MASTERING THE ­CHALLENGES

OF NEW SPACE SATELLITE

­CONSTELLATIONS
Measurement techniques for New Space satellites
and terminals

White paper | Version 01.00 | Tobias Willuhn

CONTENTS
Abstract.................................................................................................................................................................3

Introduction..........................................................................................................................................................3

From traditional bent-pipe satellites to New Space satellite constellations..............................................4

Satellite link planning and system v­ erification measurements....................................................................6

Satellite link planning.............................................................................................................................................6
System verification measurements........................................................................................................................8

Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................................11

References..........................................................................................................................................................11

The Rohde & Schwarz portfolio of microwave test equipment and software tools highlighted in this white paper is capable of supporting even the most challenging development steps
that are required for New Space satellites and terminals.

2
ABSTRACT
During the past few years, satellite technology has taken a quantum leap forward.
New Space satellites are helping to make wideband transmission, digital signal
processing and active beamforming the norm. However, optimized software tools are
needed along with state-of-the-art test and measurement equipment for successful
­planning and technical verification of New Space constellations and their user terminals.
The required tests and measurements are highly diverse, ranging from c ­ haracterization
of active phased array antennas, digital transparent processors (DTP), regenerative
payloads and various classic RF building blocks to over-the-air (OTA) measurements in
the frequency spectrum up to the Q and V bands (and sometimes even beyond). The
Rohde & Schwarz portfolio of microwave test equipment and software tools highlighted in
this white paper is capable of supporting even the most challenging development steps
that are required for New Space satellites and terminals.

INTRODUCTION
The term “New Space satellites” refers to the latest generation of satellites with on-board
processing and/or digital beamforming antennas. From a commercial p ­ erspective, it also
means shorter in-orbit lifecycles, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) satellite p­ roduction
and new application areas with innovative business models. New Space satellite
­constellations have also brought new incumbents to the satellite industry that have
shaken up the existing players and are causing a shift in the traditional economic value
chain. This white paper looks at the technical evolution of communications satellites
over the past decades. Furthermore, it examines design verification and measurement
­techniques for New Space LEO, MEO and GEO satellites and the next generation of
user terminals.

Figure 1: Satellite communications and data link network components

Satellite

Dow
n
Upli link
nk

k
lin link
Downli
Uplink

Up
wn
Do User terminal
nk

Internet
Ground
station User
terminal

Rohde & Schwarz White paper | Mastering the c ­ onstellations 3

­ hallenges of New Space satellite c
FROM TRADITIONAL BENT-PIPE SATELLITES TO
NEW SPACE SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS
Classical satellites launched since the 1970s were mostly geosynchronous (GEO) satel-
lites orbiting the earth at some 36 000 km above sea level. They featured wide beam
footprints and had rather simple transmit and receive parabolic antennas. Their payloads
were analog transponders consisting of input amplifiers, input multiplexer (IMUX) filters,
frequency converters (mixers), output power amplifiers (TWTAs) and output multiplexer
(OMUX) filters. Their in-orbit lifetime was on average about 15 years. They are often
referred to as bent-pipe satellites because their uplinks and downlinks are in the same
footprint and they act as a mere relay in space.

Over the decades, these satellites evolved primarily in terms of increased size and payload
power. This was combined with a new generation of multi-feedhorn, shaped reflector
parabolic antennas that allowed more specific coverage areas tailored to the commercial
requirements of customers (Table 1).

Table 1: GEO satellite technical evolution over three decades

Launch year Satellite Launch mass Payload power Solar panel span Transponders
1983 Eutelsat I-FI 1158 kg 1.0 kW 13.8 m 12
2016 SES-9 5271 kg 12.7 kW 48.0 m 57

These satellites were always designed for a certain orbital location and customer applica-
tion with specific beams and the operationally relevant frequency strapping. The signal
processing on-board these satellites was entirely analog.

Starting in the late 1990s, the satellite industry began to change. The huge success of
the internet combined with the need for worldwide connectivity increased the demand
for high-speed internet and telephony access in rural and remote areas. It was at that
time that the initial concepts for broadband satellite constellations like Celestri, Teledesic,
Iridium, Globalstar and Skybridge were born. These constellations were realized based on
non-geostationary satellite orbits (NGSO) and mainly consisted of low earth orbit (LEO)
satellites connected via multiple gateways and serving a new generation of user termi-
nals. However, despite the involvement of large corporations, these ambitious projects
were enormously expensive. In addition, there were technology and cost challenges
concerning the end user terminals. By the start of the 21st century, most of these constel-
lation projects had been abandoned.

In recent years, the satellite industry has changed further. In existing markets, the classic
broadcasting use cases were challenged by internet streaming, leading to more flexible
commercial arrangements for transponder utilization. At the same time, the demand for
high-speed IP-centric application delivery to remote areas soared again. This led to the
development of what is often referred to as New Space satellite constellations. Prominent
examples include the O3b medium earth orbit (MEO) constellation developed by Google
and O3b (now SES Networks) as well as the Starlink (SpaceX), Kuiper Systems (Amazon),
OneWeb and Telesat LEO constellations.

These industry changes also triggered new generations of GEO satellites. Initially,
these were high and very high throughput satellites (HTS and VHTS) designed for a
­multi-application approach featuring sophisticated frequency reuse concepts in the
Ka band with partial on-board processing capability in some cases. Since on-board
processing was not only technically challenging in terms of heat dissipation but also

4
rather expensive, the initial satellites with such an architecture had a hybrid design:
direct-to-home (DTH) wide beam bent-pipe transponders in the Ku band and a HTS
payload with on-board processing in the Ku and Ka bands. In 2016, the satellite oper-
ator SES ordered the SES-17 satellite with a totally digital signal processing payload. The
functional unit that handles all the digital signal processing is referred to as a digital trans-
parent processor (DTP). The DTP can process up to 200 GHz and slice the input spectrum
into pieces, change the frequency, route the pieces to the right place and reassemble
them prior to transmission (Figure 2).

Figure 2: SES-17 DTP utilization

Forward link User beam

TWTAs

Gateway beam Two to four user beams

share same TWTA

User beam
OMUXes
DTP
User beam
Gateway beam
User beam

MUXes One gateway beam per TWTA

Low-noise
amplifiers Return link

The SES-17 satellite has 186 spot beams covering the visual earth and allows for
­unlimited routing with very fine spectrum granularity within those beams. This s­ atellite,
however, still uses conventional traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs), waveguide
output multiplexers (OMUXes) and parabolic antennas with beams whose footprints
cannot be reconfigured in orbit.

The next step for the satellite industry will be the development and launch of fully ­flexible
software-defined satellites with fully digital beamforming capability. All these new
­satellites will apply the latest technologies such as electronically steerable multi-beam
antennas (both on the spacecraft and the user terminals) and transparent or regenera-
tive digital on-board processing, and use inter- and/or multi-satellite connectivity with
extremely fast signal handover processes. Transparent digital processing means there
is no demodulation and remodulation happening. In other words, the received wave-
forms are routed transparently from the input to the desired output multiplex and antenna
port. Regenerative payload technology that changes the input waveform coming from a
ground station into a different satellite output waveform will very likely be applied with
non-terrestrial networks (NTN) in 5G NR (New Radio) and in future 6G systems.

Together with multibeam-capable ground and user terminals, these new satellites will
position their operators to offer seamless multiple orbit capacity and allow them to
­optimize their communications systems for multiple applications in different geographic
areas. Thus, satellite systems can finally become an integral part of the overall global
communications network.

Rohde & Schwarz White paper | Mastering the c ­ onstellations 5

­ hallenges of New Space satellite c
 SATELLITE LINK PLANNING AND SYSTEM
­VERIFICATION MEASUREMENTS
With the arrival of New Space satellite technology, both system planning and verifica-
tion tools and measurement techniques have had to make a quantum leap. While many
classic link budget calculations and footprint verification and transponder RF measure-
ments remain, the complexity of the new constellations with their satellites and user
terminals requires not only significantly higher measurement accuracy but also sophisti-
cated control and automation technology. This is critical, for example, when performing
the thousands of measurements that are needed to validate a multi-beam phased array
antenna design.

Satellite link planning

New Space satellite constellations in LEO and MEO orbits require precise modeling and
optimization. This is also important to prevent interference with other constellations or
terrestrial microwave networks. Modeling includes link budget calculations that consider
weather conditions and atmospheric effects, (wideband) transponder usage optimization
and simulations of signal degradations due to intermodulation and/or other interference
sources. Since all satellites (and constellations) need regulatory approval, the planning
tool must allow a compliance check versus regulatory requirements across different
countries, including the proper documentation.

Figure 3: Managing multi-carrier scenarios

The R&S®GSASLP satellite link planner fulfills all these requirements. It is a powerful tool
that helps engineers with the design of any satellite communications system. It supports
link budget calculations with a large database of existing satellites including their foot-
prints and the relevant ITU recommendations pertaining to atmospheric conditions plus
any frequency- and location-dependent limits on transmit power density. Furthermore,
the tool includes a comprehensive database of all kinds of different SATCOM modems.
R&S®GSASLP can also calculate complex multicarrier scenarios and configure the
­parameters of the individual carriers such that as many carriers as possible achieve the
required data rate while consuming the least bandwidth and power.

6
Figure 4: Antenna diagram modeling and interference analysis

When modeling a satellite link, attention must also be paid to linear and non-linear effects
in a satellite transponder. These effects include gain flatness and group delay in the IMUX
and OMUX filters and AM/AM and AM/PM conversion in the power amplifiers. These
parameters can be easily characterized using the transponder simulation module in
R&S®GSASLP.

A growing trend over the coming years will involve mobility services, i.e. provision of
communications services to users on the move. Planning satellite communications
(SATCOM) services and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operations can be a demanding
task. Based on the given route and required coverage as well as the specific data rate
requirements, R&S®GSASLP searches for the best available transponders in the various
SATCOM bands of interest [1].

Figure 5: SATCOM route planning and optimization

Rohde & Schwarz White paper | Mastering the c ­ onstellations 7

­ hallenges of New Space satellite c
 System verification measurements
Many complex measurements are required during design and system verification of
New Space satellites and their user and gateway terminals. Since LEO/MEO and GEO
systems that use electronic beamforming antennas can produce a very large number of
beams with complex footprints, sophisticated automation of the relevant measurements
is normally a must.

Figure 6 shows a basic setup for testing a passive phased array antenna [2]. The R&S®ZNA
vector network analyzer is used to generate up to four phase coherent signals feeding the
antenna elements. The R&S®FSW signal and spectrum analyzer performs the level measure-
ments. The R&S®QuickStep test executive software is used to steer the antenna turntable and
control the measurement sequences. The wide dynamic range of the R&S®ZNA allows
quicker measurements by a factor of ten. The enhanced trigger and synchronization func-
tion in the R&S®ZNA leads to much more accurate measurements because the positioner
and trigger can be exactly matched by functions like the segmented sweep, cascaded
trigger and so on.

Figure 6: Passive phased array antenna characterization

Control and automation:

R&S®QuickStep
Visualization: Matlab

¸ZNA
¸FSW

Level
Yl measurement

Far field
Phase coherent signals Turntable
YR
Transmit side Receive side

Another new measurement task with modern satellites is related to the use of active
phased array antennas. All active beamforming payloads will require regular recalibration
in orbit. Through over-the-air (OTA) measurements, the relative phase and amplitude of
each antenna element will be characterized and used for the recalibration process. This
will ensure the most accurate footprint coverage.

Depending on the type of satellite and its coverage areas, a satellite operator may need to
utilize several calibration stations worldwide. In applications where a modulated signal is
to be provided as the source, the R&S®ZNA is replaced by a signal generator that supplies
the modulated signal. The R&S®SMW200A supports all of the communications standards
that are relevant in the satellite industry, including DVB-S2/DVB-SX, with excellent RF
performance.

8
 Figure 7: Over-the-air (OTA) test solutions from Rohde & Schwarz

R&S®ATS800B
R&S®CMQ500 shielding cube
antenna test system,
R&S®ATS1800C compact 3GPP Rohde & Schwarz wireless (for signaling tests),
R&S®ATS1000
compliant OTA chamber for 5G ­performance test chamber
antenna test system R&S®ATS800R CATR based
NR mmWave signals (WPTC) R&S®CMQ200 shielding cube
compact 5G NR mmWave test
(for RF tests)
chamber

UE early stage, antenna and chip R&D, cost-efficient R&D R&D, RF performance UE FR2 high quantity
tests, –40 °C to +85 °C
Direct far field (DFF), Compact antenna test range Compact antenna test range Direct far field (DFF),
near field (NF) (CATR) (CATR) near field (NF)
R&S®CMQ500: 0.7 GHz to 77 GHz,
18 GHz to 87 GHz 20 GHz to 50 GHz 23 GHz to 90 GHz 0.4 GHz to 90 GHz
R&S®CMQ200: 20 GHz to 77 GHz
3D conical cut 3D great circle 3D conical cut

Several signal generators can be used to produce phase coherent signals by LO coupling.
To ensure reproducible measurement conditions independent of the environment,
Rohde & Schwarz offers a broad portfolio of OTA measurement chambers for a wide range
of different AUTs. Over-the-air measurements are required whenever active elements
are included and are to be regarded together with the antenna element as an active
system. The portfolio includes near-field to far-field ranges as well as compact test ranges
s(CATR) implemented in various chamber sizes. An overview of the anechoic chambers
and their interior is shown in Figure 7. In the upcoming satellite mega-constellations, a
large number of UEs will be required. Compact test ranges such as the R&S®ATS1800C
are ideal for satisfying the test requirements of the mass market. Rohde & Schwarz can
provide relevant support thanks to its profound knowledge of 3GPP standardization and
compliance criteria in relation to integration of NTNs into terrestrial mobile communica-
tions networks.

Figure 8: In-orbit satellite carrier monitoring

In-orbit
satellite

Low-noise
amplifier
(LNA)

¸FSW
Signal detection

Rohde & Schwarz White paper | Mastering the c ­ onstellations 9

­ hallenges of New Space satellite c
 New Space satellites will increasingly use higher frequency spectrum beyond the ­classical
L, S, C and Ku bands, especially for gateway beams and inter-satellite connectivity. For a
few years now, HTS and VHTS satellite payloads have already used part of the Ka band
spectrum (usually 27.5 GHz to 29.5 GHz) for the return channel. Future satellites will
feature transponders that operate in the Q and V bands (33 GHz to 75 GHz). In these
bands, wideband single carrier transmissions with bandwidths of up to several GHz will
be possible. Such wideband transmissions will be based on the DVB-S2X standard and
will enable increased efficiency and throughput.

Rohde & Schwarz has a complete portfolio of equipment for pre- and post-launch
measurements on satellite systems in the frequency range up to 110 GHz, ranging from
affordable mid-range solutions to high-end systems.

Are you interested in more

­information on test solutions
from Rohde & Schwarz?

Visit our website for direct access

to the latest application notes
along with detailed webinars
and product information.

Highlights of this product range include the R&S®FSW signal and spectrum analyzer series
with internal analysis bandwidth of 8.3 GHz plus 800 MHz real-time analysis bandwidth
in a frequency range up to 90 GHz (up to 500 GHz with external harmonic mixers), the
R&S®ZNA vector network analyzer series with four internal, phase coherent sources and
covering up to 67 GHz of spectrum with an extraordinarily wide dynamic range [3], and
a large selection of digital and analog signal generators, such as the R&S®SMW200A vector
signal generator for frequencies up to 44 GHz with two RF paths or up to 67 GHz with one
RF path [4].

Figure 9: Test setup for satellite communications and data links

2 RF outputs up to 44 GHz each or

Signal generation 1 RF output up to 67 GHz or
with up to 2 GHz bandwidth under test

RF

¸SMW200A
Device
under test
Signal analysis

RF

2 Hz to 90 GHz (500 GHz with external mixer),

¸FSW up to 8.3 GHz demodulation bandwidth,
800 MHz real-time spectrum analysis

10
CONCLUSION
After decades of classic bent-pipe type satellites with static footprint coverage and a very
limited number of gateway and user beams, the industry is shifting to the next genera-
tion of fully flexible satellites with on-board processing. These New Space satellites and
satellite constellations in non-geostationary satellite orbits (NGSO) will support civil and
governmental satellite communications with a new and unprecedented level of flexibility,
enabling a plethora of innovative business cases. Modern phased array antenna develop-
ments will enable multi-beam ground terminals and configurable satellite uplink/downlink
footprints, allowing operators to reconfigure their satellite payloads in space to meet
changing user requirements.

These exciting new possibilities are also associated with numerous new test and
measurement requirements for design and application engineers as well as satellite
manufacturers and operators. In order to determine and verify the footprints generated
by active multibeam phased array antennas and test wideband power amplifiers (with
up to several GHz bandwidth), many automated measurements are required using state-
of-the-art equipment capable of operating with extremely high accuracy in the desired
frequency spectrum up to the Q and V bands and beyond.

The test and measurement equipment mentioned in this document represents only
a selection of the broad range of satellite test solutions offered by Rohde & Schwarz.
Together with software tools such as the R&S®GSASLP satellite link planner, these solu-
tions will support all of the New Space tests and measurements that are required during
system planning, design and verification.

Satellite Industry Day Series 2022 Are you interested in more

­information on this topic?

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tions and panel discussions
by leading experts.

REFERENCES
[1] R&S®GSASLP Satellite Link Planner, Rohde & Schwarz product brochure, PD 3683.4561.12,
Version 01.00, November 2021
[2] Measurement of Beamforming Antenna in Transmit Mode, Rohde & Schwarz application note,
M. Reil, G. Lloyd, M. Naseef, T. Bednorz, 2017, www.rohde-schwarz.com/appnote/1MA278
[3] Group Delay Measurement on Frequency Converting Devices, Rohde & Schwarz application note,
T. Bednorz, 2019, www.rohde-schwarz.com/appnote/1EZ81
[4] Multi-Channel Signal Generation Applications with R&S®SMW200A – Overview,
Rohde & Schwarz application note, S. Ache, 2018, www.rohde-schwarz.com/appnote/1GP106

Rohde & Schwarz White paper | Mastering the c ­ onstellations 11

­ hallenges of New Space satellite c
Rohde & Schwarz
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blazers when it comes to paving the way for a safer and
connected world with its leading solutions in test & measure-
ment, technology systems and n ­ etworks & cybersecurity.
Founded more than 85 years ago, the group is a reliable
partner for industry and government customers around
the globe. The independent company is headquartered in
Munich, Germany and has an extensive sales and service
network with locations in more than 70 countries.

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PD 3683.6093.52 | Version 01.00 | February 2022 (ch) | White paper
Mastering the c
­ hallenges of New Space satellite c
­ onstellations
Data without tolerance limits is not binding | Subject to change
© 2022 Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG | 81671 Munich, Germany