CONTINUOUS COVERAGE OF THE NORTH POLAR REGION WITH ONLY TWO COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES

The problem of providing continuous coverage of the north polar region with a small number of communications satellites is considered. The system described requires only two satellites to provide both this coverage and coverage of a considerable fraction of the northern hemisphere. Two orbit planes...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Beusch, John U.
Other Authors: MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH LEXINGTON LINCOLN LAB
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1969
Subjects:
Spacecraft Trajectories and Reentry
Radio Communications
*SPACE COMMUNICATIONS
*ARCTIC REGIONS
ELLIPTICAL ORBIT TRAJECTORIES
SYNCHRONOUS SATELLITES
VISIBILITY
INCLINED ORBIT TRAJECTORIES
*COMMUNICATION SATELLITES(ACTIVE)
Arctic
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0698751
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0698751
Description
Summary:The problem of providing continuous coverage of the north polar region with a small number of communications satellites is considered. The system described requires only two satellites to provide both this coverage and coverage of a considerable fraction of the northern hemisphere. Two orbit planes with 63.43 deg inclination, high eccentricity and 24 hour periods are employed. The regions of the earth from which a satellite is continuously visible from terminals with various minimum elevation angles are shown. The regions in which mutual visibility of a satellite by two terminals is guaranteed are shown. A few comments concerning satellite design for this orbit are included.

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