Satellite Workshop

LEO, MEO and GSO System and Service Integration
Technology Focus

This 5 day programme is designed as a companion workshop to CEI’s long established, highly respected and ever popular Satellite Communication Systems programme and looks specifically at the technical and commercial dynamics of the new high count LEO and MEO constellations and ways in which they can and will add value to existing and future GSO satellite systems.
The GSO satellite sector is undergoing substantial evolution. Technical evolution includes high throughput and very high throughput hardware platforms coupled to new beam forming and beam shaping capabilities. Commercial evolution includes integration with existing and new LEO and MEO constellations including inter constellation switching and mechanisms for capturing value from LEO based multi spectrum sub metre imaging systems, enhanced GNSS service offers and global integrated broadband connectivity with Wi-Fi and 5G.

LEO constellations have satellites that scale in size and weight from nanosatellites and Cube SATS weighing a few kilogrammes to the International Space Station, deployed in spectrum from VHF to V band. Co sharing of C band between 5G and satellite TV and co sharing of Ku band and Ka band between 5G and LEO and MEO and GSO has introduced spectrum coexistence issues which still need to be resolved but also re-use opportunities that could change the delivery economics of both terrestrial 5G and new and existing satellite systems.

Rocket technology developments are changing the overall economics of getting into space. Novel collision avoidance using on board multi spectral imaging, inter satellite context awareness, AI and autonomous station keeping will potentially reduce debris risk and reduce insurance costs.
Low cost smart antenna technologies beam forming and beam shaping are addressing up link and down link spreading loss issues and opening up opportunities for vertical and horizontal frequency re-use.

Intersatellite switching enables low latency long distance ‘faster than fibre’ connectivity for international added value applications such as high frequency trading. Control of the end to end channel and known latency including deterministic second order delay variability allows for super secure authentication and encryption.

These technologies and techniques are addressed in depth over the five days with the last session on each day dedicated to vertical market specific case studies with an integrated technology and business modelling case study undertaken on Day 5. 

Course Content

Putting thousands of satellites into low earth orbit potentially delivers bandwidth resources that are several orders of magnitude greater than existing constellations. Higher flux densities from low earth orbits combined with strong Doppler signatures and low latencies relative to MEO GNSS opens up geo positioning and geo location capabilities which when combined with sub metre imaging will enable fully safe autonomous cars, ships and all other transport systems to be fully deliverable. Each day we look at three areas of enabling technology with a final session case studying real life applications in European, Asian and the US. On the fifth day, delegates divide into multi-disciplined teams to develop and present an integrated technology and business model for a ‘New Space’ market venture.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

  • Engineers, scientists and technical managers involved in the planning, design and operation of LEO and MEO satellite communications systems.

  • Technical, engineering and marketing teams from the LEO, MEO and GSO operator community and their supply chain partners

  • Technical, engineering and marketing teams from the LEO, MEO and GSO operator community and their supply chain partners wishing to evaluate 5G and satellite integration opportunities

  • Technical, engineering and marketing teams from the 5G community wishing to explore and test the changing technical and commercial dynamics of the ‘New Space’ industry and the challenge and opportunities of the emerging ‘new space’ technology and marketing model for 5G and 4G operators including ESN and specialist network operators including operators with a market specific IOT focus.

  • Engineers and policy makers from the regulatory community and competition policy specialists and experts.

Day 1  
9.00 Opening - Presentation of course content and organisation
9.00 - 10.15 Morning session: Sixty Years of Satellites
The Race for Space Spectrum – C band, Ku and Ka band and V band, 5G and satellite coexistence, LEO, MEO and GSO coexistence
10:15 - 10:30 break
10:30 - 11:30 LEO orbits including  polar, relationship of satellite count to inclination loss, Quazi Zenith and HEO orbits, bandwidth comparisons, inter constellation switching opportunities.
  Q&A
11:30 - 11:45 break
11:45 - 12:45 Implications of New Space for Regulatory Bodies and Competition policy specialists and experts.
What works best for specialist users, Public Protection and Disaster Relief, Emergency Service Networks
12.45 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 Afternoon session: Link Analysis (part 1)
14:00 - 15:00 Link Performance Evaluation and Objectives  LEO and MEO link and latency budgets.
Carrier Power Budgets
15:00 - 15:15 break
15:15 - 16:15 Inclination loss and spreading loss and band related CPE performance and cost issues,
Sub 6 GHz and Super 6 GHz, Ku and Ka band and V band including sensitivity, selectivity and stability issues  (RFFE multi band cost and performance constraints), related issues of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth RF integration
16:15 - 16:30 break
16:30 - 17:30 Application case study- these can be chosen to suit particular group interests but popular topics in the past have included Smart Cities From Space, Smart Transport From Space, Smart Spectrum From Space, Smart Energy from Space, Smart Seas from Space, Smart Cyber From Space, Smart Farming from Space, Smart Mining From Space, Smart Forests From Space, How to Count Animals From Space and/or Space based Zero Carbon Network technologies.
17:30 Q&A and suggested reading

 

Day 2  
9.00 - 10.15 Morning session: Launch Technology Innovation
Re- Usable rockets, electric satellites, multi mission launches, (defence and commercial cross subsidies), deep space and near space technology integration and relative per kilogramme launch costs per orbit (retrograde and prograde launch comparisons), sea launch options, Space Port options, hybrid launch options, liquid fuel versus solid fuel options and other options.
10:15 - 10:30 break
10:30 - 11:30 Satellite Technology Innovation.
Nanosat, Cube SATS, large SATS, Jumbo SATS, power sources and power budgets and life time expectations, collision risk avoidance and de orbiting protocols and practice.
  Q&A
11:30 - 11:45 break
11:45 - 12:45 Antenna Innovation.
Beam shaping versus beam forming, analogue versus digital, hardware constraints of high element count antennas, satellite options, CPE and user device options, case studies of existing hardware, temperature range and stability and noise issues, flat panel/conformance antenna automotive case study, the Dish is Dead, Long Live the Dish
12.45 - 14.00 Lunch
14:00 - 15:00 Afternoon session
Application case study – delegates work on a case study based on Day 2 content
15:00 - 15:15 break
15:15 - 16:15 Further study work with tutor support and break out groups
16:15 - 16:30 break
16:30 - 18:00 Further study work with tutor support and break out groups

 

Day 3  
9.00 - 10.15 Morning session: Constellation Innovation
LEO innovation models
Inter constellation coordination including case studies of existing multi constellation (LEO, MEO, GSO) systems
10:15 - 10:30 break
10:30 - 11:30 Production and Manufacturing Innovation - issues of industry scaling
  Q&A
11:30 - 11:45 break
11:45 - 12:45 Materials innovation – energy in space, impact on downlink power and orbit life time economics, metamaterials and their impact
12.30 Q&A
12.45 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 - 15:00 Afternoon session: Delegate case studies drawn from presentations from the morning
Examples could include comparisons between the 5G and satellite industry supply chains, space specific hardware requirements including radiation hardening and redundancy, on orbit repair techniques and technologies and through life hardware and software upgrade opportunities.
15:00 - 15:15 break
15:15 - 16:15

Radio standards and RF session – modulation options, comparisons between space and 5G, LOS and non LOS budgets, power efficiency versus spectral efficiency, coding options and relative merits and demerits, wide band versus narrow band noise floors  and related implications for space to earth, earth to space protection ratios and LEO to MEO to GSO protection ratios.
16:15 - 16:30 break
16:30 - 18:00 More delegate case studies, drawing on the previous session presentation.

 

Day 4  
9.00 - 10.15 Morning session: Ground stations and future space to earth connectivity modelsLink budget limitations of direct space to earth.
NB IOT case study.
The 30 dB difference rule of thumb and what that means for space economics.
10:15 - 10:30 break
10:30 - 11:30 HTS and VHTS LEO and MEO.
Relative cost and performance trends for LEO, MEO and GSO and other orbit options
  Q&A
11:30 - 11:45 break
11:45 - 12:45 HAPS technology and business review
12.45 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00- 15:00 Afternoon session: Communication Payloads
Communication Payloads, Comms, Multi Spectrum Imaging, Synthetic Aperture Radar from LEOS, commercial and military convergence VHF, S band, C band, X band, KU and Ka band and V band payload comparisons
15:00 - 15:15 break
15:15 - 16:15 Yet more standards.
Wi-Fi 6.0/6.0E why this matters, Bluetooth 5.0 why this matters, IEEE versus 5G versus satellite industry standards processes, what else do we need to know.
16:15 - 16:30 break
16:30 - 17:30 Standards and Spectrum and Scale Case Study.
Regulatory implications. Competition Policy Implications. Environmental policy implications.
Can Green Networks on earth and in space solve global warming;
17:30 Q&A

 

Day 5  
9.00 - 10.15 Morning session:  Europe versus the US versus Asia – regulatory, standards and competition policy differences between ITU Regions 1, 2 and 3, Middle East and Middle Earth Markets, Longitude and Latitude value and cost comparisons.
New players – India and One Web, the emerging nation Race for Space, Connecting the Disconnected, Connecting the Under Connected, Space and Health and education, the case for a UN Global Broadband Network (UN- GBN), integration with existing and future Satellite TV technologies and business models including Ultra High Definition TV and immersive technologies.
10:15 - 10:30 break
10:30 - 11:30

User terminal cost barriers and service cost barriers.
Cross subsidy models, Amazon in the Amazon, Free 5G from space, servers in space as a new model (AWS case study), and imaging versus comms value.
Solar storms and other nasty things that happen
(BP Deep Horizon as an example of how costly making a mess can be)
11:30 - 11:45 break
11:45 - 12:45 How to live with our new neighbours, near space and deep space radio astronomy, terrestrial and space radar.
How about optical communications?
Why stop there - X rays, Y Rays, Gamma rays.
Demographic differences and why this matters for terrestrial and space economics.
Data density and data fusion value as the new emerging model (Smart Synchronised Cities From Space as an example)
12.45 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 - 15:00 Afternoon session:
Delegate case studies based on the presentations from earlier in the day
15:00 - 15:15 break
15:15 - 17:00 Debrief Session
  Mutual interest models as the way forward, 3-5 year horizon, 30 to 50 year horizon