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PREAMBLE
A throwback as an Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering undergraduate, Satellite is a compound topic because it gets more sophisticated with advancement in Technology year in year out. A very essential craft in the World of Humans, to go into details of one of my favorite lecture days let me identify what Satellite is.
A Natural(Moon) and Artificial SAT
There are natural and artificial Satellites, the Moon is an example of Natural SATs which we could all see visibly at most nights. Other planets have their Natural SATs, Planet Saturn owns 62 moons and one of it is Titan; larger than both Mercury and Pluto. Artificial SATs are Radio Frequency(Rf) equipment/facilities that are purposely placed in the Space(Specified Orbits). Below is a more scholarly definition;
Satellite in the Concept of Spaceflight is an artificial object which has been intentionally placed into orbits i.e circling the Earth- Wiki
All this had be foreseen in 1945 by Arthur.C Clarke; a British Science Writer and Sci-Fi writer. He made a proposal about a Geostationary Satellite system of communication.
The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.
Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.- Arthur.C Clarke
Monitored by Space Surveillance Network(SSN), and also identifies, catalogs, detect artificial objects/bodies in the Space. In October 4th 1957, The first Artificial Object to be sent into space; Sputnik 1 was launched into Low Elliptical Earth Orbit by the Soviet Union, fast forward till date, there are over 4635 SATs orbiting the Earth currently. Out of this volume mentioned, 2807 are dormant/inactive and only 37.5%(1738) are active ones in Orbit. This means there is a Rain of "Space Junks" floating over Planet Earth at a Super Speed of 7.5Km/Sec(17,000 miles/Hour).
This SATs are launched to serve several purposes, the Table Below shows the functionality of the active/operational 1738 SATs in Orbit. Many of this facilities served more than one function.
| Purpose | Number of Satellite |
|---|---|
| Communication | 742 |
| Technology Development/Demonstration | 193 |
| Earth Observation | 596 |
| Space Observation | 75 |
| Navigation and Positioning | 108 |
| Space Science | 67 |
Russia(Former USSR) leads with the most SATs in orbit, having approximately 1400 or more while USA trails with over 1000. Other countries with both active and inactive SATs in orbits are Canada, Japan, China, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Australia. Sweden, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia. South and North Korea etc.
The Specific SATs and their Orbits are as follows;
- GEO; Geostationary Orbits(36,000km)
- LEO; Low Earth Orbits(160 km - 2000km)
- MEO; Medium/Middle Earth Orbit(2000km - 36,000km)
NOTE: Other Orbits(a path in the Space) aside GEO faces the Challenge of needing a very sophisticated Technology to track the SATs because MEO and LEO orbit the Earth Faster than GEO
Communication systems using Satellite includes GSM(Global System), VSAT(Very Small Aperture Terminal) and INTERNET(Interconnection of Networks). This three Broad categories functions well with a specific SATs that relays information in form Radio Frequency back to Earth Surface.
GEOSYNCHRONOUS SATELLITE, GROUPING AND POSITION OF SATs
A pen art Sketch for illustrative purpose
Image 1 and 2
Geostationary Orbits is a circular Geosynchronious orbit in the plane of Earth's Equator with radius of approximately 42,164km when measured from Earth Center. Any SATs in this orbits is at an altitude of approximately 35,786km(22.236 miles) above mean sea level-
With this radius, Geo SATs are positioned on
- Pacific Ocean.
- Atlantic Ocean.
- Indian Ocean
- North Pole
To launch GEO SATs, the inclination must be zero and Satellite must enter the space through the East. When launched, the wings of this Satellites carries Solar Panels to provide Energy/power in the space of about (1 KWz) and power needed to relay information back to Earth in the region of 10 Watts.
SATELLITE GROUPINGS
| Regions | Footprints |
|---|---|
| Global | FP=30% |
| Hemisphere | FP=20% |
| Regional | FP≤ 15% |
| National | FP≤ 9% |
| Zonal | FP≤ 5% |
| Spot | FP≤ 1% |
Note; Footprint is the portion of the Earth that a Satellite could cover.
Thanks for reading my blog today again. Below are the links to some of my latest posts. I appreciate all the supports i have gotten from you all!
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