Design of LEO Constellations Providing Internet Services Based on SOC Method

• Published in: MATEC web of conferences Vol. 114; p. 1012
• Main Authors: Chen, Quan, Bai, Yuzhu, Chen, Lihu, Pang, Ziyan
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Les Ulis EDP Sciences 01-01-2017
• Subjects: Equatorial regions; Internet; Low altitude; Polar orbits; Satellite constellations; Satellites
• ISSN: 2261-236X; 2274-7214; 2261-236X
• DOI: 10.1051/matecconf/201711401012

Narrow-beamwidth antenna is applied to LEO satellite constellations to provide high-speed internet services for the globe. Low-altitude, limited coverage region of single satellite and large scale are the main features of them. In this paper, under the constraint of specified half-beam angle of antenna, both inclined and polar orbit constellations are analysed based on Streets-of-Coverage method to provide continuous coverage. The results indicate that the coverage performance of single satellite is the key factor which can affect the configuration and number of constellations. When the orbit altitude is 1200 km and half-beam angle is 32 degrees, up to thousands of satellites are required for constellations providing internet services for zonal region 60 degrees from the equator. Non-symmetrical polar constellations show the best performance of continuous coverage and require approximately half of the satellites of inclined orbit constellations. The required satellites with different single coverage performance are also investigated as a reference for future research.