In-orbit measurement of S-band radio noise during the Flying Laptop satellite mission

• The "Flying Laptop"small satellite was developed as a technology demonstration platform and is operated by the University of Stuttgart's Institute of Space Systems (Germany) and was launched on July 14th 2017 into a 600 km Sun synchronous Low Earth Orbit (LEO). For data exchange with ground stations, the satellite is equipped with the S-band transceivers of type SSTRX-1100. The receiver operates at a centre frequency of 2083.5 MHz and additionally provides various information about the received signals. A power indicator value is used to determine the incoming radio power on this frequency. Whereas this information normally is disregarded if the satellite is not communicating with a ground station, for this analysis, the power indication value has been used to derive the background noise temperature within 100 kHz bandwidth. For the period between February 2018 and January 2021, the incoming signal power was recorded every 20 s and later extended by the corresponding satellite position, based on on-board GPS measurements. Although the exact direction of the incoming signal cannot be determined due to the quasiomnidirectional antenna design, a statistical analysis has been performed for the large amount of measurement points for a 1° Longitude/Latitude grid. Finally, the background noise temperature is derived. Several maps show interferences and background noise, and variations over time. The presented results provide an important insight on the radio environment for a commonly used frequency for Earth-observation LEO satellites.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Fusion, plasma och rymdfysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Earth Observation

Flying Laptop

Radio Noise

S band

Small Satellite

Antennas

Earth (planet)

Electronic data interchange

Observatories

Orbits

Radio transceivers

Satellite ground stations

Background noise

Earth observations

Ground stations

In-orbit

Noise temperature

Orbit measurements

Small-satellite

Laptop computers

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