ATI's Satellite Communications Course--An Essential Introduction

This three-day indroductory course has been taught to thousands of industry professionals for more than two decades, to rave reviews. The material is frequently updated and the course is a primer to the concepts, jargon, buzzwords, and acronyms of the industry, plus an overview of commercial satellite communications hardware, operations, and business environment. The course is intended primarily for non-technical people who must understand the entire field of commercial satellite communications, and who must understand and communicate with engineers and other technical personnel. The secondary audience is technical personnel moving into the industry who need a quick and thorough overview of what is going on in the industry, and who need an example of how to communicate with less technical individuals. The course is a primer to the concepts, jargon, buzzwords, and acronyms of the industry, plus an overview of commercial satellite communications hardware, operations, and business environment.

Concepts are explained at a basic level, minimizing the use of math, and providing real-world examples. Several calculations of important concepts such as link budgets are presented for illustrative purposes, but the details need not be understood in depth to gain an understanding of the concepts illustrated. The first section provides non-technical people with the technical background necessary to understand the space and earth segments of the industry, culminating with the importance of the link budget. The concluding section of the course provides an overview of the business issues, including major operators, regulation and legal issues, and issues and trends affecting the industry. Attendees receive a copy of the instructor's new textbook, Satellite Communications for the Non-Specialist, and will have time to discuss issues pertinent to their interests.

What You Will Learn:

How do commercial satellites fit into the telecommunications industry?
How are satellites planned, built, launched, and operated?
How do earth stations function?
What is a link budget and why is it important?
What legal and regulatory restrictions affect the industry?
What are the issues and trends driving the industry?

Testimonial:

“I truly enjoyed your course and hearing of your adventures in the Satellite business. You have a definite gift in teaching style and explanations.”

Course Outline:

Satellites and Telecommunication. Introduction and historical background. Legal and regulatory environment of satellite telecommunications: industry issues; standards and protocols; regulatory bodies; satellite services and applications; steps to licensing a system. Telecommunications users, applications, and markets: fixed services, broadcast services, mobile services, navigation services.
Communications Fundamentals. Basic definitions and measurements: decibels. The spectrum and its uses: properties of waves; frequency bands; bandwidth. Analog and digital signals. Carrying information on waves: coding, modulation, multiplexing, networks and protocols. Signal quality, quantity, and noise: measures of signal quality; noise; limits to capacity; advantages of digital.
The Space Segment. The space environment: gravity, radiation, solid material. Orbits: types of orbits; geostationary orbits; non-geostationary orbits. Orbital slots, frequencies, footprints, and coverage: slots; satellite spacing; eclipses; sun interference. Out to launch: launcher’s job; launch vehicles; the launch campaign; launch bases. Satellite systems and construction: structure and busses; antennas; power; thermal control; stationkeeping and orientation; telemetry and command. Satellite operations: housekeeping and communications.
The Ground Segment. Earth stations: types, hardware, and pointing. Antenna properties: gain; directionality; limits on sidelobe gain. Space loss, electronics, EIRP, and G/T: LNA-B-C’s; signal flow through an earth station.
The Satellite Earth Link. Atmospheric effects on signals: rain; rain climate models; rain fade margins. Link budgets: C/N and Eb/No. Multiple access: SDMA, FDMA, TDMA, CDMA; demand assignment; on-board multiplexing.
Satellite Communications Systems. Satellite communications providers: satellite competitiveness; competitors; basic economics; satellite systems and operators; using satellite systems. Issues, trends, and the future.
Appendix: Bibliography of satellite books and periodicals, Glossary of satellite telecommunications terms and acronyms, Internet References.

Speaker and Presenter Information

Dr. Mark R. Chartrand is a consultant and lecturer in satellite telecommunications and the space sciences. For more than 25 years he has presented professional seminars on satellite technology and telecommunications to satisfied individuals and businesses throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Dr. Chartrand has served as a technical and/or business consultant to NASA, Arianespace, GTE Spacenet, Intelsat, Antares Satellite Corp., Moffett-Larson-Johnson, Arianespace, Delmarva Power, Hewlett-Packard, and the International Communications Satellite Society of Japan, among others. He has appeared as an invited expert witness before Congressional subcommittees and was an invited witness before the National Commission on Space. He was the founding editor and the Editor-in-Chief of the annual The World Satellite Systems Guide, and later the publication Strategic Directions in Satellite Communication. He is author of six books and hundreds of articles in the space sciences. He has been chairman of several international satellite conferences, and a speaker at many others.

Relevant Government Agencies

Air Force, Army, Navy & Marine Corps, Intelligence Agencies, DOD & Military, Office of the President (includes OMB), Dept of Homeland Security, Dept of the Interior, Dept of State, Dept of Transportation, NASA, Other Federal Agencies, Legislative Agencies (GAO, GPO, LOC, etc.), State Government, Municipal Government, CIA, Coast Guard, National Institutes of Health, Census Bureau, USAID