Title :
Nontracking antenna performance for inertially controlled spacecraft using TDRSS
Author_Institution :
Klipsch Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, Mexico
Abstract :
A series of tests to validate an antenna pointing concept for spin-stabilized satellites using a data relay satellite is described. These tests show that proper antenna pointing on an inertially stabilized spacecraft can lead to significant access time through the relay satellite even without active antenna pointing. We summarize the test results, the simulations to model the effects of antenna pattern and space loss, and the expected contact times. We also show how antenna beam width affects the results.
Keywords :
"Space vehicles","Artificial satellites","Testing","Relays","Satellite antennas","Low earth orbit satellites","Tin","NASA","Throughput","Structural beams"
Journal_Title :
IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems
DOI :
10.1109/TAES.2003.1261126
