Space: Different types of satellites and how to make your own satellite
Satellites are magnificent objects that play a big role when it comes to things like mapping the Earth, connecting users with the Internet, and space exploration. Satellites are complex objects that are designed specifically for one thing: Orbiting the Earth in space and connecting people and collecting data. In this article, I will discuss the why satellites are important, the various types, satellite orbits, and how to make your own.
Why are satellites important?
Satellites are important because they give us a bird’s-eye view of large swaths of land and water. This allows them to get data on numerous topics, ranging from meteorology to global communications. Satellites are a tool we absolutely cannot get rid of soon as it provides us with access to the Internet, global security & communications, and data on our world’s frontiers.
The Various types
There are eight different types of satellites i.e. Communications Satellite, Remote Sensing Satellite, Navigation Satellite, Drone Satellite, Ground Satellite, and more.
Communications satellites are artificial satellites that relay receive signals from an earth station and then re-transmit the signal to other earth stations.
Remote Sensing satellites are satellites that collect data of various places from an long distance. They acquire information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object and thus is in contrast to on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about the Earth
Navigation satellites are artificial satellites that provide the basis for all-weather, long-term navigation systems to determine with accuracy geodetic position, speed, and direction of a surface vehicle or aircraft, north reference, and vertical reference.
Drone Satellites are pseudo satellites that are actually drones that can fly really high up in the sky. They can be used as spy vehicles as well as a device to monitor the environment.
Ground Satellites are the ground station (or network of stations) and they are the “brain” of the entire satellite network. The satellites themselves can be working fine, but it doesn’t matter if no one is down here on earth to put the data they collect and transmit to use and make sure the whole system is functioning properly.
Polar Satellites was a NASA science spacecraft project designed to study the polar magnetosphere and aurorae. It was launched into orbit in February 1996, and continued operations until the program was terminated in April 2008. The spacecraft remains in orbit, though it is now inactive. It was made by the Lockheed Martin Space Organization. Now, Polar Satellites describe satellites that research and orbit the poles.
GPS Satellites are satellites that support the Global Positioning System, more commonly known as GPS. It’s specifically a satellite-based radio-navigation system that is owned by the United States government and operated by the Space Force.
Nano Satellites/CubeSats are small satellites that have been used for some time now. CubeSats are a research class of nanosatellites that orbit in low Earth Orbit. They can carry payloads besides their onboard research instruments. Other Nano satellites have even made it to other planets in interplanetary missions.
Different Orbit Types
Earth’s atmosphere and space are huge and need to be divided to make it easier to research and collect data. An orbit is the curved path that an object in space (such as a planet, moon, asteroid or spacecraft) takes around another object due to gravity. Gravity causes objects in space that have mass to be attracted to other nearby objects. Here are the different types of orbits:
GEO(Geostationary Orbit)-
Satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) circle Earth above the equator from west to east following Earth’s rotation — taking 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds — by travelling at exactly the same rate as Earth. This makes satellites in GEO appear to be ‘stationary’ over a fixed position. In order to perfectly match Earth’s rotation, the speed of GEO satellites should be about 3 km per second at an altitude of 35,786 km. These types of satellites are usually telecommunication satellites.
LEO(Low Earth Orbit)-
Low Earth Orbit is when satellites are relatively close to the Earth’s surface. LEO satellites do not always have to follow a particular path around Earth in the same way — their plane can be tilted. This means there are more available routes for satellites in LEO, which is one of the reasons why LEO is a very commonly used orbit. It’s beneficial in many ways as it allows the satellite to take close high resolution photos when doing satellite imaging. This is also the orbit of the ISS which travels at a speed of 7.8 kilometers per second.
MEO(Medium Earth Orbit)-
Medium Earth orbit consists of a wide range of orbits anywhere between LEO and GEO. It is similar to LEO in that it also does not need to take specific paths around Earth, and it is used by a variety of satellites with many different applications. It is very commonly used by navigation satellites.
SSO(Sun-synchronous Orbits & Polar Orbits)-
Satellites in polar orbits usually travel past Earth from north to south rather than from west to east, passing roughly over Earth’s poles. These satellites do not pass the poles precisely, even a deviation within 20 to 30 degrees is still classed as a polar orbit. Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) is a particular kind of polar orbit. Satellites in SSO, travelling over the polar regions, are synchronous with the Sun. This means they are synchronized to always be in the same ‘fixed’ position relative to the Sun.
GTO(Transfer Orbits and Geostationary transfer Orbits)-
Transfer orbits are a special kind of orbit used to get from one orbit to another. When satellites are launched from Earth and carried to space with launch vehicles , the satellites are not always placed directly on their final orbit. Often, the satellites are instead placed on a transfer orbit: an orbit where, by using relatively little energy from built-in motors, the satellite or spacecraft can move from one orbit to another.
L-points(Lagrange Points)-
Lagrange points, or L-points, allow for orbits that are much, much farther away (over a million kilometers) and do not orbit Earth directly. These are specific points far out in space where the gravitational fields of Earth and the Sun combine in such a way that spacecraft that orbit them remain stable and can thus be ‘anchored’ relative to Earth. Spacecrafts launched to these special L-points stay fixed, and remain close to Earth with minimal effort without going into a different orbit. The most used L-points are L1 and L2. These are both four times farther away from Earth than the Moon — 1.5 million km, compared to GEO’s 36 000 km — but that is still only approximately 1% of the distance of Earth from the Sun.
Services that allow you to launch your own custom satellite
Wouldn’t it be cool to build your own satellite? Well, now you can. Here is a list of the top services that allow you to build your own custom satellite & launch it on a rocket:
AmbaSat is a website where you get to customize your own satellite and launch it into space for a few months. Your satellite is Arduino compatible and you will be able to see what your satellite collects on a display.
You will be able to code your satellite and customize it to your preferences. Here is a picture showing what a AmbaSat satellite could look like:
- Open Cosmos
Open Cosmos is a company that allows entrepreneurs, governments, and companies to use space technologies as a research tool. They provide organizations and people space-ready satellites to deploy. They also guide you along the process by allowing you to test your satellite in a space-like environment. 3U, 6U, 12U are the main small satellite platforms available to the public.
- CubeSats
CubeSats are a new nanosatellite that is popular around the globe. CubeSats are research satellites that are small, yet big enough to collect valuable data while in space.
Here are a few websites that provide the public with CubeSats:
Conclusion
All in all, satellites are essential when it comes to research and connection in space. Satellites come in many types, however the concept of a satellite is our backbone when it comes to being connected globally. Companies and organizations build satellites that cost millions of dollars, however times are changing, and it’s now something the public can use.
