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Fixed ground stations for multi-satellite geostationary missions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2011

Marco Pasian*
Affiliation:
Department of Electronics, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy. Phone: +39 0328 985223
Marta Cametti
Affiliation:
Department of Electronics, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy. Phone: +39 0328 985223
Maurizio Bozzi
Affiliation:
Department of Electronics, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy. Phone: +39 0328 985223
Luca Perregrini
Affiliation:
Department of Electronics, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy. Phone: +39 0328 985223
Steve Rawson
Affiliation:
Callisto, Labastide d'Anjou F-11320, France
*
Corresponding author: M. Pasian Email: marco.pasian@unipv.it

Abstract

Multi-satellite missions, such as the next generation of METEOSAT geostationary satellites, require a ground station able to support an arbitrary number of satellites that can fly wherever within a pre-determined sky region, called control box. The use of high frequencies, around 26 GHz, imposes on the ground station high antenna gains to compensate for the noise temperature collected at those frequencies to obtain the specified G/T. Regardless of the narrow beamwidths that emerged from the adoption of high antenna gains, it is also required to operate with fixed (i.e. without any kind of tracking) antennas. This paper shows how all these specifications drive a new type of ground station with respect to current solutions. The proposed architecture is based on a multi-reflector system able to provide a set of interleaved beams, which generates an almost uniform coverage of the control box. The architecture is analyzed and designed, optimizing all the main antenna parameters, and presenting the analytical results.

Type
Industrial and Engineering Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the European Microwave Association 2011

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References

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