Satellite Ground Systems Glossary

The formal verification phase conducted after LEOP in which a satellite's payload performance is measured and confirmed...

A satellite orbit typically between 200 km and 2,000 km altitude, characterised by short orbital periods, low latency, a...

Launch and Early Orbit Phase; the critical initial mission period during which a satellite is stabilised and commissione...

A tabulated accounting of all gains and losses in a satellite communications path, from transmitter to receiver, used to...

A receive-chain amplifier mounted close to the ground station antenna feed that boosts weak incoming satellite signals w...

A combined low-noise amplifier and frequency downconverter mounted at the antenna feed, used in consumer satellite and V...

The azimuth and elevation angles at which a ground-station antenna must be pointed to establish a line-of-sight radio pa...

A paired specification of modulation scheme (e.g., QPSK, 8PSK) and forward error correction coding rate (e.g., 1/2, 3/4)...

The centralised facility from which a satellite network operator monitors, manages, and controls the ground and space se...

A standardised two-line data format published by NORAD/US Space Force that encodes the orbital elements of an Earth-orbi...

A specific longitudinal position in the geostationary arc, assigned or coordinated through the ITU, at which a satellite...

The reduction in antenna gain resulting from misalignment between the antenna boresight and the direction of the target...

The attenuation of a satellite signal caused by precipitation along the signal propagation path, most pronounced at Ku-b...

The spacecraft platform that provides structural, power, thermal, attitude control, and TT&C support to a satellite's pa...

The power flux density at the satellite's receive antenna aperture required to drive the transponder's travelling wave t...

A satellite transmission scheme in which each voice, data, or video circuit is assigned its own dedicated RF carrier.

The power flux density (in dBW/m²) arriving at a satellite's receive antenna that drives the satellite's transponder to...

The use of mobile or portable satellite uplink equipment to transmit live or recorded news video and audio from a remote...

A semiconductor-based high-power amplifier used in satellite ground station transmit chains as an alternative to the TWT...

The process of performing periodic thruster manoeuvres to maintain a geostationary satellite within its assigned orbital...

A channel access method in which multiple ground terminals share a single satellite transponder by transmitting in assig...

Automated data transmitted from a spacecraft to a ground station, reporting on the health, status, and performance of on...

A specialised facility housing large satellite earth station antennas and associated baseband, RF, and network equipment...

A satellite payload channel that receives an uplink signal, frequency-converts it, amplifies it, and retransmits it as a...