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Emerging Trends in Satellite Technology and Applications

EMERGING TRENDS IN SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS


Anisiobi Chiagoziem E., 20061521273 COE 500 Level, EEE Department, FUTO
ABSTRACT

In the rapidly advancing world of technology today, technological innovations have proved to lead the way to greater development. Satellite technology has evolved over the years, bringing in more efficient and effective solutions which are applicable to all areas of life. This seminar paper, in an attempt to present the emerging trends in satellite technology and its applications, begins with its evolution. It discusses the different trends in the evolution of satellite technology since its emergence to the present day. It also presents the emerging trends in satellite technology and its current and future applications.

Key words: LEO system, nanosatellites, in-space refuelling.


Contents
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.0 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 4.0 5.0 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 2 Satellite Overview ................................................................................................................... 2 Satellite Orbits ........................................................................................................................ 3 SATELLITE HISTORY ................................................................................................................. 4 EVOLUTION OF SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY THROUGH THE AGES.................................................... 6 EMERGING TRENDS IN SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY ......................................................................... 9 LEO Systems ...........................................................................................................................10 In-Space Refuelling .................................................................................................................11 Nanosatellites ........................................................................................................................11 Satellite News Gathering (SNG) ..............................................................................................12 EMERGING TRENDS IN SATELLITE APPLICATIONS .......................................................................12 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION ...................................................................................14

REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................................................14

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Emerging Trends in Satellite Technology and Applications

1.0

INTRODUCTION

The level of advancement in satellite technology is astonishing; especially when one considers that the technology is barely 54 years old. As at the year 2010, the industry was worth over a $100 billion. The applications of satellite technology are far reaching, wide-ranging and allencompassing. Satellite telephony, mobile internet, satellite television, satellite radio, marine navigation, global positioning, astronomy and cosmic studies, weather forecasting, meteorological research, video conferencing, remote sensing, data mining, agriculture, defence and advanced warning system just to mention a few are some of the applications of satellite technology. 1.1 SATELLITE OVERVIEW

1.1.1 What is a satellite? A satellite can be said to be any object purposely placed in orbit around Earth, other planets, or the Sun for the purpose of collecting information or communication via radio. Since 1957 when the first satellite (sputnik 1) was launched by USSR, thousands of satellites have been launched into earth's orbit (Encarta, 2009). These have changed the scope of the communications industry, the military and scientific research, among others. 1.1.2 TYPES OF SATELLITE There are various types of satellites today, and they vary according to their intended application. a) Communications satellites b) Weather satellites c) Earth Observation satellites d) Navigation satellite e) Military satellite (reconnaissance) f) Research and Scientific satellite a) Communications satellite: These satellites act as radio relay stations which receive, amplify and retransmit information carried on specific microwave frequencies back to the earth providing television, telefax, telephone,
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Emerging Trends in Satellite Technology and Applications

radio, and digital data links around the world. Examples are Intelsat series, NigComSat-1R, TelStar series, Iridium satellites, etc. b) Weather satellites: These satellites provide meteorologists with scientific data to predict weather conditions and are equipped with advanced instruments that provide advance warning of severe weather conditions. Examples are TIROS 1 (NASA), GOES satellites (NASA), MeteoSat (EU) and NOAA (USA). c) Earth Observation (Remote Sensing) Satellites: These satellites allow scientists to gather valuable data about the earth's ecosystem. d) Navigation satellites: These satellites provide the exact location of a person, ship, aircraft, etc to within a few meters. Example GPS. e) Military Satellites: These are satellites that are owned by various military bodies and are both used for high security communication between military sites and for advanced warning on missile attacks. f) Research and Scientific Satellites: These are satellites used by scientists to observe the Sun, Moon, other planets and their moons, stars and galaxies. Examples are the Hubble Space Telescope and the Mars Global Surveyor. 1.2 SATELLITE ORBITS

1.2.1 What is an Orbit: An orbit is the path that a satellite follows as it revolves around Earth. The defining characteristics of an orbit are its shape, its altitude, and the angle it makes with Earths equator. The altitude of an orbit determines how long the satellite takes to circle Earth and how much of the planet is visible to the satellite at any given time. 1.2.2 Types of Orbits In terms of commercial satellites, there are three main categories of orbits:

a) Geostationary Equatorial Orbit (GEO) b) Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)


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c) Low Earth Orbit (LEO) a) Geostationary Equatorial Orbit (GEO) : Also known as Geosynchronous Orbit, 35,786 km above the earth. The satellite travels in the same direction and at the same speed as the Earth's rotation on its axis, taking 24 hours to complete a full trip around the globe. As a result, these satellites stay above one point on Earths equator at all times. b) Medium Earth Orbit (MEO): 8,000-20,000 km above the earth These are elliptical orbits which are used mostly by navigation and communication satellites, such as GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia). c) Low Earth Orbit (LEO): 500Fig. 1.2: Medium Earth orbit (8,000 20,000). Courtesy of Intelsat. Fig. 1.1: Geostationary orbit (22,282 miles or 35,786km). Courtesy of Intelsat.

2,000 km above the earth These orbits are much closer to the Earth, requiring satellites to travel at a very high speed in order to avoid being pulled out of orbit by Earth's gravity. As such, it is exceptionally good for transmitting data, such as in Iridium and Globalstar satellite systems.

Fig. 1.3: Low Earth orbit (500 2,000). Courtesy of Intelsat.

Other orbits include Molniya orbit, Polar orbit, High Altitude Platform etc. 1.3
YEAR

SATELLITE HISTORY
DETAILS
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Table 1.1 Timeline of selected milestones of satellite history from 1945 - date.

Emerging Trends in Satellite Technology and Applications 1945 1957 (Oct. 4) 1960 Arthur C. Clarke, a well known physicist and author, wrote his famous prophecy, predicting GEO satellites. Launch of first satellite, Sputnik 1, by USSR. It transmitted radio signal to earth on 20.005 and 40.002 MHz; had an orbit of 101.5 minutes and a lifetime of 90days. USA (NASA) launched Echo 1 & Echo 2 balloon satellites. They made use of passive relaying of TV and telephone signals by reflection of signals off the metalized surface of the balloon. Launching of Syncom-2 by USA/NASA, the first experimental geostationary satellite. Syncom-3, launching of the first truly GEO satellite was used to relay the 1964 Olympic games from Tokyo, Japan. (It had 300 telephone circuits or 1 TV channel). Launching of the Early Bird (Intelsat-1) satellite, first commercial geostationary communications satellite having 240 telephone circuits or 1 TV channel, providing a satellite link across the Atlantic ocean. Launching of Molniya-1 (USSR), a non-GEO satellite implementing an elliptical orbit with 12 hours revolution. Beginning of TV transmission to small-sized receive earth stations in USSR (29 Molniya were launched between 1965 and 1975). Launching of Symphonie-1 satellite (France, Germany). The first three-axis stabilized geostationary communications satellite. 1976 1978 1982 1984 1997 1998 2002-2005 2005-2012 Launching of Marisat Satellite-(USA), the first maritime communication Satellite. Start of Global Positioning System (GPS). Start of Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System GLONASS (Russia). Beginning of operation of satellite business system (using VSAT with full transmit/receive operation). Introduction of first non-GEO satellite (little LEO) satellite system. Mobile experiments using ACTS (Advanced Communications Technology Satellites) Introduction of wideband personal mobile communications system Launching of the Galileo project by the European Union. A civilian satellite navigation satellite made up of 30 satellites.

1963 1964 1965

1965

1974

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2.0

EVOLUTION OF SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY THROUGH THE AGES

Satellite technology has evolved through the ages, from the crude " and elementary design of Sputnik 1, the very first satellite to the present day multimillion dollar Intelsat New Dawn, a lot of changes and improvements has been implemented in satellite design and technology. These changes come as a result of improvement in satellite manufacture, improvements in electronic circuit design, improvements in antenna design, improvements in transponder design, in modulation technique, in launch vehicles, improvements in production simulation and testing techniques, etc. All these improvements have brought about tremendous development in satellite technology, bringing about increased lifespan, communication handling capacity, and efficiency etc.

Fig 2.1 Evolution of Satellite Communications technology. Courtesy of Indian Space Research Agency (ISRA). 2.1 The 1950s

In the early years of satellite technology, the satellites designed then were ingenious, resulting from a great deal of intense work done by scientific institutes and design bureaus. With no previous experience and lots of theoretical data, the M. S. Khomyakov led design team launched Sputnik 1, the very first satellite on October 4, 1957. It was a 585 mm sphere, having a pair of whip-like antennas and
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Emerging Trends in Satellite Technology and Applications

powered by 3 silver-zinc batteries. It transmitted a series of beep - beep sounds via radio (at 20.005 and 40.005 MHz) as it orbited the earth every 101.5 minutes at a height of. It lasted for 3 months. 2.2 The 1960s

The 60s saw NASA coming up with several satellite programs like Echo, TIROS, Relay, TelStar, Syncom etc. and the USSR bringing up their Molniya series. Structural Design: The satellites of this period were cylindrical and spin-stabilized (drum shaped). Part of the drum rotates (50 100 rpm) and part is despun so that an antenna mounted in this part is always facing the earth. The spinning part is covered with solar cells while the despun part which contains the antennas and earth sensors rotates once with every circling of the earth. Antenna: These satellites made use of omni-directional antennas with a global spot beam. But in 1969, Intelsat-3 came up with directional antennas. 2.3 The 1970s

The 70s saw a major technological boost in s atellite design and technology with the concept of frequency re-use which was introduced by Intelsat-4a. Structural design: The shape and design of satellites changed in this period with the introduction of three-axis (or body) stabilization. The satellite is shaped like a box with numerous appendages attached and is maintained in space by stabilizing elements for each of the three-axis. This made it possible to deploy very large solar arrays, and provided more despun surface to mount antennas (D. J. Whalen, 2010). Frequency Utilization: As a solution to the frequency utilization problem, frequency re-use was developed. This involves separating the signals spatially, so that the same frequency bands can be used to service physically separate locations on earth. This period also saw the upcoming of multiple spot beam communication. 2.4 The 1980s

The concept of dual polarization frequency re-use (or polarization discrimination) was one of the major highlights of the decade. Signals on the same frequency are
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transmitted by the satellite antennas through different transponders using two orthogonal polarizations (i.e. horizontal and vertical) of the radio-frequency wave. This makes it possible to use the same frequency band within the same footprint. The Intelsat V satellites were the first to carry this. 2.5 The 1990s

This period saw greater technological improvements in satellite technology with the launching of ACTS (Advanced Communications Technology Satellites) by NASA in 1993. These satellites implemented the most revolutionary breakthroughs in satellite communications history, being the first high-speed, all digital communications satellite (www.nasa.gov, Fig 2.2 NASA ACTS Satellite st 2008). According to NASA, ACTS is a 21 century space technology prototype that will permit the satellite industry to rise above this frequency saturation and meet the growing need for wider, more flexible bandwidth by moving into the virtually untapped Ka-band (30/20 GHz). (http://acts.grc.nasa.gov). Antenna: The concept of multiple hopping beam antennas came up in this period. These antennas use small-diameter, tightly-focused multiple beams, and each can be hopped from one site to another in milliseconds. (http://acts.grc.nasa.gov ) Transponders: One other technological advancement introduced in this era is on-board processing, as advancement over bent -pipe (or simply frequency translation) signal processing. On-board processing allows dynamic reallocation of unused bandwidth, multi-beam frequency re-use, the

Fig. 2.3 Illustration of a laser Intersatellite link by the Artemis satellite. (Courtesy of ESTECH)
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discarding of empty uplink time slots, increasing downlink efficiency, statistical multiplexing, forward error correction, etc. Another technological highlight of this era was the concept of Intersatellite links (ISL). ISLs are employed to provide connections between earth stations in the service area of one satellite to earth stations in the service area of another satellite when neither of the satellites covers both sets of earth stations i.e. it offers increased coverage. In this technology, the connection between satellites is fully at space level and the interfacing of the network formats and protocols have to be performed on board the satellites. There are two basic technologies for its implementation: microwave transmission (22.55 -23.55 GHz; 32.0 33.0 GHz; 54.23 58.2 GHz and 59 64GHz) and optical transmission which uses LASER beams to transmit data between satellites.

2.6

The New Millennium

Fig. 2.4 Interlinking of satellite

This has brought in a new era in satellite networks via Intersatellite link (ISL) technology. New technologies such as in-space refuelling, nano-satellites and an increase in the use of advanced digital satellite processing and switching have marked the first few years of the millennium.
3.0 EMERGING TRENDS IN SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY

Since the year 2000, many new and cutting edge technologies have appeared on the satellite scene. These technologies seem to be bringing in a new age in the satellite era. This chapter will highlight on some of the new trends that have shown up on the scene and also some of the ones promising to emerge in the next 10 years.

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3.1

LEO SYSTEMS

This is the use of networks of small satellites in low earth orbit (2,000 km or less) to provide global voice and data communication. This concept came up as a result of the problem of propagation delay (affecting voice and data communication) inherent in GEO satellites. These LEO systems are of three (3) types and are distinguished by reference to their terrestrial counterparts: paging, cellular and fibre. Table 3.1: Low Earth Orbit systems. System Type Examples Little LEO ORBCOMM Big LEO Iridium, Globalstar Main applications Terrestrial counterpart Low bit rate data Paging Mobile telephony Broadband LEO Teledesic, Skybridge High bit rate data

Cellular telephony Fibre

These LEO satellite systems seem to be the solution to the provision of internet and voice services to many parts of the world. They provide relatively cheaper global access to the telecommunications infrastructure currently available only in advanced urban areas of the developed world. This is possible because of the number and scale of operating satellites that the companies are promising (Iridium: 66 satellites, Globalstar: 48 satellites, SkyBridge: 80 satellites). The Iridium system (which is currently active) has
Fig. 3.1 Teledesic Network
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11 satellites in six polar low earth orbital planes at 780 km. They can be accessed by special telephones that communicate with these satellites and that allow users access to the regular telephone network from anywhere on the globe. 3.2 IN-SPACE REFUELLING

This is relatively, the latest trend in satellite technology. This involves the refuelling of satellites by other space craft launched into space for this purpose. In fact, the worlds first space refuelling station is to be launched by 2015. This technology will enable spacecrafts to tank up in low earth orbit. With this technology, smaller and cheaper rockets could be used for missions that would be outside their weight class and larger rockets would have their capabilities considerably enhanced. This could double the capacity of rocket launchers (S. Cass & B. Sauser, 2009). As of March 2011, Intelsat agreed to purchase half of a 2,000 kg propellant payload that an MDA Corporation spacecraft satellite-servicing demonstration project to refuel five Intelsat communications satellites. This is to increase the lifetime of the satellites that are already near the end of their useful life (Intelsat, 2011). 3.3 NANOSATELLITES

These are miniaturized or small satellites (1 10kg). These nanosatellites are seen by some technology experts to be the future of satellite technology. They have low weights and small sizes, they are more agile and stable, their power consumption is low, they serve as test beds for future applications and technologies and they have good educational uses. They could be used in Fig. 3.2 Delfi C3 (Launched in 2011) the nearest future as robots to assemble larger satellites in space (J. Bouwmeester, 2008).
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3.4

SATELLITE NEWS GATHERING (SNG)

It is the temporary and occasional transmission at short notice of television or sound for broadcasting purposes, using highly portable or transportable uplink earth stations. (ITU Handbook, 2002) It is a recent application of satellite technology and it is being used by many television broadcasting companies with global viewership. For most of the late 90s, SNG was limited to outdoor broadcasting trucks. But since the turn of the millennium, a new trend has appeared on the broadcasting scene. This is the videophone. Videophones, which are devices equipped with miniature video cameras, rely on satellite links to transmit video as well as audio signals. Television news organizations have adopted the use of videophones to cover breaking news stories in remote areas (Encarta, 2009).
4.0 EMERGING TRENDS IN SATELLITE APPLICATIONS

The technological advancements in satellite technology have led to the application of satellite technology in virtually every field. Many of such applications started coming up in the 90s and some, in the new millennium. Apart from the traditional applications of satellite in communications (i.e. telephony and television), some of the present and emerging areas of application include: Navigation, Medicine, Education, Satellite Messaging, Global Positioning, Agriculture, Geodesy, Geo-informatics and monitoring, Remote sensing, Telecommunication, Television, Internet services. a) Navigation: Satellite technology has changed the accuracy and scope of navigation in the last few years. With the high pinpointing accuracy of GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), BeiDou (China), Galileo (Europe), marine navigation has become easier and better. b) Medicine: Satellites have also impacted hugely in the area of medicine. Especially in Telemedicine (which allow remote surgeries between countries). c) Education: Advancement in satellite technology has also influenced education. Presently, many universities around the world have satellite programmes as part of their school activities. Also, in some countries of the world, distance learning via satellite connections is being implemented.

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d) Global Positioning Services: A GPS receiver is a small apparatus containing the ability to determine navigational coordinates by triangulating the signals from multiple geosynchronous satellites. GPS (USA), GLONASS (Russia), BeiDou (China), Galileo (Europe) all provide this service. It can work well for pinpointing locations anywhere on the earth. e) Agriculture: The agriculture industry has also taken advantage of satellite technology, and GPS in particular for precision farming. This makes use of GPS services for yield mapping (where GPS is attached to harvesting equipment and is used to measure and map precisely, the yielding areas of a farmland), soil mapping, tillage adjustments, seeding, etc. It is increasingly being used by the Department of Agriculture on Prince Edward Island, Canada. f) Geo-informatics and Monitoring: With the emergence of highly specialised weather satellites, the scope of weather forecasting and predicting has gone into an entirely new level. These weather satellites send information of the weather condition, cloud formation and motion, tidal waves motion and global wind patterns. g) Remote Sensing: This is the process of obtaining information about land, water, or an object, without any physical contact between the sensor and the subject of analysis (Encarta, 2009). Remote sensing satellites carry all sorts of sensors such as very high-resolution cameras, multispectral scanners (MSSs), very high resolution radiometers (VHRRs), thermatic mapper (TM) and a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) amongst others for sensing purposes (Maini, 2007). h) Television: Satellites have been used extensively for television purposes since the 1964 Olympic Games. Presently, many television stations have a global audience connected via satellite. Also, with the emergence of direct broadcast satellites in the 90s, direct transmission of television signals to homes having small dishes is now possible.

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5.0

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1

CONCLUSIONS

The satellite scene is a rapidly advancing field with newer trends appearing every few years. These developments will continue as mankind keeps on pushing the borders of technology. On-going scientific research in many nations (USA, Russia, China, Japan, etc) is working on technological innovations and cutting edge solutions to move satellite communications forward. Up till this point, many efforts are being made to remove the constraints to satellite technology such as size of space craft, frequencies, weight of satellites, efficiency and availability of launch vehicles, range of available frequencies, etc. And as all these constraints are being individually removed by hard pushing space laboratories, satellites will take on a new look and feel; its design more dynamic; and its applications more encompassing. 5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the foregoing, it is necessary for more researches and studies to be conducted in the field of satellite technology, to enable further breakthroughs in the field. Particularly, I recommend that Nigerians should harness these applications of satellite technology to provide solution to the problems facing the country, especially in the areas of education, data communications, navigation, weather forecasting, etc. Also, Nigerian Universities should become actively involved in satellite education, research and development so as to enhance students knowledge, and to move Nigeria, as a country further into the satellite age.
REFERENCES

1. Bouwmeester J., (2008), Advancing Nano-Satellite Platforms: The Delfi Program. Paper IAC-08-B4.4.B9, International Astronautical Congress, Glasgow, Scotland. 2. Kruczynski L. R, (2009), Artificial Satellite, Microsoft Encarta 2009, Redmond, Washington, USA.

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3. Mark A. Sturza, (1999) Architecture of the Teledesic Satellite System. Teledesic Corporation, Washington, USA. 4. Christopher Redding, (1999), Overview of LEO Satellite Systems. 1999 International Symposium on Advanced Radio Technologies, Colorado, USA. 5. Maini A. K. and Agrawal V., (2007), Satellite Technology: Principles and Applications. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, West Sussex, England. 8. David J. Whalen (2010) Communications Satellites: Making the Global Village Possible. Retrieved 3 June, 2011 from http://www.history.nasa.gov 8. Das Gupta A. R. and Das Gupta K. S., (2003), The Emerging Trends in Satellite and Wireless Communications Technologies. Indian Space Research Organization, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. 9. International Telecommunication Union, 3rd ed. (2002), Handbook on Satellite Communications. John Wiley & Sons, New York, USA.

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