Observed Received Signal Level of RazakSAT S-band Space to Earth Satellite Transmission during Nighttime

Authors

  • A.B. Basri , K. Badron , A.F. Ismail , A. Chanik , H. Salim, M. Ismail

Abstract

In order to guarantee effective satellite service, the link budget for all conditions is
important. From the path loss and attenuation statistics, the appropriate fade margin value
calculated from the link budget for the specific desired quality of service (QoS) can be
determined from outage statistics. In the case of a clear sky, the value depends significantly on
the distance and conditions of the atmospheric layers and their composition. The signal loss
depends only on distance and frequency in the absolute Free Space case. The results of distance
in the investigation of determining the most suitable clear sky attenuation values at night time
were explored in this report. The received signal levels of the Malaysian Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
RazakSAT satellite were recorded according to the distances between the satellite and the Earth
station. Using the S-band (Terminal Doppler Weather Radar) TDWR, the clear sky state where
no water precipitation was reported. With established attenuation values, the satellite operator
may determine whether it is appropriate to operate the power uplink and mitigation technique.
The Malaysian National Space Agency (ANGKASA) provided the RazakSAT S-band (2,232
GHz) transmission signal data and received radar data from the Malaysian Department of
Meteorology (MMD). As the distance varies along each flight route, the results provide
understanding of observed path loss

Published

2020-11-01

Issue

Section

Articles