On satellite emulation by an airborne platform

For the design of satellite links, detailed knowledge of the transmission characteristics is important. Development issues such as channel measurements, feasibility and performance studies, pre-operational demonstration and verification tests, et cetera, are necessary or desirable before launch. For this task, another satellite might be used eventually. However, if a suitable satellite is not available, a proper airborne platform is necessary to emulate the characteristics of the satellite under investigation as closely as possible. This situation is assumed in the following. In this paper, theoretical as well as practical arguments are derived and collected, respectively, (i) to guide the selection of a suitable platform, (ii) to predict its limitations, and (iii) to consider time-variant behavior of satellite orbiting. The capabilities of a helicopter, our preferred option, are demonstrated given data obtained within the “Archimedes/mediaStar Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) Measurement and Verification Campaign” funded by the European Space Agency (ESA)