Medium Earth Orbit Ka Band Satellite Communications System

Medium earth orbit satellites deliver fiber-like low latency to underserved locations. This paper describes the architecture of an efficient cost effective low latency medium earth orbit constellation using high power steerable Ka band spot beams. A seamless error-free satellite-to-satellite handover using dual tracking antennas and dual receiver modems has been developed to deliver continuous real-time performance for these interactive time-sensitive applications. For less delay sensitive applications, single tracking antennas provide high-speed ISR data transfer from sensor platforms to processing center and the rapid dissemination of processed intelligence information back to forward command posts and smaller groups.