Lecture 19:Telemetry, 

Tracking, Commanding and Monitori

 (TTC&M) subsystem
Satellite Sub-systems
 Major subsystem of satellite are
1) Solar panels:
They charge the batteries and supply the electric power or the
spacecraft.

2) Communication subsystems:
This is a set of transponders that receive the uplink signals and
transmit them to the earth.

3) Satellite Antennas:
• Every satellite regardless of its purpose (weather,
communication, spy, International Space Station, Hubble
telescope, … ) need antennas for sure.
• Antennas vary in shape, characteristics, and purpose of use.
Because of that, usually a satellite will carry several types of
antennas at once.
Satellite Sub-systems
 Major subsystem of satellite are
4) Attitude control subsystem:
It provides stabilization in orbit and senses change in orientation

5) Propulsion subsystem:
The jet thrusters and Apogee Kick Motor(AKM) are part of
propulsion subsystem and are commanded from ground.

6) Telemetry, tracking and command subsystem:

It monitors onboard conditions such as temperature and
battery voltage and transmit them to ground station for
analysis.
Introduction
 The TTC&M system provides various essential
communication to & from the spacecraft.

 TTC&M is the only way to observe and to control the

satellite’s functions & condition from the ground.
TTC & M Block Diagram
 TTC & M is a narrowband
link –allows for high
sensitivity reception.

 At the earth station measured

data is processed & commands
are issued to the satellite.
TTC & M Functions
1. Reporting spacecraft health.
2. Control the orbit and attitude of the satellite.
3. Monitoring command actions.
4. Monitor the status of all sensors and subsystems on the
satellite.
5. Switch on or off sections of the communication system.
6. Control of payload (communications, etc.).
TTC & M Backup System
 The main system can be used only after the correct
attitude of the satellite is achieved, i.e. it is inoperable.

 The backup system provides controls to important

sections which can be used to bring the main system in
operation

 In case, the main TTC&M system fails, the backup

system is used to keep the satellite on station. It is also
used to eject the satellite from Geostationary orbit.
Telemetry System
 Telemetry : The telemetry system sends data received from
sensors on the satellite to monitor the satellite’s health, via
telemetry link to the controlling earth station.

 Telemetry data are usually digitized and transmitted as phase

shift keying (PSK) of a low-power telemetry carrier using
time division techniques.

 A low data rate (downlink bit rates up to 8 Mbps) is

normally used to allow the receiver at the earth station to have
a narrow BW & thus maintain a high C/N ratio.

 The sensor data and the status of each subsystem, can be

reported back to the earth by the telemetry system.
Monitoring System
 The monitoring system collects data from many sensors
within the satellite & analyze these data to the controlling
earth station.

 Monitoring parameters :pressure, temperature, voltage,

current.

 The evaluation of each component in the ground station

is a very crucial process so as to maintain optimal level in
the performance of each of the components.

 Alarms can also be sounded if any vital parameter goes

outside allowable limits.
Monitoring System
 Attitude maintenance sighting devices are monitored via
telemetry link.

 In failure case the satellite points in the wrong direction.

The faulty unit must then be disconnected and a spare
brought in, via the command system, or some other means
of controlling attitude devised.

 These comparisons are done to take corrective or

preventive action whenever required to prevent failure or
delays in the mission timelines.
Monitoring System
 Parameters measured:

a) AGC: It is the plot between time and power. It helps us

to determine the satellite anomalies.

Automatic Gain Control (AGC): A feedback control

circuit that maintains the output power level of an amplifier
constant over a wide range of input signal levels.

a) BER: The figure of merit for a digital radio link is its Bit
Error Rate
Tracking System
 Tracking : The tracking system at the earth station provides
information on the range, elevation, and azimuth of the
satellite needed in computing orbital elements.

 The Tracking system consists of 3 main elements:

1. an interferometry system to measure the direction cosine
angles of the satellite with respect to the ground station
2. a tone-ranging system to measure the range of the
satellite
3. A doppler system to measure the range rate of the
satellite.
Tracking System
 One of the technique to determine the current position of
an orbit is by integrating the data obtained by velocity and
acceleration sensors.

 Triangulation method is used to determine the position of

a satellite when a sufficient number of earth stations with
adequate separation are observing it.
Command System
 During launch sequence
 Switch on power
 Deploy antennas and solar panels
 Point antennas to desired location

 In orbit
 Maintain spacecraft thermal balance
 Control payload, thrusters, etc.
Command System
 Encryption of commands and responses is used to provide
security in the command system, so that the risk of satellite
malfunction due to erroneous commands is minimized.

 The command and telemetry links can operate in the same

frequency band (6 & 4GHz) but they are usually separated
from the communication system.