PHYS 3250 Introduction to space communications
1. History and overview of present status
Professor N. Bartel
Space communications
communications between vehicles in outer space and Earth
with radio waves and in future with lasers too
• Satellite communications
communications via (usually) Earth orbiting vehicles
Space communications
communications between vehicles in outer space and Earth
• Deep space communications
communications via interplanetary vehicles
NASA Deep Space Station
(Goldstone, CA, 70m)
Improvements in deep space
communications data rate
100 Mb/s
SPACE COMMUNICATIONS
Text book
• Title: Satellite Communications
• Author: Dennis Roddy
• ISBN: 0071371761
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional
• Fourth Edition
SPACE COMMUNICATIONS
Reference book
• Title: Satellite Communication
Systems Engineering
• Author: W. L. Pritchard,
H. G. Suyderhoud, R. A. Nelson
• ISBN: 0137914687
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• 2th Edition
SPACE COMMUNICATIONS
Reference book
• Title: Satellite Communications
• Author: T. Pratt, C. W. Bostian
• ISBN: 978-0-471-37007-9
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• 2th Edition
• 2002 Print
PHYS 3250
Introduction to space
communications
Professor N Bartel
And his recent space projects
PHYS 3250
Introduction to space
communications
Professor N Bartel
And his recent space projects
PHYS 3250
Introduction to space
communications
3
Professor N Bartel
Sketch of the 7 chapters
2 Orbital aspects 6
3 Spacecraft
4 Earth station
5 Communications link
6 Modulation and 5
multiplexing techniques
7 Multiple access to a
4 2
satellite
7
Earthbound communications systems
• 1837 First electric telegraph system, 1.5 km, in UK
• 1844 Samuel Morse demonstrated his telegraph code, in
US
• 1868 First commercial transatlantic telegraph
cable between UK and Canada
• 1901 Marconi transmitted first transatlantic
wireless message from UK to Canada
• 1927 first commercial transatlantic Wikipedia
radio telephone
• 1929 BBC started experimental TV
• 1936 first regular TV in UK and
Germany
Wikipedia
History of communications satellites
• 1945 Arthur C. Clarke proposed geostationary
communications satellites with paper titled:
“Extraterrestrial Relays” in the journal Wireless World. He
calculated with P2 α a3 that a satellite in circular orbit
around Earth with a radius of 42,164 km on equatorial
plane would have an angular velocity that matched the
Earth’s angular velocity.
Three basic orbits: circular equatorial, circular polar, elliptical inclined
Satellite orbits
Three basic orbit planes:
Satellite orbits
Four basic orbit heights and shapes:
LEO :Low Earth Orbit
Van Allen radiation belts
to be avoided
MEO: Medium Earth Orbit
GEO: Geostationary Orbit LEO: R= 500 - 1500 km
HEO: Highly Elliptical Orbit GEO above surface, visible 15-20min
MEO: R=8000-20000 km
above Earth surface, visible: 2-8h
MEO
GEO: R= 42164 km
from Earth center visible 24h
LEO
HEO
• 1955 J.R. Pierce defined parameters for satellite
communications
• 1957 Launch of Sputnik – first artificial satellite (USSR)
• 1960 Launch of Echo I, first communications satellite, AT&T,
30m diameter ballon in low-earth orbit (LEO)
with P=118 min.
• 1962 Launch of Telstar I, first commercially funded
communications satellite, AT&T,elliptical LEO orbit, first
broadband real-time transponder Sputnik
Wikipedia
• 1962 Launch of Alouette Canada’s first
satellite (ionosphere studies)
• 1963 Launch of Syncom II, first
geostationary communications satellite
• 1964 INTELSAT organisation https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/abo
t/project-echo.html
established
• 1965 Launch of INTELSAT I “Early Bird”
• 1965 Launch of Molniya (USSR), first domestic
communications satellite, highly elliptical orbit with
apogee height of 40,000 km.
• 1972 Launch of Anik A1, Canada’s first communications
satellite, and first domestic communications satellite
placed in geostationary orbit.
• 2013 Launch of Anik G1
Anik: little brother
INTELSAT I, wikipedia Anik A1, http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca
Global services
• INTELSAT (International Telecommunications Satellite organization)
− 149 member countries
− INTELSAT 36 (last satellite), geostationary orbits
• INMARSAT
(internat. maritime satellite organization)
Sets of 4 geostationary satellites
70% coverage but not the poles
• Iridium
66 active satellites in polar LEOs
100% global coverage
Accessible with handheld devices
(expensive)
• Starlink 1000’s of small satellites in LEOs for high speed internet
everywhere
Regional services
• EUTELSAT (European Telecommunications Satellite
organization)
• ARABSAT (has about 20 members of the Arab league)
• PALAPA (service for Indonesia and the Philippines)
Domestic services
…lots of them now.
Other Earth-orbit Satellites
• Military satellites (very) LEO
• Remote sensing satellites,
(Radarsat, many others)
• Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) wikipedia
− GPS (US),
− GLONASS (Russia),
− Galileo (Europa).
− BeiDou (China),
− NAVIC (India),
− Quasi-Zenith (Japan)
• Research satellites (HST, GP-B, RadioAstron, and many
more..
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
• GPS : USA
• GLONASS: Russia
• Galileo:EU
• BeiDou:China
Wikipedia
Who volunteers to be the class representative?
Latest Interplanetary spacecraft:
Parker Solar Probe
• Further information is on Chapter 1, lecture notes.
