BY:

WHAT IS A SATELLITE?
It is originated from the latin word satellitmeaning an attendant, one who is constantly hovering around and attending to a master or big man. A heavenly object which revolves around some heavenly body due to gravitational force. A communication satellite (COSMAT) is an artificial satellite sent to space for the purpose of telecommunications.

HOW DO SATELLITES WORK?

Two stations on earth want to communicate through radio broadcast but are too far away to use conventional means. The two stations can use a satellite as a relay station for their communication. One earth station sends a transmission to the satellite. This is called UPLINK. The satellite transponder converts the signal and sends it down to the second earth station. This is called DOWNLINK.

The first artificial satellite was SOVIET SPUTNIK launched on October 4 1957. The first American satellite to relay communications was PROJECT SCORE in 1958. TELSTAR was the first act relay 1 launched on Dec 13 1962 and was first to transmit across pacific. India launched its first artificial satellite in 1975.

Satellites are mainly of two types: 1.Active satellites 2.Passive satellites

TYPES OF SATELLITES

Active satellites: These satellites have a processing equipment called transponder and prevents interference of signals. Passive satellites: These are relay stations in space ,they include natural satellites and artificial satellites.

TYPES OF SATELLITES(cont)
Based on satellite orbits Geo stationary earth orbit(GEO) Low earth orbit(LEO) Medium earth orbit(MEO) Molniya orbit

GEO STATIONARY ORBITS

These satellites revolve in a orbit 35,863 km above the earths surface along the equator. Objects in geostationary orbit revolve around the earth at the same speed as the earth revolves. So they are always in a position relative to earth. GEO orbit is useful for communication because ground antennas can be aimed at the satellite with out having to track the satellite motion which is very inexpensive. DRAWBACKS: Satellite can not serve extreme north and south areas Height of the orbit Significant delay of 0.25 sec in communications

LEO satellites

are much closer to earth than GEO satellites ranging from 500 -1500 kms above the earth surface and correspondingly a period of 90 minutes. Leo satellites do not stay in a fixed position relative to earth and are only visible for 15 -20 minutes each pass. So ,for uninterrupted connectivity a network of LEO satellites is necessary. Due to the proximity to the ground, these do not require a high signal strength. A group of satellites working in concert is known as satellite constellation.Two such constellations intended to provide satellite phone services to remote areas are IRIDIUM and GLOBALSTAR systems. Another such was TELEDESIC.

LOW EARTH ORBIT(LEO)

Discontinuity coverage

DRAWBACKS:

MEDIUM EARTH ORBIT(MEO)

Medium

earth orbits(MEO) are at a distance 2 -8000 kms above the earths surface. These satellites have a larger coverage area than LEO satellites. A MEO satellite longer duration of visibility and wider footprint means fewer satellites are needed in a MEO network than a LEO network. DRAWBACKS: A MEO satellite s distance gives it a longer time delay and weaker signal than a LE0 satellite, though not as bad as a GEO satellite.

MOLNIYA ORBIT SATELLITES

Used by Russia for decades. This satellites are mainly designed to operate in the areas of extreme northern and southern latitudes which is the main drawback of GEO satellites. Molniya orbits are highly inclined guaranteeing good elevation over selected positions during the northern portion of the orbit. Period of molniya satellite is half day. so it is available for operation over the target for 6-9 hrs every revolution. So a constellation of 3 molniya satellites can provide an uninterrupted coverage.

APPLICATIONS
TELEPHONE:
The first and historical most important application

for communication satellites was an intercontinental long distance telephony. The fixed public switched telephone network relays telephone calls from land line telephones to an earth station, where they are then transmitted to a geostationary satellite. The downlink follows an analogous path. With the evolution of fibre optics, the use of satellites declined but they still serve the remote islands where no submarine cables are in service. Satellite phones connect directly to a constellation either GEO or LEO satellites. calls are then forwarded to satellite teleport connected to public switch telephone network.

MILITARY USES
Satellite often used as a weapon. A satellite itself neither military nor civil. MILSTAR: 1)constellation of military satellites managed by U.S air force 2)provide wideband, narrow band and protected military communication systems. Wideband: high band width transfers Protected: more sophisticated security like nuclear survivability Narrow band: basic communication

WEATHER
in the 19th century allowed real time weather forecasting to become a reality. Small scale features (mesocyclones, polar lows) as well as long scale features (katabatic winds) could be detected in infrared channel.
The advent of HRPT

SHORT COMINGS:
1.Lack of high performance communication links. 2. Development and implementation of software to derive and visualize products has been lagged.

Equipment in Comsat
1. Payload: Transponder : Transmit, Receive antennas other equipments Receives signals: multiplex, demultiplex , amplify and transmit. 2. Support Subsystems : Power Supply, Altitude, orbit control equipment. Telemetry, Telecommand systems.

TRANSPONDER
Series of interconnected units

which forms a communication channel between the receiving and transmitting antennas. Transponder is actually composed of: 1. Input band limiting device 2. An input low noise amplifier 3. Frequency translator 4. Output band pass filter 5. Power amplifier

ADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES OF COMSAT OVER TERRESTRIAL COMMUNICATION
Coverage area of

satellite greatly exceeds than that of

terrestrial system. Satellite to satellite communication is very precise. Higher bandwidths available. Transmission cost of a satellite is independent of the distance from the center of the coverage area.

DISADVANTAGES
Launching satellite into orbit is

costly. Satellite band width is gradually becoming used up. Failure of satellites during the equinox period.

ISRO
ISRO is amongst the six largest government space agencies in the world. Indias first satellite ARYABHATA was built by ISRO First satellite launched by ISRO was SLV3

LAUNCH VEHICLE FLEET:

SLV: 4 stage solid fuel light launcher. Intended to reach a height of 500km. ASLV: 5 stage solid propellent rocket with the capability of placing 150kg into LEO. PSLV: 1. design to launch Indian remote sensing satellites. 2. It launched 10 satellites at once, breaking the world record of Russia. GSLV: 1.Developed to launch INSAT type vehicles. 2.It is the heaviest satellite launch vehicle of ISRO. Comparison of Indian carrier rockets. Left to right: SLV, ASLV, PSLV, GSLV, GSLV III.