Browse Topic: Satellite communications
To satisfy the real-time beam tracking requirement of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite ground terminals under highly dynamic pass conditions, this paper proposes a three-state hierarchical state-machine beam-control algorithm for liquid crystal phased array antennas (LCPAs). The tracking process is divided into three stages. S1 coarse nine-point acquisition is used to rapidly cover a wide pointing-uncertainty region. S2 fine nine-point refinement introduces quadratic-surface fitting to obtain local peak estimation at sub-step resolution. S3 predictive tracking adopts an interacting multiple model Kalman filter (IMM-KF) based on the constant-acceleration (CA) model and the Singer model, and designs an adaptive covariance regulation mechanism for both measurement and process noise. Combined with explicit delay compensation for liquid-crystal response time, the method suppresses pointing lag and error accumulation in high-dynamic intervals. A dual-threshold hysteretic loss-of-lock criterion and a filter-reset mechanism are also integrated to guarantee autonomous link recovery. Simulation results show that, in an LEO pass scenario with a maximum angular rate of about 2 °/s, the proposed method reduces the median 2D RMSE by about 52%, reduces the 90% quantile error by about 54%, and lowers the median average power loss from 0.14 dB to 0.03 dB compared with the traditional scheme.
Modern space exploration relies more and more on vehicles that carry expansive antenna arrays, a trend driven by steady progress in the field of space engineering. The study centers on constructing a coupled model that accounts for structural rigidity, flexibility, and thermal effects in a sizable orbital unfurling parabolic antenna, along with designing its orientation regulation system. A blended coordinate formulation and a heat-based discretization approach are employed to derive the motion and temperature-governing equations of the assembly. A unified pointing control method is then developed by merging classical feedback control principles with torque compensation control. Computational experiments involving a spacecraft fitted with such a dish antenna are executed. The findings reveal that sudden heat fluctuations, exemplified by the transition out of Earth’s umbra, trigger oscillatory behavior in the antenna framework and disrupt the satellite’s angular position. The designed orientation regulator successfully counteracts these thermally driven perturbations, even when the system representation contains inaccuracies.
In recent years, the global demand for high-rate, high-reliability, and wide-coverage wireless communications has continued to grow. Traditional satellite communications are faced with bottlenecks such as spectrum scarcity, insufficient single-satellite capacity, and poor adaptability to highly dynamic channels. Relying on the advantages of wide-area coverage and multi-satellite cooperation, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations can construct distributed satellite MIMO systems and form virtual large-scale antenna arrays, significantly improving system capacity and reliability. However, such systems are characterized by large spatiotemporal scales, and their channels exhibit strong heterogeneity in dimensions such as delay, frequency, and polarization, which are difficult to accurately evaluate using existing methods. To this end, this paper proposes a large-spatiotemporal-scale channel characteristic analysis method for distributed LEO satellite MIMO systems. A satellite-terrestrial full-link channel model is established, and quantitative characterization of multi-dimensional heterogeneity is realized based on statistical boundary analysis. Combined with the H3 global grid system, large-scale simulations are carried out to statistically analyze the distribution laws of delay differences, frequency offsets, and polarization angle deviations under different user configurations. The unique value of this analysis method lies in that its output results can be used to determine the upper limit of buffer capacity required for the receiver to complete coherent combining of multi-channel signals and the frequency offset correction range required for signal acquisition, provide a quantitative basis for optimizing satellite set selection, and offer a solid theoretical model and data support for performance evaluation and parameter design of multi-satellite cooperative systems.
To address the low computational efficiency problem by numerical calculation and large cumulative error by long-term sequential iterative prediction during the process of predicting the satellite’s transient temperature fields, this paper proposes a Physics-Informed U-Net (PI-Unet) model. Specifically, this PI-Unet model uses multi-branch spatiotemporal features as its inputs and combines hard constraints with a physics-informed loss to ensure the physical consistency of the predicted temperature field. Furthermore, for the error accumulation problem in long-sequence autoregressive prediction models, this paper presents a model training method based on the concept of filtering. Under the guidance of this method, the PI-Unet model can develop a long-term sequence prediction capability while keeping the accuracy of spatial temperature field prediction, achieving high-precision spatiotemporal prediction. By actively injecting prediction errors through a scheduled sampling strategy, along with a multi-step rolling training strategy, the PI-Unet model not only learns the governing physical laws of the spatial distribution of the transient temperature field, but also acquires the filtering capability to mitigate the accumulation of the long-term sequence rolling prediction errors. The experimental results indicate that the PI-Unet model maintains the maximum absolute error of predicting spatial transient temperature field stably below 5.5K and the error of the rolling-predicted transient temperature field in one orbit period less than 6K. In addition, the time for a single-step prediction is reduced to 0.005s, and the time for a total-period prediction is less than 0.5s. Therefore, this research provides a strong and high-efficiency technical support for the real-time monitoring of the satellite’s on-orbit temperature fields.
The rapid evolution of satellite communication systems enables direct network access for terrestrial users via portable devices, but also introduces critical security challenges in access control. In particular, identity hijacking attacks allow malicious users to exploit legitimate access channels, leading to inefficient occupation of scarce satellite resources. Existing approaches mainly depend on trust evaluation or heuristic-based decision strategies, which are inadequate for adapting to dynamic environments. To address this issue, this paper proposes a trust-aware deep reinforcement learning (DRL) framework for satellite access control, which jointly considers user behavior evaluation and decision optimization. Specifically, a Bayesian trust evaluation model is first developed to quantify the credibility of user behavior by incorporating historical interaction records as prior information. Unlike conventional static trust schemes, an adaptive mechanism is introduced to enhance sensitivity to behavioral dynamics. Building upon the trust assessment, the satellite access process is formulated as a Markov Decision Process (MDP), where system states integrate channel conditions, user trust levels, and service demands. A Deep Q-Network (DQN) is then employed to learn optimal admission and scheduling policies that maximize long-term system utility under resource constraints. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly outperforms conventional greedy and threshold-based strategies. In particular, it effectively mitigates the impact of malicious behaviors and improves system utility by over 80%, while achieving more efficient resource utilization in dynamic environments.
Graphene materials have recently been shown to produce measurable propulsion when exposed to light, raising the possibility of using them to enhance solar sail performance for satellite deorbiting. The pendulum-based experiments on graphene samples under controlled laser illumination inside a vacuum chamber and a quantitative model that describes the propulsion force as a function of laser power, illuminated area, incident angle, and ambient pressure were carried out. The measured pressure dependence and its shift with sample characteristic size point to Knudsen forces as the dominant mechanism. Orbital dynamics simulations incorporating this model show that a graphene-based sail can deorbit a 100 kg satellite from 660 km altitude roughly 21% faster than a conventional membrane sail of the same area, because the graphene configuration combines atmospheric drag with light-induced propulsion in a hybrid decay process.
Space membrane structures, prized for their lightness, affordability, and ability to fold and unfold, hold immense promise for missions like deep space exploration, high-definition Earth observation, and advanced satellite communications. However, these structures are typically large-size, ultra-lightweight, highly flexible, and have very low damping. This leads to complex dynamic behavior featuring significant geometric nonlinearity, strong coupling between rigid and flexible motions, and uncertain parameters. Consequently, creating accurate yet simple mathematical models for designing controllers is exceptionally difficult, and traditional control methods that rely on such models often fall short. To tackle this problem, this study focuses on a membrane antenna spacecraft equipped with cable actuators, aiming to suppress its vibrations during attitude maneuvers. Using the Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm, an intelligent vibration controller based on the Actor-Critic architecture is designed. This approach is data-driven, meaning it learns effective control strategies directly through interaction with the system’s environment, bypassing the need for a precise pre-defined mathematical model. Simulation results show that the controller demonstrated superior vibration suppression and strong adaptability across several key scenarios.
The average subscription in the mobility industry is fairly straightforward: a driver/owner pays a price and receives something, whether that's satellite radio, connected safety and support services or BMW's ill-fated (and now cancelled) $18-a-month heated seats. But what if a subscription service could save money? That's what battery giant Clarios is offering in its Battery Manager Pro product for truck owners and fleets, and the market is embracing the technology. The company announced at IAA 2026 in Hannover, Germany that the system would be available in Europe and that by October, 2,000 trucks in the U.S. would be using the system.
As military forces expand the use of distributed and expeditionary operating concepts across the Indo-Pacific, high-frequency (HF) communications continue to play a critical role in maintaining command-and-control links across vast distances without reliance on fixed infrastructure or satellite networks. A recent demonstration by communicators with Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia (MRF-SEA) and Marine Rotational Force-Darwin (MRF-D) highlighted the enduring value of HF technology for long-range military communications. During the event, Marines established two-way voice communications between Manila, Philippines, and Darwin, Australia, spanning approximately 2,000 miles. The communications link was achieved using an AN/PRC-160 high-frequency radio paired with a TRC-209 amplifier, validating the ability to maintain command and control across the Indo-Pacific using expeditionary communications systems.
This prototype array uses a small, lightweight, low-power, and low-cost aperture. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA Preventing adversaries from interfering with communications is crucial to national security. Tactical satellite communications (SATCOM) focus on securing reliable communications channels against adversaries in contested environments. In support of this mission, a team from MIT Lincoln Laboratory is building a prototype antenna characterized by low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C). Threats in contested environments - specifically proliferated low-Earth orbit (pLEO), where satellites must be as low-SWaP as possible because of the high volume of satellites present - are signal jamming and signals intelligence. Mitigating these threats through methods such as changing the shape of antenna beams in real time so that the ground user's signals can't be interfered with and preparing for future advanced capabilities are key to ensuring that satellites stay in communication with users on the ground.
To solve a problem that ignition anomaly can’t be detected in time, based on the thermal equilibrium equation, the space heat flow, heater heating, propellant combustion, and thermal radiation to cryogenic space are considered to build an accurate ignition temperature method for the 10 N thruster by using on-orbit true temperature. Further, considering the error of measuring the thermistor, an envelope model for the 10 N thruster ignition temperature is established. Based on the above, a detection method for the 10 N thruster ignition anomaly of on-orbit satellites is proposed. The accuracy of the method is relatively high, and the absolute error is less than 3 degrees Celsius. An anomaly can be quickly detected when the 10N thruster ignition temperature deviates from the normal trend by 3–5 degrees celsius. The method is applied to a DFH-3 satellite, and the maximum difference of 10 N thruster ignition temperature between the theoretical values calculated by the proposed method and the measured values is only 2.72 degrees celsius. It has been proven that the prediction accuracy of the proposed method is high. It plays an important role in discovering the 10N thruster ignition anomaly in time and ensuring the success of satellite orbit or attitude control.
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