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Communications satellites allow radio, television, and telephone transmissions to be sent live anywhere in the world. Before satellites, transmissions were difficult or impossible at long distances (Chan, Dai & Choi, n.d.). The signals, which travel in straight lines, could not bend around the round Earth to reach a destination far away. Because satellites are in orbit, the signals can be sent instantaneously into space and then redirected to another satellite or directly to their destination.

The satellite can have a passive role in communications like bouncing signals from the Earth back to another location on the Earth; on the other hand, some satellites carry electronic devices called transponders for receiving, amplifying, and re-broadcasting signals to the Earth (Chan et al., n.d.).

 

Communications satellites are often in geostationary orbit. At the high orbital altitude of 35,800 kilometers, a geostationary satellite orbits the Earth in the same amount of time it takes the Earth to revolve once (Chan et al., n.d.). From Earth, therefore, the satellite appears to be stationary, always above the same area of the Earth. The area to which it can transmit is called a satellite's footprint. For example, many Canadian communications satellites have a footprint which covers most of Canada (Chan et al., n.d.). 

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Search & Rescue Satellite Technology

Search and rescue satellites are designed to provide a way for vessels at sea and in the air to communicate from remote areas. These satellites can detect and locate emergency beacons carried by ships, aircrafts, or individuals in remote or dangerous places.

 

The first rescue aided by spacecraft was in September of 1982 when a Soviet satellite, Cosmos-1383, detected a distress beacon from a pair of small airplanes that had crashed. The satellite was able to give rescuers the location of the two downed planes; they were the airplanes of a young man and the young man's father who had set out looking for his son's plane crash site.

 

The idea of search and rescue satellites comes from weather satellite programmes. For example, “Meteosat” monitors weather patterns by direct observation, but it also analyzes signals sent out from buoys floating in the ocean (NOAA). Those buoys collect local weather information and transmit that to the satellite. The satellite then uses the doppler effect to find out where that particular buoy is (NOAA). This mechanism is similar to the technology now used for search and rescue.

 

In 1974, Canada made it law that all aircrafts must carry a beacon called an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) (Galatics, 1997). After the ELT came the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). EPIRB's are automatic, self-powered, portable and completely waterproof (NOAA). Thus, in a situation whereby a plane crashes into the sea, the EPIRB are still able to float on the water and transmit signals via the satellites to call for help.

 

 

Smartphone and GPS technology

 

It is an undeniable fact that nowadays technologies are highly dependable on satellite technologies. Even a typical smartphone contain the GPS function that is able to pick up satellite data that will be able to track your current location and act as a guiding compass to reach your desired destination.

Mobile Technology and Cloud Gaming

 

Recently, a new game called ‘Just Dance Now’ has been developed in the mobile application industry. It has the ability to connect up to 20, 000 dancers to dance off concurrently in a single dance competition. This is made possible through the means of integrating cloud gaming within the mobile technology, which also is highly dependable on satellite technology (Takahashi, 2014). In short, the bottom-line is that satellite technology is the main pillar of support that made a lot of other commercial technologies possible.

Limitations of Satellites

 

Satellites generally have a short lifespan and are relatively expensive and time-consuming to develop and deploy into the Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). Since GEO is estimated to be twenty two thousand miles above Earth, it is unlikely for us to be able to upgrade or repair those satellites that were already sent to space with our current technology capabilities (Phoenix Makes Strides in Orbital Robotics and Satellite Architecture Research, 2014). Ultimately, satellites will eventually become space debris or space junks, which pose a potential high risk to other space vehicles if they do happen to collide with one another.

Future Considerations

 

DARPA has implemented the Phoenix program to tackle all these alarming issues by incorporating robotic services and new architecture technology to extend the lifespan of the old satellites. To be more specific, the major contributor to the success of Phoenix will be heavily reliant on three aspects of technologies, which includes:

 

  • 1. Payload Orbital Delivery System (POD):

  • PODs are attached to commercial communication satellites, which is a system that has the ability to carry an extensive range of separable mass elements to GEO (Phoenix Makes Strides in Orbital Robotics and Satellite Architecture Research, 2014).

  • 2.

 

Satlets generally has all the adequate satellite functionality integrated within its modular structure, which is considered to be a power source that is able to provide power supply and share data in the harsh geosynchronous environment. Moreover, it can attach itself to any space payload in a wide variety of combination that can achieve different space mission and outcome (Phoenix Makes Strides in Orbital Robotics and Satellite Architecture Research, 2014).

 

In brief, PODs will be detached from the commercial communication satellite upon reaching the GEO, which will then be stored within the internal tool belt of the Servicer/Tender with the assistance of the robotic arms. It will then transfer the Satlets that was already stored within PODs, to the old satellites and reassembly it to make it functional once again.

Commercial Satellite Technology

Benefits of Search & Rescue Satellite 

 

  • Satellites are not subject to the dangerous swell after a storm that presents hazards to rescue craft even though the satellites may be affected by cloud cover.

  •  

  • Satellite images can be taken and transferred into the relevant platforms almost instantaneously to give first responders a fast second look, unlike a visual search which is rarely digitally captured.

  •  

  • Satellite images are being recorded and stored as essential data for it to be studied and reviewed.

 

 

Gist of the video: 

 

So what happens in the video is that the beacon from the boat sends out a message to whoever that is able to hear it. And if the Search and Rescue Satellite is in view of the beacon, it will be able to pick up the distress signal, pick up that message, relay it and direct it back to the ground (NOAA). These beacons can be encoded with GPS location which will speed up the rescue coordination process and thus increases the chances of survival for someone in a distressed environment.

Communications Satellite Technology

Figure 1. Takahashi, D. (2014, June 17). The 10 Coolest Technologies for Gamers at this year's E3. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://venturebeat.com/2014/06/17/the-nine-coolest-technoloiges-for-gamers-at-this-years-e3/. Reprinted with permission.

  • 2. Advanced GEO space robotics:

  • Basically, these robotic technologies are Servicer/Tender that will include robotic arms and other tools that are designed for the purpose of repairing old but yet functional satellites through new assembly architectures (Phoenix Makes Strides in Orbital Robotics and Satellite Architecture Research, 2014).

  • 3. Satlets:

 

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