Satellites and Communication
Satellites and Communication
Satellites and Communication
key words By the end of this chapter, you should be able to;
1
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION
Satellites are objects moving around celestial bodies like planets typically Earth, they move in curved paths
called orbits. They play a crucial role in various fields, including communication, navigation, Earth
observation, and scientific research. Satellites come in different types, each serving specific purposes
based on their design and capabilities.
TYPES OF SATELLITES
Natural Satellites
These are commonly known as moons, are celestial bodies that orbit around planets. Earth’s
natural satellite is the Moon.
Natural satellites are formed through various processes, such as capture, co- formation with the
planet, or collisions that lead to the formation of a moon.
Examples include:
Earth’s Moon, Mars’ Phobos and Deimos, Jupiter’s Europa and Ganymede, and Saturn’s Titan.
Natural satellites, particularly larger ones, exert tidal forces on their host plan- ets. For
example, the Moon’s gravitational pull influences Earth’s tides.
Moons contribute to the stability of a planet’s axial tilt, which affects its climate. The Moon
helps stabilize Earth’s axial tilt, preventing significant variations over time.
Moons can act as gravitational” sweepers,” capturing or redirecting space debris that might
otherwise collide with their host planets.
Moons are subjects of scientific study, providing insights into the formation and evolution of
planetary systems. Missions like those to Jupiter’s moon Europa seek signs of potential
life.
Artificial satellites
Artificial satellites are human-made objects intentionally placed into orbit around celestial
bodies, commonly Earth. These satellites serve a variety of purposes and are crucial for
modern technology.
Examples include:
GLONASS: Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System, offering global coverage for
navigation and positioning.
Earth observation satellites monitor the planet’s surface, tracking changes in land use,
deforestation, urban growth, and natural disasters. They contribute to environmental
management and disaster response.
Weather satellites observe atmospheric conditions, cloud cover, and storm pat- terns,
contributing to accurate weather forecasting and early warning systems for severe weather
events.
Some satellites are used for military purposes, providing surveillance and intelligence gathering
capabilities.
SATELLITE ORBITS
When rockets launch our satellites, they put them into orbits in space. Gravity keeps the satellites
on their required orbit just like it does for the moon as it orbits the earth. There a number of
factors that affect which orbit would be best for a satellite to use, depending on what the
satellite is designed for.
The satellites orbiting the earth are placed in three types of orbits, namely;
• Low – Earth orbit (LEO); e.g. 320 -3,000km (altitude)
• Geosynchronous orbit (GSO) and geostationary orbit (GEO); altitude: 35,786 km.
Advantages:
• It requires the lowest amount of energy for satellite placement.
• It provides high bandwidth and low communication latency (latency is time interval
between the stimulation and response).
• Satellites and space stations in LEO are more accessible for crew and servicing.
Disadvantages:
• Satellites in LEO have a small momentary field of view, i.e. only able to observe and
communicate with a fraction of the Earth at a time. Hence requires a network of
satellites in order to provide continuous coverage.
• frictional force can heat up satellite to point of burning up, unless protected by high
insulation.
• Very short life: Time of 5-8 years.
• High costs of maintenance
USES OF SATELLITES
There are a variety of uses for satellites including the following.
1. satellites for navigation ie GPS satellites.
2. satellites for communication
3. satellites for space exploration
1 Satellites in navigation
Several people loose direction to their destination, especially in towns. What would you do in
such a case? Most of them ask for directions; however, this is not possible in all situations. Let us
say you were sailing in the middle of the Indian Ocean and there are no people to ask for
directions to your destination. What could you do?
This necessitates a system that can accurately determine one’s • location as well as directions
to their destination. The Global Positioning System is used to do this.
Humans have looked to the sky to find their way since ancient times. Ancient sailors
used the constellations in the night sky to figure out where they were and where they were
going. Today, all we need is a simple handheld GPS receiver to figure out exactly where we
are anywhere in the world. But we still need objects high in the space to figure out where we
are and how we can get to other places. Instead of the stars, we use satellites.
Over 30 navigation satellites are zipping around high above the earth. These satellites can
tell us exactly where we are.
GPS is a system made up of three parts: satellites, ground stations, and receivers. The GPS
uses a network of 24 medium earth orbit satellites arranged in a way that at least 4 of them are
visible at any one point on earth. Satellites act like the stars in constellations to help us know
where we are supposed to be at any given time. This is achieved using a mathematical principle
called ’trilateration’.
Definition of trilateration
This is the process of determining absolute or relative location of points by measuring distances and using
the •geometry of circles, spheres or triangles.
Finding direction using trilateration can be done using two methods namely:
• 2d trilateration
• 3d trilateration
2d trilateration
Imagine you are somewhere in merryland high school and you are totally lost for whatever
reason, you have absolutely no clue where you are. You find a friendly local and ask,” Where am
I?” He says, ”You are 60 meters from the girl’s dom. This is a nice fact, but it is not particularly
useful by itself. You could be anywhere on a circle around the girl’s dom that has a radius of 60
meters, like this:
You ask somebody else where you are, and she says,” You are 69 meters from the boys dom.
Now you’re getting somewhere. If you combine this information with the girl’s dom
information, you have two circles that intersect. You now know that you must be at one of
these two intersection points, if you are 60 meters from the girl’s dom and 69 meters from the
boys dom.
If a third person tells you that you are 75 meters from the staff room, you can eliminate
one of the possibilities, because the third circle will only intersect with one of these points. You
now know exactly where you are in the laboratory.
Note:
The GPS was developed by the US Department of Defense and was initially meant for military
application. However, it was made available for civilian use in the 1980s. Selective availability
which was an intentional degradation of public GPS signals implemented for national security
reasons denied users positioning by at least 100 meters.
Your mobile device does not send the GPS satellite any signal, it only receives what the
satellite is broadcasting.
2 satellites in communication
communication satellites act as” space mirrors” to reflect radio, TV, Internet data, and other
kinds of information from one side of the earth to the other.
Satellite communication has two major components: the space component (the satellite) and the
ground components (the transmitter and the receiver).
Note
Uplink refers to sending of communication signals from ground transmitters to the communication
satellite.
Downlink refers to sending of reflected signals from the satellite to the ground receivers.
3 Space exploration
Space, also known as outer space, is the near vacuum region between celestial bodies. It 1s where
everything (all the planets, stars, galaxies and other objects) is found. Outer space begins about
100 km above the earth. Humanity interest in the heavens has been universal and enduring.
Humans are driven to explore the unknown, discover new worlds, push the boundaries of our
scientific and technical limits, and then push further. The intangible desire to explore and
challenge the boundaries of what we know and where we have been has led to space exploration.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that is used for space exploration.
It was launched into LEO in 1990 and remains in operation.
It is one of the largest and most versatile space craft, known both as a vital research tool
and as a public relations boost for astronomy.
Hubble features a 2.4 meter mirror, and its four main instruments observe in the ultraviolet,
visible, and near-infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Hubble Telescope orbits outside the distortion of Earth’s atmosphere, allowing it to capture
extremely high-resolution images with substantially lower background light than ground-based
telescopes. Many Hubble observation have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics, such as
determining the rate expansion of the universe.
The International Space Station is a large spacecraft in orbit around earth. It serves as a
home where crews of astronauts live. The International Space Station is also a unique science
laboratory where the astronauts perform experiments. Several nations worked together to build
and use the International Space Station.
ACTIVITY OF INTEGRATION
Since 2016, Uganda has shown interest in outer space, beginning with a satellite as a way of
solving many issues challenging the country. In 2018, Ministry of Science, Technology and
innovation, started spearheading the effort. The state then selected three engineers, who embarked
on further studies in Japan and constructed Uganda’s first satellite.
On 7th November 2022, Uganda made history by launching its first-ever satellite, the
PearlAfricaSat-1 into space. This move while being remarkable for our nation, sparked up
mixed reactions from different members of the public.
TASK
Write an article for your school newsletter supporting the Initiative of Uganda launching satellites
into space.