Jul 26, 2023
Satellite orbits – Understanding Network and Security for Far-Edge Computing
Geostationary orbit (GEO)
GEO satellites are positioned in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of about 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles). They are designed to remain in a fixed location relative to a point on the Earth’s surface as they orbit the Earth at the same rate that the Earth rotates.
This makes things easy for ground-based users. There are mobile apps that will tell you exactly where in the sky to point your antenna, and then you’re done:
Figure 3.41 – GEO satellite distance
The downside is the high latency incurred when signals have to travel that far. The speed of light is fast, but it is finite. ~200 milliseconds are required for light to go from one spot on the earth up to the GEO satellite and another 200 to go down to another spot. Factor in the latency of any ground segment and a 600ms RTT is considered typical.
Here are some typical GEO-based SATCOM data services:
Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN): This is an L-band service from Inmarsat. It can achieve speeds up to 492kbps for standard IP data traffic and up to 800kbps for streaming data (usually video), although this depends heavily upon the terminal involved. Six geostationary satellites are involved in providing global coverage (including polar regions) for this service. It is extremely reliable, supporting a 99.9% uptime SLA.
Global Xpress (GX): This is a Ka-band service from Inmarsat. It can achieve download speeds up to 50mbps and 5mbps speeds for upload. Five geostationary satellites provide near-global coverage.
European Aviation Network (EAN): This is a hybrid service comprised of a single Inmarsat S-band satellite in geostationary orbit above Europe and Vodafone’s terrestrial 4G/LTE network. Specifically built to provide data services onboard aircraft in European airspace, data rates as high as 100mbps are supported. Aircraft use the terrestrial network below 10,000 feet and switch to the S-band service above this altitude.
ViaSat-3: This is a Ka-band service that uses a constellation of three geostationary satellites operated by ViaSat. Each satellite serves a specific region (AMER, EMEA, or APAC), and has a total network capacity greater than 1 terabit per second. Typical consumer plans are 100mbps, while contracts for defense and commercial entities can be higher.
GEO HTS: This is a Ku-band service from SES that can achieve speeds up to 10mbps. It has near-global coverage using four satellites in geostationary orbit.
FlexGround: This is a Ku-band service from Intelsat that supports download speeds up to 10mbps and 3mbps upload speeds. Being one of the pioneers in SATCOM19, Intelsat has over 50 satellites in geostationary orbit.
19 Intelsat launched its first satellite in 1965.
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