Wireless at high altitudes-environmental effects on space-based assets
Louis J. Lanzerotti, David J. Thomson, Carol G. Maclennan · Bell Labs Technical Journal · 2002
Marconi sent the first trans-Atlantic signals nearly 100 years ago, marking the advent of both modern wireless communications and the initial perceptions of the effects of solar-related natural phenomena on these signals. Currently, interest is increasing rapidly in the use of communications systems above the Earth's surface for voice and data transport. From large communications satellites (comsats) in geosynchronous (GEO) orbit to numerous proposed low-Earth-orbit (LEO) spacecraft constellations, several initiatives have been undertaken for the expansion of services ranging from paging, inventory tracking, TV, and telecommunications. This extension of wireless concepts to the third dimension — the high upper atmosphere and space — includes such businesses as service providers, launch vehicle builders, satellite manufacturers, ground station equipment providers, and personal communications device manufacturers. Many of the third-dimension wireless concepts, designs, and implementations require consideration of the Earth's atmosphere and space plasma environments that are mostly inconsequential to conventional wireless operations. This paper provides a brief overview of some current satellite-based concepts, focuses on the atmospheric, ionospheric, space, and solar environments that third-dimension wireless faces, and discusses some gaps in our current knowledge base.