Unit-II: Satellite Subsystems and Link Design

Communication Systems, Satellite Antennas

Basic Transmission Theory,

Examples
 Communications satellites are very complex, extremely expensive to purchase, and also
expensive to launch.
A typical large geostationary satellite, is estimated to cost from US$100M to

can maintain continuous coverage and

It costs over US$2B.

The need to dedicate one or more earth stations to the monitoring and control of the satellite,

The revenue to pay these costs is obtained by selling the communication capacity to users,
either by way of leasing circuits or transponders, or by charging for circuit use,
As in direct to home television (DTH-TV), international telephone connections, and data transmission
services
A spinner satellite, INTELSAT IV A
1. Bipropallant thrusters: Hypogolic (mono-methyl hydrazine and nitrogen
3-Axis stabilization
When the satellite has narrow beam antennas,
satellite have to be stabilized within ± 0.1° on each axis
The references for the attitude control system may be

earth sensors, the sun, or one or more stars, Gyros.

employs an onboard computer to process the sensor

data and command the thrusters and momentum
wheels
Altitude corrections are made by operating the Z-

0.85 per year.

 The monitoring system collects the data from many sensors (100 within the satellite and sends
these data to the controlling earth station
The sensor data, status of each subsystem and the positions of switches in comm. system are

Devices used to maintain attitude are also monitored via telemetry link
Telemetry data => digitized and transmitted (TDM frame) as low power PSK

Alarms can be sounded if any vital parameter goes outside allowable limits.

1. To determine the correct orbit of the satellite = velocity and acceleration sensors on the satellite

2. Observation of Doppler shift = to determine rate at which range is changing including orbital
parameters
3. Transmitting RF pulse(s) - Calculate range of Sat by time delay- Traiangulation by 3 spatially
electric energy

Spinner satellites (6 kW) 50 % cells are unexposed to sun radiation

Cells heat up, typically to 50 to 80 C causes drop in output voltage

 2.

2 2

2
20
 as islands

Regional beams are carefully shaped to direct radiated power to a specific area

A horn is a flared section of waveguide that provides an aperture several wavelengths wide and a
good match between the waveguide impedance and free space
Horns are also used as feeds for reflectors, either singly or in clusters

space from a waveguide

At 4 GHz, = 0.075 m, so D = 0.33m (just over 1 ft)

could be used in this application

Waveguide horns are generally used for global beam coverage

However, in designing our communication system we will have to use the edge of beam gain
figure of 17 dB
satellite, are close to the .
 There is a total vacuum and the sun irradiates the satellite with 1.36 kW of heat and light on
each square meter of exposed surface.

This requires a thermal control system that manages heat flow throughout a GEO
Thermal problems are equally severe for a LEO satellite that moves from sunlight to shadow
every 100 minutes.

every component used.

Past operational and test experience to have good reliability components will be selected

Once individual components and subsystems have been space qualified, the
different MTBF, and failure of one device may

subsystem can continue to function correctly.

often used to provide parallel paths with

8
a. A three axis stabilized satellite has two solar sails of equal area that rotate to face

The drum has a diameter of 3.5 m. The efficiency of the solar cells is predicted to be

Answer: Effective solar cell area for spinner is Aeff = W x H

a. What is the current that must be supplied by the power conditioning unit to keep the satellite operating
normally?
Answer: Satellite power bus operates at 48 v, hence I=P/V = 5500/48=114.6 A
b. Battery capacity is rated in ampere hours, the product of the current (in amps) that the battery can supply
multiplied by the length of time that this current can be supplied before the battery is fully discharged. The satellite
batteries must not discharge beyond 70% of their rated capacity during eclipse. Find the battery capacity required
for this DBS-TV satellite.

Battery capacity required = 114.6 A x 1.167 h / 0.7 = 191 AH

c. If batteries weigh 1.25 kg per ampere-hour of capacity, how much weight on this satellite is devoted to batteries?
Answer: Weight of batteries = 191 x 1.25 = 238.8 kg.
d. If half of the transponders are shut down during eclipse, what saving in battery weight is achieved?
Answer: Current demand with half transponders off is 114.6 A x 3.0/5.5 = 62.5 A
Battery capacity required = 1.167 x 62.5 / 0.7 = 104.2 A. Weight = 130.2 kg.
a. Find the diameters of the two transmitting antennas. Specify the diameter and calculate the gain
at each frequency.

Hence D = 75 / Gain is approximately 33,000 / ( )

The transmitting antennas on the satellite operate at the lower frequency (downlink) in each band.
For 11.5 GHz: = 0.02609 m, D = 75 x 0.02609 / 1.8 = 1.087 m

G = 33,000 / 1.8 = 10.185 or 40.1 dB

b. Find the diameters of the two receiving antennas. Specify the diameter and calculate the gain at
each frequency.

For 14.0 GHz: = 0.02143 m, D = 75 x 0.02413/ 1.8 = 0.893 m

For 30.0 GHz: = 0.010 m, D = 75 x 0.010 / 1.8 = 0.417 m
Because the beamwidth of each antenna is the same, the gains are all the same: G = 40.1 dB
dB beamwidths equal to the width and height of Pennsylvania. Use a frequency of

D = 75 x 0.02727 / 0.50 = 4.010 m; D = 75 x 0.02727 / 1.00 = 2.005 m

GHz. Identify the dimensions as E-W and N-S.

G (dB) = 33,000 / (0.50 x 1.0) = 66,000 or 48.2 dB