Analysis of the communication links between the AlSat‐1b satellite and the ground station: The impact of the Auto Tracking system on antenna pointing accuracy

Summary The communication links between a satellite and the Earth station (ES) are exposed to many impairments such as noise, rain, and atmospheric attenuations. They are also prone to loss such as those resulting from antenna pointing and polarization. The Algerian Earth Observation satellite AlSat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of satellite communications and networking 2021-09, Vol.39 (5), p.486-499
Main Authors: Bekkar Djelloul Saiah, Saiah, Bensikaddour, Elhabib, Kaddouri, Ali, Belbachir, Redouane, Nasri, Boualem, Baba Hamed, Djamel Eddine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AlSat‐1b satellite
antenna pointing
Antennas
Auto Tracking system
Communication
Earth observations (from space)
Earth stations
ground segment
Ground stations
Links
Low earth orbits
radio frequency (RF)
Satellite observation
Superhigh frequencies
Telemetry
Tracking systems
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Summary:Summary The communication links between a satellite and the Earth station (ES) are exposed to many impairments such as noise, rain, and atmospheric attenuations. They are also prone to loss such as those resulting from antenna pointing and polarization. The Algerian Earth Observation satellite AlSat‐1b is designed to accomplish its mission in S‐band (Telecommands and Telemetry) and X‐band (images) frequencies in low Earth orbit (LEO). The ground segment (GS) of this satellite, situated in Oran, Algeria, is based on the X/Y antenna mounting system with 7.3‐m dish diameter. This large reflector can cause antenna pointing errors. The Antenna Control Unit (ACU) implemented in this station can be configured with or without an AutoTrack system. In this work, operational tests and analysis of the different communication links between AlSat‐1b and the ground station are presented. The obtained results clearly show that the quality of the S‐band links can reliably and efficiently satisfy the requirements without the use of the AutoTrack. On the contrary, the use of AutoTrack is necessary in order to obtain an improved level of link quality in the X band.
ISSN:1542-0973
1542-0981
DOI:10.1002/sat.1396