SATELLITE

COMMNUICATION

ABSTRACT:

Not so long ago, satellites were exotic, top-secret devices. They were used
primarily in a military capacity, for activities such as navigation and espionage.
Now they are an essential part of our daily lives. We see and recognize their use in
weather reports, television transmission by DIRECTV and the DISH Network, in
everyday telephone calls,in GPS(global positioning system)and by the media in
transmitting their text and images to multiple printing sites for speed local
distribution.

In the context of a worldwide communications network, satellite communications

systems are very important. Satellite communications links add capacity to existing
communications capabilities and provide additional alternate routings for
communications traffic. Satellite links, as one of several kinds of long-distance links,
interconnect switching centers located strategically around the world. They are part of
the defense communication systems (DCS) network. One important aspect of the
satellite communications network is that it continues in operation under conditions
that sometimes render other methods of communications inoperable. Because of this,
satellites make a significant contribution to improved reliability of Navy
communications.

When satellite television first hit the market in the early 1990s, home dishes were
expensive metal units that took up a huge chunk of yard space. In these early years,
only the most die-hard TV fans would go through all the hassle and expense of
putting in their own dish. Satellite TV was a lot harder to get than broadcast and
CABLE AND TV.
Today, you see compact satellite dishes perched on rooftops all over the United
States. Drive through rural areas beyond the reach of the cable companies, and you'll
find dishes on just about every house. The major satellite TV companies are luring in
more consumers every day with movies, sporting events and news from around the
world and the promise of movie-quality picture and sound.
Satellite TV offers many solutions to broadcast and cable TV problems. Though
satellite TV technology is still evolving, it has already become a popular choice for
many TV viewers.
WHAT IS A SATELLITE AND IT’S WORKING:

A satellite is basically any object that revolves around a planet in a circular or

elliptical path. The moon is Earth's original, natural satellite, and there are many
manmade (artificial) satellites, usually closer to Earth.
• The path a satellite follows is an orbit. In the orbit, the farthest
point from Earth is the apogee, and the nearest point is the perigee.
• Artificial satellites generally are not mass-produced. Most satellites
are custom built to perform their intended functions. Exceptions include
the GPS satellites (with over 20 copies in orbit) and the Iridium satellites
(with over 60 copies in orbit).
• Approximately 23,000 items of space junk-objects large enough to
track with radar that were inadvertently placed in orbit or have outlived
their usefulness -- are floating above Earth. The actual number varies
depending on which agency is counting. Payloads that go into the wrong
orbit, satellites with run-down batteries, and leftover rocket boosters all
contribute to the count. This online catalogs of satellite has almost 26,000
entries!
Although anything that is in orbit around Earth is technically a satellite, the term
"satellite" is typically used to describe a useful object placed in orbit purposely to
perform some specific mission or task. We commonly hear about weather satellites,
communication satellites and scientific satellite

• THE SOVIET SPUTNIK SATELLITE WAS THE FIRST TO ORBIT

EARTH, LAUNCHED ON OCTOBER 4, 1957.

TYPES OF SATELLITES:

Satellites come in all shapes and sizes and play a variety of roles. For example:
• Weather satellites help meteorologists predict the weather or see
what's happening at the moment. Typical weather satellites include the
TIROS, COSMOS and GOES satellites. The satellites generally contain
cameras that can return photos of Earth's weather, either from fixed
geostationary positions or from polar orbits.
• Communications satellites allow telephone and data conversations
to be relayed through the satellite. Typical communications satellites
include Telstar and Intelsat. The most important feature of a
communications satellite is the transponder -- a radio that receives a
conversation at one frequency and then amplifies it and retransmits it
back to Earth on another frequency. A satellite normally contains
hundreds or thousands of transponders. Communications satellites are
usually geosynchronous.
• Broadcast satellites broadcast television signals from one point to
another (similar to communications satellites).
 • Scientific satellites perform a variety of scientific missions. The
Hubble Space telescope is the most famous scientific satellite, but there
are many others looking at everything from sun spots to gamma rays.
• Navigational satellites help ships and planes navigate. The most
famous are the GPS NAVSTAR satellites.
• Rescue satellites respond to radio distress signals .
• Earth observation satellites observe the planet for changes in
everything from temperature to forestation to ice-sheet coverage. The
most famous are the LANDSAT series.

LAUNCH OF SATTILITE:-
This list includes countries with an independent capability to place satellites in orbit,
including production of the necessary launch vehicle. Note: many more countries
have the capability to design and build satellites but are unable to launch them,
instead relying on foreign launch services. This list does not consider those numerous
countries, but only lists those capable of launching satellites indigenously, and the
date this capability was first demonstrated. Does not include consortium satellites or
multi-national satellites.

First launch by country

Order Country Year of first launch Rocket Satellite

1 Soviet Union 1957 Sputnik-PS Sputnik 1
2 United States 1958 Juno I Explorer 1
3 France 1965 Diamant Astérix
4 Japan 1970 Lambda-4S Ōsumi
5 China 1970 Long March 1 Dong Fang Hong I
6 United Kingdom 1971 Black Arrow Prospero X-3"
7 India 1980 SLV Rohini
8 Israel 1988 Shavit Ofeq 1
[1]
_ Russia 1992 Soyuz-U Kosmos 2175
[1]
_ Ukraine 1992 Tsyklon-3 Strela
9 Iran 2009 Safir-2 Omid
Satellite Frequency Bands Chart:-

Letter designation for satellite Frequency Range

frequency band (GHz)
L 1-2
S 2-4
C 4-8
X 8 - 12
(8 - 12.5 in North America)
KU 12 - 18
(12.5 - 18 in North America)
K 18 - 27
(18 - 25.5 in North America)
KA 27 - 40
(26.5 - 40 in North America)
O 40-50
V 50-75

Working Of Satellite:-
Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of very low frequency. Their frequency is
generally less than 30 MHz. there are reflected back to the earth by the ionosphere,
the atmosphere around the earth. Therefore, there is no need of a satellite to reflect
back to the earth. Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with frequency from
30MHz to 1 GB. The ionosphere cannot reflect microwaves back to the earth. They
pass through the ionosphere. A satellite used to receive microwaves and then transmit
them back to the earth.

Satellites provide links in two ways. Firstly a satellite provide point to point
communication link between one ground station and the other. One ground station
transmit signal to the other satellite and next ground station receives them from the
satellite. Secondly, satellite receives signals from one ground station and transmits to
them to the number of ground receivers.

Most satellite use frequency bandwidth through from 5.92 to 6.4GHz from
transmission of data from earth to the satellite and a frequency bandwidth from 3.7 to
4.1GHz for transmission from satellite to the earth. A satellite can provide service to a
certain part of the earth if it is in sight. This can be done only if the satellite remains
stationary with respect to the earth

SATELLITE TELEVISION-A MERGE:

Why do we have satellite television? What's wrong with the terrestrial broadcasts that
we have enjoyed for five decades or more? Well the real benefit lies in the fact that
you get more channels. You get more channels because satellite broadcasts are able to
utilise more bandwidth than conventional terrestrial systems and can therefore fit
more separate channels into the space allowed.

Sattellite television really becomes important in areas where it is not possible to

install cable and the broadcast television reception is poor. Both systems use radio
wave signals to transmit and the waves travel in straight lines. That means for
broadcast television, which is transmitted and received via land-based antenna, that
the natural curvature of the earth will eventually break the signals' line of sight. It also
means that other land based signals and obstructions are likely to interfere with the
TV signal and cause some distortion.

Satellites that transmit TV are placed in orbit over 22,000 miles above the Earth and
they rotate around the planet once every 24 hours and in the same direction that the
Earth is rotating in. Because the Earth rotates once every 24 hours and the satellite
moves around the Earth at the same velocity in the same direction, the satellite always
stays over the same point on the surface. The satellites are said to be in geostationary
orbit. Because they are high in the sky a satellite beams signals over a wide area of the
planets surface. The satellites are also in communication with each other so that they
can relay the same broadcast to all satellites in orbit over different parts of the world.
This is how we are able to get TV live from anywhere on the Earth and view it at the
same time as everyone else on the planet receiving a signal from a satellite. When you
think about it it's a pretty amazing feat of technology.

When satellite television was first introduced the dishes required to receive the signal
were very expensive and people were able to set them up to receive programmes that
were not really intended for everybody to see. Nowadays people tend to subscribe to a
'Direct Broadcast Satellite' (DBS) provider such as DirecTV or Dish Network in the
US and Sky in the UK. These providers are able to select programs and broadcast
them to people as set packages, for example the 'Family', 'Sports' or 'Movie' packages.
Cost will depend on which one you choose to buy.

SATELLITE TV SYSTEM:

Today, most satellite TV customers get their programming through a direct

broadcast satellite (DBS) provider, such as DirecTV or DISH Network. The provider
selects programs and broadcasts them to subscribers as a set package. Basically, the
provider's goal is to bring dozens or even hundreds of channels to your TV in a form
that approximates the competition, cable TV.
Unlike earlier programming, the provider's broadcast is completely digital, which
means it has much better picture and sound quality. Early satellite television was
broadcast in C-band radio -- radio in the 3.7-gigahertz (GHz) to 6.4-GHz frequency
range. Digital broadcast satellite transmits programming in the Ku frequency range
(11.7 GHz to 14.5 GHz ).

The Components:

There are five major components involved in a direct to home (DTH) or direct
broadcasting (DBS) satellite system: the programming source, the broadcast center,
the satellite, the satellite dish and the receiver.
• Programming sources are simply the channels that provide
programming for broadcast. The provider doesn't create original
programming itself; it pays other companies (HBO, for example, or
ESPN) for the right to broadcast their content via satellite. In this way,
the provider is kind of like a broker between you and the actual
programming sources. (Cable TV companies work on the same
principle.)
• The broadcast center is the central hub of the system. At the
broadcast center, the TV provider receives signals from various
programming sources and beams a broadcast signal to satellites in
geosynchronous orbit.
• The satellites receive the signals from the broadcast station and
rebroadcast them to Earth.
• The viewer's dish picks up the signal from the satellite (or multiple
satellites in the same part of the sky) and passes it on to the receiver in
the viewer's house.
• The receiver processes the signal and passes it on to a standard TV.

SATELLITE TV PROGRAMMING:
Satellite TV providers get programming from two major sources: national
turnaround channels (such as HBO, ESPN and CNN) and various local channels
(the ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS affiliates in a particular area). Most of the
turnaround channels also provide programming for cable TV, and the local channels
typically broadcast their programming over the airwaves.
Turnaround channels usually have a distribution center that beams their programming
to a geosynchronous satellite. The broadcast center uses large satellite dishes to pick
up these analog and digital signals from several sources.
Most local stations don't transmit their programming to satellites, so the provider has
to get it another way. If the provider includes local programming in a particular area,
it will have a small local facility consisting of a few racks of communications
equipment. The equipment receives local signals directly from the broadcaster
through fiber-optic cable or an antenna and then transmits them to the central
broadcast center.
The broadcast center converts all of this programming into a high-quality,
uncompressed digital stream. At this point, the stream contains a vast quantity of data
-- about 270 megabits per second (Mbps) for each channel. In order to transmit the
signal from there, the broadcast center has to compress it. Otherwise, it would be too
big for the satellite to handle. In the next section, we'll find out how the signal is
compressed

Satellite TV Signal:
Satellite signals have a pretty long path to follow before they appear on your TV
screen in the form of your favorite TV show. Because satellite signals contain such
high-quality digital data, it would be impossible to transmit them without
compression. Compression simply means that unnecessary or repetitive information is
removed from the signal before it is transmitted. The signal is reconstructed after
transmission.

Standards of Compression:

Satellite TV uses a special type of video file compression standardized by the Moving
Picture Experts Group (MPEG). With MPEG compression, the provider is able to
transmit significantly more channels. There are currently five of these MPEG
standards, each serving a different purpose. DirecTV and DISH Network, the two
major satellite TV providers in the United States, once used MPEG-2, which is still
used to store movies on DVDs and for digital cable television (DTV). With MPEG-2,
the TV provider can reduce the 270-Mbps stream to about 5 or 10 Mbps (depending
on the type of programming).
Now, DirecTV and DISH Network use MPEG-4 compression. Because MPEG-4 was
originally designed for streaming video in small-screen media like computers, it can
encode more efficiently and provide a greater bandwidth than MPEG-2. MPEG-2
remains the official standard for digital TV compression, but it is better equipped to
analyze static images, like those you see on a talk show or newscast, than moving,
dynamic images. MPEG-4 can produce a better picture of dynamic images through
use of spatial (space) and temporal (time) compression. This is why satellite TV using
MPEG-4 compression provides high definition of quickly-moving objects that
constantly change place and direction on the screen, like in a basketball game.

Satellite TV Encoding and Encryption:

At the broadcast center, the high-quality digital stream of video goes through an
MPEG encoder, which converts the programming to MPEG-4 video of the correct
size and format for the satellite receiver in your house.
Encoding works in conjunction with compression to analyze each video frame and
eliminate redundant or irrelevant data and extrapolate information from other frames.
This process reduces the overall size of the file. Each frame can be encoded in one of
three ways:
• As an intraframe, which contains the complete image data for that
frame. This method provides the least compression.
• As a predicted frame, which contains just enough information to
tell the satellite receiver how to display the frame based on the most
recently displayed intraframe or predicted frame. A predicted frame
contains only data that explains how the picture has changed from the
previous frame.
• As a bidirectional frame, which displays information from the
surrounding intraframe or predicted frames. Using data from the closest
surrounding frames, the receiver interpolates the position and color of
each pixel.
This process occasionally produces artifacts -- glitches in the video image. One
artifact is macroblocking, in which the fluid picture temporarily dissolves into
blocks. Macroblocking is often mistakenly called pixilating, a technically incorrect
term which has been accepted as slang for this annoying artifact. Graphic artists and
video editors use "pixilating" more accurately to refer to the distortion of an image.
There really are pixels on your TV screen, but they're too small for your human eye to
perceive them individually -- they're tiny squares of video data that make up the
image you see.

Satellite Dish:
When the signal reaches the viewer's house, it is captured by the satellite dish. A
satellite dish is just a special kind of antenna designed to focus on a specific broadcast
source. The standard dish consists of a parabolic (bowl-shaped) surface and a central
feed horn. To transmit a signal, a controller sends it through the horn, and the dish
focuses the signal into a relatively narrow beam.
 The curved dish reflects energy from the feed horn, generating a narrow beam.

The dish on the receiving end can't transmit information; it can only receive it. The
receiving dish works in the exact opposite way of the transmitter. When a beam hits
the curved dish, the parabola shape reflects the radio signal inward onto a particular
point, just like a concave mirror focuses light onto a particular point.

The curved dish focuses incoming radio waves onto the feed horn.

In this case, the point is the dish's feed horn, which passes the signal on to the
receiving equipment. In an ideal setup, there aren't any major obstacles between the
satellite and the dish, so the dish receives a clear signal.
In some systems, the dish needs to pick up signals from two or more satellites at the
same time. The satellites may be close enough together that a regular dish with a
single horn can pick up signals from both. This compromises quality somewhat,
because the dish isn't aimed directly at one or more of the satellites. A new dish
design uses two or more horns to pick up different satellite signals. As the beams from
different satellites hit the curved dish, they reflect at different angles so that one beam
hits one of the horns and another beam hits a different horn.
The central element in the feed horn is the low noise blockdown converter, or LNB.
The LNB amplifies the radio signal bouncing off the dish and filters out the noise
(radio signals not carrying programming). The LNB passes the amplified, filtered
signal to the satellite receiver inside the viewer's house.

Satellite Receiver:
The end component in the entire satellite TV system
is the receiver. The receiver has four essential jobs:
• It de-scrambles the encrypted
signal. In order to unlock the signal, the
receiver needs the proper decoder chip for
that programming package. The provider Photo courtesy DirecTV
can communicate with the chip, via the satellite signal, to make necessary
adjustments to its decoding programs. The provider may occasionally
send signals that disrupt illegal de-scramblers as an electronic counter
measure (ECM) against illegal users.
• It takes the digital MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 signal and converts it
into an analog format that a standard television can recognize. In the
United States, receivers convert the digital signal to the analog National
Television Systems Committee (NTSC) format. Some dish and receiver
setups can also output an HDTV signal.
• It extracts the individual channels from the larger satellite
signal. When you change the channel on the receiver, it sends just the
signal for that channel to your TV. Since the receiver spits out only one
channel at a time, you can't tape one program and watch another. You
also can't watch two different programs on two TVs hooked up to the
same receiver. In order to do these things, which are standard on
conventional cable, you need to buy an additional receiver.
• It keeps track of pay-per-view programs and periodically
phones a computer at the provider's headquarters to communicate
billing information.
Receivers have a number of other features as well. They pick up a programming
schedule signal from the provider and present this information in an onscreen
programming guide. Many receivers have parental lock-out options, and some have
built-in digital video recorders(DVRs), which let you pause live television or record it
on a hard drive.
These receiver features are just added bonuses to the technology of satellite TV. With
its movie-quality picture and sound, satellite TV is becoming a popular investment for
consumers. Digital cable, which also has improved picture quality and extended
channel selection, has proven to be the fiercest competitor to satellite providers. The
TV war is raging strong between satellite and digital cable technologies as well as
between the providers who offer these services. Once considered luxuries in most
households, satellite and digital cable are becoming quite common as providers
bundle TV with Internet and phone services to offer competitive deals and win over
customers.

Problems with Broadcast TV:

Conceptually, satellite TV is a lot like broadcast TV. It's a wireless system for
delivering television programming directly to a viewer's house. Both broadcast
television and satellite stations transmit programming via a radio signal.
Broadcast stations use a powerful antenna to transmit radio waves to the surrounding
area. Viewers can pick up the signal with a much smaller antenna. The main
limitation of broadcast TV is range. The radio signals used to broadcast television
shoot out from the broadcast antenna in a straight line. In order to receive these
signals, you have to be in the direct line of sight of the antenna. Small obstacles like
trees or small buildings aren't a problem; but a big obstacle, such as the Earth, will
reflect these radio waves.
If the Earth were perfectly flat, you could pick up broadcast TV thousands of miles
from the source. But because the planet is curved, it eventually breaks the signal's line
of sight. The other problem with broadcast TV is that the signal is often distorted,
even in the viewing area. To get a perfectly clear signal like you find on cable, you
have to be pretty close to the broadcast antenna without too many obstacles in the
way.
The Satellite TV Solution:

Satellite TV solves the problems of range and distortion by transmitting broadcast

signals from satellites orbiting the Earth. Since satellites are high in the sky, there are
a lot more customers in the line of sight. Satellite TV systems transmit and receive
radio signals using specialized antennas called satellite dishes.
Satellites are higher in the sky than TV antennas, so they have a much larger line
of sight range.

The TV satellites are all in geosynchronous orbit, meaning that they stay in one
place in the sky relative to the Earth. Each satellite is launched into space at about
7,000 mph (11,000 kph), reaching approximately 22,200 miles (35,700 km) above the
Earth. At this speed and altitude, the satellite will revolve around the planet once
every 24 hours -- the same period of time it takes the Earth to make one full rotation.
In other words, the satellite keeps pace with our moving planet exactly. This way, you
only have to direct the dish at the satellite once, and from then on it picks up the
signal without adjustment, at least when everything works right.

At the core, this is all there is to satellite TV. But as we'll see in the next section, there
are several important steps between the original programming source and your TV
set.

ADVANTAGES OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS:

Satellite communications have unique advantages over conventional long distance
transmissions. Satellite links are unaffected by the propagation variations that
interfere with hf radio. They are also free from the high attenuation of wire or cable
facilities and are capable of spanning long distances. The numerous repeater stations
required for line-of-sight or troposcatter links are no longer needed. They furnish the
reliability and flexibility of service that is needed to support a military operation.
Capacity:
The present military communications satellite system is capable of communications
between backpack, airborne, and shipboard terminals. The system is capable of
handling thousands of communications channels.
Reliability:
Communications satellite frequencies are not dependent upon reflection or refraction
and are affected only slightly by atmospheric phenomena. The reliability of satellite
communications systems is limited only by the equipment reliability and the skill of
operating and maintenance personnel.
Vulnerability:
Destruction of an orbiting vehicle by an enemy is possible. However, destruction of a
single communications satellite would be quite difficult and expensive. The cost
would be excessive compared to the tactical advantage gained. It would be
particularly difficult to destroy an entire multiple-satellite system such as the twenty-
six random-orbit satellite system currently in use. The earth terminals offer a more
attractive target for physical destruction. These can be protected by the same
measures that are taken to protect other vital installations.
A high degree of freedom from jamming damage is provided by the highly directional
antennas at the earth terminals. The wide bandwidth system that can accommodate
sophisticated anti-jam modulation techniques also lessens vulnerability
Flexibility
Most operational military satellite earth terminals are housed in transportable vans.
These can be loaded into cargo planes and flown to remote areas. With trained crews
these terminals can be put into operation in a matter of hours. Worldwide
communications can be established quickly to remote areas nearly anywhere in the
free world.

ORBITS FOR COMMUNICATION SATELLITE

The path a Satellite or a planet follows around a planet or a star is defined as
an orbit. In general the shape of an orbit of a satellite is an ellipse with the
planet located at one of the two foci of the ellipse. The circular orbit may also
be considered as an ellipse where the two foci of the ellipse coincide at the
center of the circle. Satellite Orbits are classified in two broad categories i.e.

• Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO)

• Geo Stationary Orbit (GSO)

Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO)

Early ventures with satellite communications used satellites in Non-

geostationary low earth orbits due to the technical limitations of the launch
vehicles in placing satellites in higher orbits. With the advancement of launch
vehicles and satellite technologies, once the Geo Stationary Orbit (GSO) was
achieved, majority of the satellites for telecommunications started using GSO
due to its many advantages. During 1990s the interests in NGSOs were
rekindled due to several advantages of NGSO in providing global personal
communications in spite of its many disadvantages.
Advantages of NGSO are:

• Less booster power required to put a satellite in lower

orbit
• Less space loss for signal propagation at lower altitudes
(<10,000 km) leading to lower on board power requirement
• Less delay in transmission path – reduced problem of
echo in voice communications
• Suitability for providing service at higher latitude
• Lower cost to build and launch satellites at NGSO
• Use of VHF and UHF frequency bands at NGSO permits
low cost antennas for hand-held terminals

Disadvantages of NGSO are:

• Requirement of a large number of orbiting satellites for global

coverage as each low earth orbit satellite covers a small portion
of the earth’s surface for a short time.
• Complex hand over problem of transferring signal from one
satellite to another
• Less expected life of satellites at NGSO requires more frequent
replacement of satellites compared to satellite in GSO
• Compensation of Doppler shift is necessary
• Satellites at NGSO undergoes eclipse several times a day
necessitates the requirement of robust on board battery system
for the satellite for operations without solar power during eclipse
• Complex network management for a constellation of satellites
and corresponding ground system
• Problem of increasing space debris in the outer space

There are different types of Non Geostationary Orbits (NGSO), depending on

the orbital height and the inclination of the orbital plane. Inclination is the
angle that the orbital plane makes with the equatorial plane at the time of
crossing the equator moving from south to north of the earth and is measured
from 0 to 180 degrees. NGSOs are classified in the following three types as
per the inclinations of the orbital plane

• Polar Orbit
• Equatorial Orbit
• Inclined Orbit

In polar orbit the satellite moves from pole to pole and the inclination is equal
to 90 degrees. In equatorial orbit the orbital plane lies in the equatorial plane
of the earth and the inclination is zero or very small. All orbits other than polar
orbit and equatorial orbit are called inclined orbit.

A satellite orbit with inclination of less than 90 degrees is called a prograde

orbit. The satellite in prograde orbit moves in the same direction as the
rotation of the earth on its axis. Satellite orbit with inclination of more than 90
degrees is called retrograde orbit when the satellite moves in a direction
opposite to the rotational motion of the earth. Orbits of almost all
communication satellites are prograde orbits, as it takes less propellant to
achieve the final velocity of the satellite in prograde orbit by taking advantage
of the earth’s rotational speed. Example of retrograde orbit is the sun
synchronous orbit where the orbital parameters are such that that the satellite
crosses the same latitude at the same local time. This type of orbit is used for
earth observation satellites where repeated observations are required to be
made under the same sun angle. It needs more propellant to launch a satellite
in retrograde orbit as it is launched in a direction opposite to the direction of
the earth’s rotation.

Satellite orbits are also classified in terms of the orbital height. These
are:-

• Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

• Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) / Intermediate Circular Orbit (ICO)
• Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO)
• Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO)

Satellite orbits with orbital height of approximately 1000 km or less are known
as Low Earth Orbit (LEO). LEOs tend to be in general circular in shape.
Satellite orbits with orbital heights of typically in the range of 5000 km to about
25,000 km are known as Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) / Intermediate Circular
orbit (ICO). MEO and ICO are often used synonymously, but MEO
classification is not restricted to circular orbits. Satellites in Highly Elliptical
Orbit (HEO) are suitable for communications in the higher latitudes. Russian
Molnya satellites have highly inclined elliptical orbits with a perigee of about
1000 km, apogee of 40,000 km, inclination of 63.435 deg and orbital period of
12 hours. In Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) the satellite is in equatorial
circular orbit with an altitude of 35,786 km and orbital period of 24 hours.
Three satellites in GEO placed 1200 apart over equator cover most of the
world for communications purposes.

Geostationary Orbit (GSO)

There is only one geostationary orbit possible around the earth, lying on the
earth’s equatorial plane and the satellite orbiting at the same speed as the
rotational speed of the earth on its axis. For a Satellite to have an orbital
period equal to that of earth’s rotation i.e. a sidereal day (23 Hrs 56 min. 4.09
sec.) an altitude of 35,786 km is required. Such a satellite orbiting at a
velocity of 3.075 km/sec remains fixed relative to any point on earth or
geostationary. With the idealized assumptions that the geostationary satellite
is at rest relative to the earth the conditions required to be satisfied for
geostationary orbit are:

• The orbit shall be circular

 • The period of the orbit shall be equal to the period of
rotation of the earth about itself

• The plane of the orbit shall be the same as the equatorial

plane but the sub-satellite longitude, i.e. the longitude of the
projection of the satellite on the Earth’s surface can be selected
arbitrarily.

The principle of satellite communications based on this concept of

geostationary orbit was originated by Arthur C Clarke. Main advantage of
geostationary satellite being the permanent contact between the ground
segment and the satellite with fixed directional antennas at both the earth
station and the satellite.

GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE ORBIT

Attitude 35,786 km.

Period 23 Hr. 56 min. 4.091 sec. (One sidereal day)
Orbit inclination. 00
Velocity 3.075 km per sec.
Coverage 42.5% of earth’s surface.
Sub satellite point On equator.
Area of no Beyond 810 North and South latitude.
coverage (77º if angle of elevation below 5º are eliminated )
Advantages - Simple ground station tracking.
- No hand over problem
- Nearly constant range
- Very small doppler shift
Disadvantages - Transmission delay of the order of 250 msec.
- Large free space loss
- No polar coverage
IT’S FUTURE-THE CONCLUSION:

In the future SATELLITE TV will open up so many possibilities that it is hard to

imagine what our lives will be like in 30, or even just 20 years from now. To give an
idea of how fast things are going. 50 years ago, there was nothing in space that was
made by humans. Now there are even satellite graveyards (specific orbits where
obsolete satellites are "parked"). The possibilities of satellite TV technology are
growing faster every year. What took 10 years to develop 30 years ago is now done in
2 years.

Satellite TV is one of the driving forces for satellite technologies because the need to
please million of subscribers is much stronger than the need to please the relative
limited needs of communications for commercial purposes. The future of satellite TV
is so bright, that a supernova would pale in comparison.