Inter-Satellite Link Antennas : Review and The Near Future

Abstract: The emerging trend in distributed spacecraft systems of using multiple spacecraft which share functions as opposed to independent spacecraft has given opportunities for missions previously infeasible. Inter-satellite link (ISL) communications provide a direct link within the space segment without need of an intermediate ground segment to relay the data. As the distributed spacecraft systems (DSS) have become less exotic and more complex, the need and demand for inter-satellite antenna systems has increased and the requirements for the antenna systems more diverse and become more demanding. This document is a research of the antennas currently used for ISL, already flown or will be launched in the near future. While the emphasis is strongly in the antennas, the other parts of the ISL communications sub-systems are observed. To limit the scope of the work, optical cross links are not observed in this document. ISL used only for very close proximity, such as several kilometres, are given only limited scope as the main challenges on those do not involve antennas. Furthermore, the major emphasis is given to systems which can be seen as commercially important. This document is divided in five main sections and the conclusions. In the first section the features and the challenges of ISLs are described. In the second section a parametrisation system for antennas is defined and this system is used in following sections to describe the ISL sub-systems and antenna used in them. The third part is a survey of recently flown space missions with ISLs. The fourth section is a survey on the missions which are scheduled to fly in near future and a brief survey of the solutions offered by satellite service providers and manufacturers. Due to the limited technical data available, the fourth section contains far more reverse engineering and assumptions than the survey on legacy missions. The fifth section describes the several families of ISL suitable antennas under development and discusses about several topics which relate to the ISL antenna development. In this part also are defined several example antenna specifications and the applications of those. The study concludes that antennas suitable for inter-satellite links are not inherently different from ground segment communication antennas of the S/C. The major difference is the need for greater coverage, which can be attained by multiple antenna elements, beam steering or antenna pointing. Specific considerations are needed to be taken into account and often the use of ISLs will increase the technical challenges, but it can provide solutions for problems which cannot be solved otherwise.