4 Chapter One

TABLE 1.2 ITU Frequency Band Designations

Frequency range Metric

(lower limit Corresponding abbreviations
Band exclusive, upper metric for the
number Symbols limit inclusive) subdivision bands

4 VLF 3–30 kHz Myriametric waves [Link]

5 LF 30–300 kHz Kilometric waves [Link]
6 MF 300–3000 kHz Hectometric waves [Link]
7 HF 3–30 MHz Decametric waves [Link]
8 VHF 30–300 MHz Metric waves B.m
9 UHF 300–3000 MHz Decimetric waves [Link]
10 SHF 3–30 GHz Centimetric waves [Link]
11 EHF 30–300 GHz Millimetric waves [Link]
12 300–3000 GHz Decimillimetric waves

SOURCE: ITU Geneva.

The official ITU frequency band designations are shown in Table 1.2 for
completeness. However, in this text the designations given in Table 1.1 will
be used, along with 6/4 GHz for the C band and 14/12 GHz for the Ku band.

1.3 INTELSAT
INTELSAT stands for International Telecommunications Satellite. The
organization was created in 1964 and currently has over 140 member
countries and more than 40 investing entities (see [Link]
for more details). In July 2001 INTELSAT became a private company
and in May 2002 the company began providing end-to-end solutions
through a network of teleports, leased fiber, and points of presence (PoPs)
around the globe. Starting with the Early Bird satellite in 1965, a succes-
sion of satellites has been launched at intervals of a few years. Figure 1.1
illustrates the evolution of some of the INTELSAT satellites. As the
figure shows, the capacity, in terms of number of voice channels,
increased dramatically with each succeeding launch, as well as the
design lifetime. These satellites are in geostationary orbit, meaning that
they appear to be stationary in relation to the earth. The geostationary
orbit is the topic of Chap. 3. At this point it may be noted that geosta-
tionary satellites orbit in the earth’s equatorial plane and their position
is specified by their longitude. For international traffic, INTELSAT
covers three main regions—the Atlantic Ocean Region (AOR), the Indian
Ocean Region (IOR), and the Pacific Ocean Region (POR) and what is
termed Intelsat America’s Region. For the ocean regions the satellites
are positioned in geostationary orbit above the particular ocean, where
they provide a transoceanic telecommunications route. For example,
INTELSAT satellite 905 is positioned at 335.5° east longitude. The foot-
prints for the C-band antennas are shown in Fig. 1.2a, and for the Ku-
band spot beam antennas in Figs. 1.2b and c.
 Figure 1.1 Evolution of INTELSAT satellites. (From Colino 1985; courtesy of ITU Telecommunications Journal.)

5
6 Chapter One

10°
5°
0°

Figure 1.2 INTELSAT satellite 905 is positioned at 335.5° E

longitude. (a) The footprints for the C-band antennas; (b) the
Ku-band spot 1 beam antennas; and (c) the Ku-band spot 2
beam antennas.
 Overview of Satellite Systems 7

Figure 1.2 (Continued).

The INTELSAT VII-VII/A series was launched over a period from

October 1993 to June 1996. The construction is similar to that for the
V and VA/VB series, shown in Fig. 1.1, in that the VII series has solar
sails rather than a cylindrical body. This type of construction is described
in more detail in Chap. 7. The VII series was planned for service in the
POR and also for some of the less demanding services in the AOR. The
antenna beam coverage is appropriate for that of the POR. Figure 1.3
shows the antenna beam footprints for the C-band hemispheric cover-
age and zone coverage, as well as the spot beam coverage possible with
the Ku-band antennas (Lilly, 1990; Sachdev et al., 1990). When used in
the AOR, the VII series satellite is inverted north for south (Lilly, 1990),
minor adjustments then being needed only to optimize the antenna pat-
terns for this region. The lifetime of these satellites ranges from 10 to
15 years depending on the launch vehicle. Recent figures from the
INTELSAT Web site give the capacity for the INTELSAT VII as 18,000
two-way telephone circuits and three TV channels; up to 90,000 two-way
telephone circuits can be achieved with the use of “digital circuit mul-
tiplication.” The INTELSAT VII/A has a capacity of 22,500 two-way
telephone circuits and three TV channels; up to 112,500 two-way tele-
phone circuits can be achieved with the use of digital circuit multipli-
cation. As of May 1999, four satellites were in service over the AOR, one
in the IOR, and two in the POR.
8 Chapter One

Figure 1.3 INTELSAT VII coverage (Pacific Ocean Region; global, hemispheric, and
spot beams). (From Lilly, 1990, with permission.)

The INTELSAT VIII-VII/A series of satellites was launched over the

period February 1997 to June 1998. Satellites in this series have similar
capacity as the VII/A series, and the lifetime is 14 to 17 years.
It is standard practice to have a spare satellite in orbit on high-
reliability routes (which can carry preemptible traffic) and to have a
ground spare in case of launch failure. Thus the cost for large international
schemes can be high; for example, series IX, described later, represents
a total investment of approximately $1 billion.
Table 1.3 summarizes the details of some of the more recent of the
INTELSAT satellites. These satellites provide a much wider range of
services than those available previously, including such services as
Internet, DTH TV, tele-medicine, tele-education, and interactive video
and multimedia. Transponders and the types of signals they carry are
 Overview of Satellite Systems 9

TABLE 1.3 INTELSAT Geostationary Satellites

Satellite Location Number of transponders Launch date

901 342°E Up to 72 @ 36 MHz in C-Band June 2001

Up to 27 @ 36 MHz in Ku Band
902 62°E Up to 72 @ 36 MHz in C-Band August 2001
Up to 23 @ 36 MHz in Ku Band
903 325.5°E Up to 72 @ 36 MHz in C-Band March 2002
Up to 22 @ 36 MHz in Ku Band
904 60°E Up to 72 @ 36 MHz in C-Band February 2002
Up to 22 @ 36 MHz in Ku Band
905 335.5°E Up to 72 @ 36 MHz in C-Band June 2002
Up to 22 @ 36 MHz in Ku Band
906 64°E Up to 72 @ 36 MHz in C-Band September 2002
Up to 22 @ 36 MHz in Ku Band
907 332.5°E Up to 72 @ 36 MHz in C-Band February 2003
Up to 23 @ 36 MHz in Ku Band
10-02 359°E Up to 70 @ 36 MHz in C-Band June 2004
Up to 36 @ 36 MHz in Ku Band

described in detail in later chapters, but for comparison purposes it

may be noted that one 36 MHz transponder is capable of carrying about
9000 voice channels, or two analog TV channels, or about eight digital
TV channels.
In addition to providing transoceanic routes, the INTELSAT satellites
are also used for domestic services within any given country and regional
services between countries. Two such services are Vista for telephone and
Intelnet for data exchange. Figure 1.4 shows typical Vista applications.

1.4 U.S. Domsats

Domsat is an abbreviation for domestic satellite. Domestic satellites are
used to provide various telecommunications services, such as voice,
data, and video transmissions, within a country. In the United States,
all domsats are situated in geostationary orbit. As is well known, they
make available a wide selection of TV channels for the home enter-
tainment market, in addition to carrying a large amount of commercial
telecommunications traffic.
U.S. Domsats, which provide a DTH television service, can be classi-
fied broadly as high power, medium power, and low power (Reinhart,
1990). The defining characteristics of these categories are shown in
Table 1.4.
The main distinguishing feature of these categories is the equivalent
isotropic radiated power (EIRP). This is explained in more detail in
Chap. 12, but for present purposes it should be noted that the upper limit