Propagation research at ESA

The European Space Agency has been successfully involved for more than two decades in studying the propagation conditions affecting satellite communications. First studies were done in preparation for OTS and ECS which later paved the way for EUTELSAT. Later, the OLYMPUS satellite provided a platform for extended propagation experiments at Ku- and Ka-band for fixed ground terminals with very small apertures. Currently the emphasis is on exploring the possibilities of regional and global mobile communications using satellites where the terrestrial infrastructure is either missing and impractical to implement. Also for satellite navigation systems and satellite sound broadcasting applications the characteristics of the mobile channel needs to be modelled accurately and the model needs to be verified by experiment. An overview of ESA´s propagation activities is given for both, fixed and mobile satcom services