DHIRAJLAL GANDHI COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY, SALEM

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering

(AUTONOMOUS)
Year/Sem/ Sec III/V-B Time 2 hrs
Max.Marks 60 Date : 18.2.25
CYCLE TEST-I

CEC352-SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

PART-A (Answer All Questions) (6X2=12 Marks) BL Cos

1 State Kepler’s three laws. 1 1

2 Define ascending node and descending node. 2 1

3 Define geostationary orbit 1 1

4 List out the orbital parameters or Keplerian Element. 2 1

5 What is an orbital perturbation? 2 1

6 What is sun transit outage? 1 1

PART-B (3X16=48 Marks)

7 i)What are look angles? Explain how they are determined for geo
stationary orbits? what are sun synchronous orbit ? 1 1
ii)What are the orbital elements? Explain them
8 i)Explain the significance of station keeping.
1
ii)Explain about Geo-stationary & near Geo-stationary orbits. 2
9 i)Write a brief note on launch vehicles and propulsion
1
ii)Discuss about the orbital perturbation. 3

Course Coordinator Module Coordinator HOD/Programme Coordinator

 CEC352-SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
IV ECE A & B
PART A
1. State Kepler’s three laws.
Kepler’s first law. It states that the path followed by the satellite around the primary will be an ellipse. An ellipse has two
focal points F1 and F2. The center of mass of the two body system, termed the barycenter is always centered on one of the
foci. e = [square root of (a2 – b2 )] / a
Kepler’s second law. It states that for equal time intervals, the satellite will sweep out equal areas in its orbital plane, focused
at the barycenter.
State Kepler’s third law It states that the square of the periodic time of orbit is perpendicular to the cube of the mean distance
between the two bodies. a 3= 3 / n 2 Where, n = Mean motion of the satellite in rad/sec. 3 = Earth‟s geocentric gravitational
constant. With the n in radians per sec. the orbital period in second is given by, P = 2 / n
2. Define ascending node and descending node.
Ascending node:
The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from south to north.
Descending node:
The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from north to south.
3. Define geostationary orbit.
The satellites present in the geostationary orbit are called geostationary satellite.The geostationary orbit is one in which the
satellite appears stationary relative to the earth. It lies in equatorial plane and inclination is „0‟. The satellite must orbit
the earth in the same direction as the earth spin. The orbit is circular.
4. List out the orbital parameters or Keplerian Element.
1. Semi-Major axis (a)
2. Eccentricity (e)
They give the shape (of ellipse) to the satellites orbit.
3. Mean anomaly (M0)
It denotes the position of a satellite in its orbit at a given reference time.
4. Argument of Perigee
It gives the rotation of the orbit‟s perigee point relative to the orbits nodes in
the earth‟s equatorial plane.
5. Inclination
6. Right ascension of ascending node
5. What is an orbital perturbation?
An orbit described by Kepler is ideal as Earth is considered to be a perfect sphere and the force acting around the Earth is the
centrifugal force. This force is supposed to balance the gravitational pull of the earth.
6. What is sun transit outage?
The sun transit is nothing but the sun comes within the beam width of the earth station antenna. During this period the sun
behaves like an extremely noisy source and it blanks out all the signal from the satellite. This effect is termed as sun transit
outage.

PART B(16*3=48 marks)

7. i)What are look angles? Explain how they are determined for geo stationary orbits? what are sun
synchronous orbit ?
The look angles for the ground station antenna are Azimuth and Elevation angles. They are required at the antenna so that it
points directly at the satellite. Look angles are calculated by considering the elliptical orbit. These angles change in order to
track the satellite. For geostationary orbit, these angels values does not change as the satellites are stationary with respect to
earth. Thus large earth stations are used for commercial communications, these antennas beamwidth is very narrow and the
tracking mechanism is required to compensate for the movement of the satellite about the nominal geostationary position. For
home antennas, antenna beamwidth is quite broad and hence no tracking is essential. This leads to a fixed position for these
antennas.
The following information is needed to determine the look angles of geostationary orbit.
1. Earth Station Latitude: λE
2. Earth Station Longitude: ΦE
3. Sub-Satellite Point‟s Longitude: ΦSS
4. ES: Position of Earth Station
5. SS: Sub-Satellite Point
6. S: Satellite
7. d: Range from ES to S
8. ζ: angle to be determined
Considering its a spherical triangle. All sides are the arcs of a great circle. Three sides of this triangle are defined by the
angles subtended by the centre of the earth.
1. Side a: angle between North Pole and radius of the sub-satellite point.
2. Side b: angle between radius of Earth and radius of the sub-satellite point.
Side c: angle between radius of Earth and the North Pole.a = 900 and such a spherical triangle is called quadrantal triangle. c
= 900 – λ Angle B is the angle between the plane containing c and the plane containing a. Thus, B = ΦE-ΦSS Angle A is the
angle between the plane containing b and the plane containing c. Angle C is the angle between the plane containing a and the
plane containing b. Thus, a = 900 c = 900 - λE B = ΦE-ΦSS Thus, b = arcos (cos B cos λE) A = arcsin (sin |B| / sin b)

Applying the sine rule for plane triangles to the triangle of figure 3.3 allows the angle of elevation to be found:
7.ii. What are the orbital elements? Explain them.
Apogee: A point for a satellite farthest from the Earth. It is denoted as ha.
Perigee: A point for a satellite closest from the Earth. It is denoted as hp.
Line of Apsides: Line joining perigee and apogee through centre of the Earth. It is the major axis of the orbit. One-half of this
lines length is the semi-major axis equivalents to satellites mean distance from the Earth.
Ascending Node: The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from north to south.
Descending Node: The point where the orbit crosses the equatorial plane going from south to north.
Inclination: the angle between the orbital plane and the Earths equatorial plane. Its measured at the ascending node from the
equator to the orbit, going from East to North. Also, this angle is commonly denoted as i.
Line of Nodes: the line joining the ascending and descending nodes through the centre of Earth.
Prograde Orbit: an orbit in which satellite moves in the same direction as the Earth‟s rotation. Its inclination is always
between 00 to 900. Many satellites follow this path as Earths velocity makes it easier to lunch these satellites.
Retrograde Orbit: an orbit in which satellite moves in the same direction counter to the Earth‟s rotation.
Argument of Perigee: An angle from the point of perigee measure in the orbital plane at the Earth‟s centre, in the direction of
the satellite motion.
Right ascension of ascending node: The definition of an orbit in space, the position of ascending node is specified. But as the
Earth spins, the longitude of ascending node changes and cannot be used for reference. Thus for practical
determination of an orbit, the longitude and time of crossing the ascending node is used. For absolute measurement, a fixed
reference point in space is required. It could also be defined as “right ascension of the ascending node; right ascension is the
angular position measured eastward along the celestial equator from the vernal equinox vector to the hour circle of the
object”.
Mean anamoly: It gives the average value to the angular position of the satellite with reference to the perigee.
True anamoly: It is the angle from point of perigee to the satellites position, measure at the Earths centre.

8.i) Explain the significance of station keeping.

In addition to having its attitude controlled, it is important that a geostationary satellite be kept in its correct orbital slot. The
equatorial ellipticity of the earth causes geostationary satellites to drift slowly along the orbit, to one of two stable points, at
75°E and 105°W.To counter this drift, an oppositely directed velocity component is imparted to the satellite by means of jets,
which are pulsed once every 2 or 3 weeks. These maneuvers are termed east-west station-keeping maneuvers.Satellites in the
6/4-GHz band must be kept within 0.1° of the designated longitude, and in the 14/12- GHz band, within 0.05°
8.ii)Explain about Geo-stationary & near Geo-stationary orbits.
Geo stationary: A geostationary orbit is one in which a satellite orbits the earth at exactly the same speed as the earth turns
and at the same latitude, specifically zero, the latitude of the equator. A satellite orbiting in a geostationary orbit appears to be
hovering in the same spot in the sky, and is directly over the same patch of ground at all times.
A geosynchronous orbit is one in which the is synchronized with the earth's rotation, but the orbit is tilted with to the plane
of the equator. A satellite in a geosynchronous orbit up and down in latitude, although it will stay over the same longitude.
Although the terms geostationary' and are sometimes used interchangeably, they are not the geostationary orbit is a subset of
all possible geosynchronous. The person most widely developing the concept of geostationary orbits is noted science.
Geostationary objects in orbit must be at a certain distance above the earth; any closer and the orbit would decay, and farther
out they would escape the earth's gravity altogether. This distance is 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles) from the surface. The
first geosynchrous satellite was orbited in 1963, and the first geostationary one the following year. Since the only
geostationary orbit is in a plane with the equator at 35,786 kilometers, there is only one circle around the world where these
conditions obtain. This means that geostationary 'real estate' is finite.
While satellites are in no danger of bumping in to one another yet, they must be spaced around the circle so that their
frequencies do not interfere with the functioning of their nearest neighbors Geostationary Satellites: There are 2 kinds of
manmade satellites in the heavens above: One kind of satellite ORBITS the earth once or twice a day, and the other kind is
called a communications satellite and it is PARKED in a STATIONARY position 22,300 miles (35,900 km) above the
equator of the earth. A type of the orbiting satellite includes the space the international space station which keep a low earth
orbit (LEO) to deadly Van Allen radiation belts. The most prominent satellites in medium(MEO) are the satellites which
comprise the GLOBAL or GPS as it is called. The Global Positioning System
The global positioning developed by the U.S. military and then opened to civilian use. It today to track planes, ships, trains,
cars or literally anything that Anyone can buy a receiver and track their exact location by using a GPS satellites orbit at a
height of About 24 GPS satellites orbit the earth about 12,000 miles (19,300 km) every 12 hours and orbit the earth once
every 12 hours.
These satellites are traveling around the earth at speeds of about 7,000 mph (11,200 kph). GPS satellites are powered by solar
energy. They have backup batteries onboard to keep them running in the event of a solar eclipse, when there's no solar power.
Small rocket boosters on each satellite keep them flying in the correct path. The satellites have a lifetime of about 10 years
until all their fuel runs out. At exactly 22,300 miles above the equator, the force of gravity is cancelled by the centrifugal
force of the rotating universe. the ideal spot to park a stationary satellite. At exactly 22,000 miles (35,900 km) above the
equator, the earth's force of gravity is canceled by the centrifugal force of the rotating universe.

Non Geo-Stationary Orbit: For the geo- stationary case, the most important of these are the gravitational fields of the moon
and the sun, and the non spherical shape of the earth. Other significant forces are solar radiation pressure and reaction of the
satellite itself to motor movement within the satellite.
As a result, station-keeping maneuvers must be carried out to maintain the satellite within set limits of its nominal
geostationary position. An exact geostationary orbit therefore is not attainable in practice, and the orbital parameters vary
with time. The two-line orbital elements are published at regular interval. The period for a geostationary satellite is 23 h, 56
min, 4 s, or 86,164 s. The reciprocal of this is 1.00273896 rev/day, which is about the value tabulated for most of the
satellites. Thus these satellites are geo- synchronous, in that they rotate in synchronism with the rotation of the earth.
However, they are not geostationary. The term geosynchronous satellite is used in many cases instead of geostationary to
describe these near-geostationary satellites. It should be noted, however, that in general a geosynchronous satellite does not
have to be near-geostationary, and there a number of geosynchronous satellites that are in highly orbits with comparatively
large inclinations (e.g., the Tundra The small inclination makes it difficult to the position of the ascending node, and the
small eccentricity difficult to locate the position of the perigee. However, because of the small the angles w and Ω can be
assumed to be in the same plane. of the sub satellite point is the east from the Greenwich meridian.
The Greenwich time (GST) gives the eastward position of the Greenwich to the line of Aries, and hence the subsatellite point
is at the mean longitude of the satellite is given by can be used to calculate the true anomaly, and because of the small
eccentricity, this can be approximated as v= M + 2esinM. There are a number of perbuting forces that cause an orbit to depart
from ideal Keplerian orbit. The most effecting ones are gravitational fields of sun and moon, non-spherical shape of the
Earth, reaction of the satellite itself to motor movements within the satellites. Thus the earth station keeps maneuvering the
satellite to maintain its position. Within a set of nominal geostationary coordinates. Thus the exact GEO is not attainable in
practice and the orbital parameters vary with time. Hence these satellites are called “Geosynchronous” satellites or “Near-
Geostationary satellites”
 9.ii)Discuss about the orbital perturbation.
Theoretically, an orbit described by Kepler is ideal as Earth is considered to be a perfect sphere and the force acting
around the Earth is the centrifugal force. This force is supposed to balance the gravitational pull of the earth.

In reality, other forces also play an important role and affect the motion of the satellite. These forces are the gravitational
forces of Sun and Moon along with the atmospheric drag.
Effect of Sun and Moon is more pronounced on geostationary earth satellites where as the atmospheric drag effect is more
pronounced for low earth orbit satellites.
Effects of non-Spherical Earth  As the shape of Earth is not a perfect sphere, it causes some variations in the path followed
by the satellites around the primary. As the Earth is bulging from the equatorial belt, and keeping in mind that an orbit is not
a physical entity, and it is the forces resulting from an oblate Earth which act on the satellite produce a change in the orbital
parameters.
 This causes the satellite to drift as a result of regression of the nodes and the latitude of the point of perigee (point closest
to the Earth). This leads to rotation of the line of apsides. As the orbit itself is moving with respect to the Earth, the resultant
changes are seen in the values of argument of perigee and right ascension of ascending node.
 Due to the non-spherical shape of Earth, one more effect called as the “Satellite Graveyard” is seen. The non-spherical
shape leads to the small value of eccentricity (10-5) at the equatorial plane. This causes a gravity gradient on GEO satellite
and makes them drift to one of the two stable points which coincide with minor axis of the equatorial ellipse.
 Working satellites are made to drift back to their position but out-of-service satellites are eventually drifted to these points,
and making that point a Satellite Graveyard. Atmospheric Drag For Low Earth orbiting satellites, the effect of atmospheric
drag is more pronounces. The impact of this drag is maximumat the point of perigee. Drag (pull towards the Earth) has an
effect on velocity of Satellite (velocity reduces). This causes the satellite to not reach the apogee height successive
revolutions. This leads to a change in value of semi-major axis and eccentricity. Satellites in service are maneuvered by the
earth station back to their original orbital position.
9.i.Write a brief note on launch vehicles and propulsion.

The rocket injects the satellite with the required thrust** into the transfer orbit. With the STS, the satellite carries a perigee
kick motor***which imparts the required thrust to inject the satellite in its transfer orbit. Similarly, an apogee kick motor
(AKM) is used to inject the satellite in its destination orbit. Generally it takes 1-2 months for the satellite to become fully
functional. The Earth Station performs the Telemetry Tracking and Command****function to control the satellite transits and
functionalities.(**Thrust: It is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's second and third laws. When a system
expels or accelerates mass in one direction the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction
on that system.)
Kick Motor refers to a rocket motor that is regularly employed on artificial satellites destined for a geostationary orbit. As the
vast majority of geostationary satellite launches are carried out from spaceports at a significant distance away from Earth's
equator. The carrier rocket would only be able to launch the satellite into an elliptical orbit of maximum apogee 35,784-
kilometres and with a non-zero inclination approximately equal to the latitude of the launch site.
TT&C: it‟ s a sub-system where the functions performed by the satellite control network to maintain health and status,
measure specific mission parameters and processing over time a sequence of these measurement to refine parameter
knowledge, and transmit mission commands to the satellite. Detailed study of TT&C in the upcoming units.
Transfer Orbit: It is better to launch rockets closer to the equator because the Earth rotates at a greater speed here than that at
either pole. This extra speed at the equator means a rocket needs less thrust (and therefore less fuel) to launch into orbit.
In addition, launching at the equator provides an additional 1,036 mph (1,667 km/h) of speed once the vehicle reaches orbit.
This speed bonus means the vehicle needs less fuel, and that freed space can be used to carry more pay load.
Rocket launch: A rocket launch is the takeoff phase of the flight of a rocket. Launches for orbital spaceflights, or launches
into interplanetary space, are usually from a fixed location on the ground, but may also be from a floating platform (such as
the Sea Launch vessel) or, potentially, from a superheavy An-225-class airplane
Launches of suborbital flights (including missile launches), can also be from:
 a missile silo
 a mobile launcher vehicle  a submarine
 air launch:  from a plane (e.g. Scaled Composites Space Ship One, Pegasus Rocket, X-15)
 from a balloon (Rockoon, da Vinci Project (under development))
 a surface ship (Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System)
 an inclined rail (e.g. rocket sled launch)
"Rocket launch technologies" generally refers to the entire set of systems needed to successfully launch a vehicle, not just
the vehicle itself, but also the firing control systems, ground control station, launch pad, and tracking stations needed for a
successful launch and/or recovery.
Orbital launch vehicles commonly take off vertically, and then begin to progressively lean over, usually following a gravity
turn trajectory. Once above the majority of the atmosphere, the vehicle then angles the rocket jet, pointing it largely
horizontally but somewhat downwards, which permits the vehicle to gain and then maintain altitude while increasing
horizontal speed. As the speed grows, the vehicle will become more and more horizontal until at orbital speed, the engine
will cut off.