are arranged to rotate to track the sun, so they are capable of
greater power output than cylindrical arrays having a comparable
number of cells.
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Spinner Satellite:
Spin stabilized satellite has a
cylindrical body covered in
Solar cells

The body of the satellite can be

rotated at a rate between 30 and
100 rpm to create gyroscopic force
that provides stability (Known as
spinner satellites)

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 Three-axis Stabilized Satellite

Flat panels cells can be rotated to maintain normal

Incidence of the sunlight
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Three-axis Stabilized Satellite

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 Transponder

Provide platform for relaying of voice, video, and data communication.

Amplify received microwave signal

Convert uplink microwave frequencies to downlink microwaves
frequencies

Total bandwidth (up to 500 MHz – 1.5 GHz) is too large to be
accommodate by a single amplifier

Total repeater bandwidth is split into sub-band

Each sub-band is amplified by a transponder

Transponder consists of:

Band Pass Filter

Amplifier: LNA or Power Amp.

Converter

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17
 …Transponder

The power amplifier is usually a solid state power amplifier (SSPA)
unless a very high power (> 50 W) is required where travelling wave
tube amplifier (TWTA) would be used

The BPF filter after mixer removes unwanted frequencies resulting
from the down conversion operation.

Transponder use in Ku band (14/11 GHz) normally employ a double
frequency conversion scheme.

It is easier to make filter, amplifiers and equalizers at an IF such as 1
GHz than at 14 GHz or 11 GHz.

The amplification and filtering are performed at 1 GHz and a relatively
high level carrier is translated back to 11 GHz for amplification by the
HPA

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 Satellite Antennas

Main types of antennas used:

Horn antennas

Reflector antennas

Array antennas

Typical satellite antenna coverage zones:

Global beam

Spot beams

Multiple spot beams and scanning beams

Orthogonally polarized beams

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 …Satellite Antennas

Horn antennas are used at microwave frequencies when wide beams
are required, as for global coverage.

Horns also used as feeds for reflector antennas.

Reflector antennas are illuminated by one or more horns and provide a
larger aperture than can be achieved with a horn.

The parabolic is the basic shape for most reflector antennas and
commonly used for earth station antennas.

Phased array antennas are used on satellite to create multiple beams
from a single aperture.

Used by Iridium and Globarstar to generate multiple beams from a
single aperture for their LEO mobile telephone systems

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Typical antenna patterns and coverage zone

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Footprint (Contours of Antenna Gain):
MEASAT-2 (Ku-band)

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Deployment of
the antenna

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 Ground Segment

Collection of facilities, users and applications

FSS – Fixed Satellite Service MSS – Mobile Satellite Service

Earth Station = Satellite Communication Station (air, ground or sea, fixed or

mobile). 24
 Ground Stations: The Other End

Satellites in space communicate (transmit/receive radio waves) with
ground stations.

Ground stations consist of subsystems:

Transmitter/receiver;

Power;

Antenna;

TTC; and

ground control equipment (GCE).

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 Satellite Dish

Ground stations feature large parabolic dish antennas with high gain
and directivity for receiving the weak satellite signal.

Satellite signals

The larger the dish is

the higher the received
signal power.

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