IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - November/December 2021 - 25

Table 2. Laser Terminals for Laser ISLs.
Company
Mynaric
Tesat
Tesat
Terminal
CONDOR
LCT 135
SmartLCT
Capacity Standard Compatibility Link Distance ATP Capability
Available
Ethernet IEEE 802.3
8000 km
General Atomics 1550 nm LCT 5 Gb/s
Table 3. SpaceX's Plan for LEO Constellations.
Parameter
Inclination
Altitude
No. of Orbital Planes
No. of Satellites per Orbital Plane
Total Satellites
-
80 000 km
45 000 km
2500 km
-
-
-
10 Gb/s
1.8 Gb/s -
1.8 Gb/s -
Phase I Deployment
53
1150 km
32
50
1600
53.8
Phase II Deployment
74
81
32
50
8
70
1110 km 1130 km 1275 km 1325 km
5
6
50
2825
75
75
parameters: inclination, which is the angle
between the orbit of the satellite constellation
and the Equator; altitude, which is the height of
the orbit from the surface of the Earth and is
measured from the sea level; number of orbital
planes; and number of satellites per orbital
plane. In a circular orbit, the apogee and the
perigee of the satellite (i.e., the highest altitude
and the lowest altitude of the satellite relative to
Earth's surface, respectively) are the same. In a
uniform satellite constellation, the spacing
between orbital planes is the same and so is the
spacing of satellites within an orbital plane.
There can be several orbital planes within an
LEO (or very low Earth orbit (VLEO)) satellite
constellation, and each orbital plane can have
several LEO (or VLEO) satellites. Different LEO
and/or VLEO satellite constellations at different
altitudes collectively constitute a megaconstellation.
Let us consider the example of an LEO satellite
constellation with the following parameter
set: {53, 550 km, 40, 40}. This indicates an
orbital inclination of 53, an orbital altitude of
550 km, a total of 40 orbital planes, and a total of
40 satellites within each orbital plane. Assuming
this constellation to be uniform, the spacing
between the orbital planes will be 9, and the
spacing between satellites in each orbital plane
will also be 9. All orbital planes in the constellation
have the same inclination with reference to
the Equator.
Starlink is SpaceX's upcoming megaconstellation
that is expected to be comprised of approximately
12 000 satellites in different orbits or
constellations in LEO and VLEO orbits. The plan
for the deployment of LEO constellations is provided
in Table 3.14 This will consist of a total of
4425 satellites in five LEO constellations. It will
enable SpaceX to provide full and continuous
global coverage for a wide range of broadband
and other communications services for users
worldwide. These satellites will be equipped
with phased array beam-forming antennas to
make efficient use of Ku and Ka band spectrum
resources.
In the modified phase I for constructing Starlink
shown in Table 4,15 SpaceX is currently in
the process of deploying an LEO constellation of
1584 satellites with a parameter set of {53, 550
km, 24, 66}. In the original authorization
obtained by SpaceX from FCC, phase I consisted
of 1600 satellites with a parameter set of {53,
1150 km, 32, 50}.15 This new or modified phase I
constellation is illustrated in Figure 2(a). Assuming
this constellation to be uniform, the spacing
between the orbital planes is 15, and the
November/December 2021
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