The Parameters Comparison of the “Starlink” LEO Satellites Constellation for Different Orbital Shells
The Parameters Comparison of the “Starlink” LEO Satellites Constellation for Different Orbital Shells
复制标题
“星链”低轨卫星星座不同轨道壳参数对比
DOI：
10.3389/frcmn.2021.643095
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发表时间：
2021
影响因子：
8.3
通讯作者：
S. Cakaj
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
S. Cakaj
用于全球宽带服务的通信卫星-地面综合网络已经引起了全世界科学家和工业界的高度兴趣。这种使用最方便的结构是低地球轨道卫星，因为它们比其他轨道飞得更接近地球，因此提供明显更低的延迟，这对于可靠和安全的通信至关重要。这些努力包括Starlink卫星星座，由美国SpaceX公司开发并部分部署。该星座计划组织成三个空间外壳，每个空间外壳由数百颗专门设计的小尺寸和轻型低地球轨道卫星组成，以提供宽带服务，旨在通过它们的互操作性提供全球地球覆盖，并与地面站结合，作为卫星-地面综合网络的一部分。到2020年10月24日，893颗卫星在不同倾角下位于550公里高度的轨道上，确定了第一个星链轨道壳。下一代卫星计划分别位于海拔1110公里和340公里的高度，以完成三个星链卫星外壳的适当基础设施，向全球提供宽带互联网服务。由于这三种轨道壳体的高度不同，从地面站（用户）的角度来看，它们提供了不同的空间视图，因此本文比较了从地面站（用户）的角度考虑的描述卫星行为的几个参数。这些参数实际上源于空间轨道参数，定义为：水平面宽度、倾斜距离、延迟和覆盖面积。对三种星链轨道层进行了比较，并确定了适当的缺点和优点作为性能指标。最后，利用这些参数对卫星间的切换过程进行几何解释和确认。本文从地面站（用户）的角度对不同轨道层的卫星进行了理论分析和性能比较，以突出星地一体化网面临的新挑战。
Communications-integrated satellite-terrestrial networks used for global broadband services have gained a high degree of interest from scientists and industries worldwide. The most convenient structures for such use are low Earth orbit satellites, since they fly closer to the Earth compared to the other orbits, and consequently provide significantly lower latency, which is essential for reliable and safe communications. Among these efforts is the Starlink satellites constellation, developed and partly deployed by the United States Company SpaceX. The constellation is planned to be organized in three spatial shells, each of them made up of several hundreds of small-dimensioned and light-weighted low Earth orbit specially designed satellites to provide broadband services, intending to offer global Earth coverage through their interoperability, combined also with the ground stations as a part of the satellite-terrestrial integrated network. By October 24, 2020, 893 satellites are situated in orbit of altitudes of 550 km under different inclinations, determining the first Starlink orbital shell. Two next generations are planned to be situated at altitudes of 1,110 and 340 km, to complete the appropriate infrastructure of three Starlink satellite shells, toward a global presence of broadband internet services. These three orbital shells offer different space views seen from the ground station (user) because of their different altitudes, thus in this paper a few parameters which describe the satellite’s behavior considered from the ground station’s (user’s) point of view are compared. These parameters in fact stem from the space orbital parameters and are defined as: horizon plane wideness, slant range, latency, and coverage area. A comparison is given for the three Starlink orbit layers, with identification of appropriate drawbacks and advantages as performance indicators. By the end, these parameters are applied to geometrically interpret and confirm the handover process among satellites. This paper may serve to highlight the new challenges of the satellite-terrestrial integrated network, providing some theoretical analysis and performance comparisons for the satellites in different orbit layers seen from the ground station (user) perspective.