PAGE CONTENTS
Objectives
The objective of the ARTES-10 AVISAT mission was to propose a satellite communication system to SESAR compatible with mandatory ICAO provisions, that best answers the user requirements and end-to-end concept of operations, and ultimately to include this satellite communication infrastructure in the SESAR ATM Master Plan. The purpose of the of the Analysis and Definition of the Satellite System Study was to provide ESA and the SESAR JU a thorough analysis of satellite communications options for ATM, and furthermore to identify the necessary subset of the overall system to support qualification of the service if accepted.
An overall objective of the study was to provide a design able to support the technical and operational requirements at the least possible cost for the airspace users which can be operated by a certified CSP.
Finally, the Phase-A was intended to provide preliminary data to support the preparation of a programme proposal for Phase II at the Ministerial Conference 2008.
Challenges
The satellite system studied shall provide point-to-point and broadcast voice and data communications services for ATC and AOC. The challenges of designing such a system arise from some specifics of the ATM context. The main difficulty is seen in satisfying the two most important, but competing, requirements, namely to achieve the high reliability required for a safety-of-life service while at the same time assuring low costs.
Plan
The three main tasks within the Analysis and Definition of the Satellite System were:
- Space Segment System Requirements,
- Space Segment System Preliminary Design,
- Preparation of Future Work.
Current Status
The project Final Review has been completed, and the project finalised. The following is a brief summary of the work stages:
The Astrium Services consortium kicked-off the Artes-10 “AVISAT” – Analysis and Definition of the Satellite System (Phase A). The WP1000 was presented at the SSRR Meeting at ESTEC including:
- The baseline system architecture,
- Input to refine the Iris System Requirement Document,
- The Operational Concept for satellite communications in ATM,
- Ancillary payloads that could be supported on the satellite.
The WP2000 – Space Segment Preliminary Design work was presented at the PDR at ESTEC. WP2000 focused on the ATM payload design and the overall system design of the GEO component including the end-to-end concept, deployment, technology roadmap, validation and the ESA funded “subset” of the system needed for validation and initial operations.
The two Communication Design Studies (Phoenix and ICOS) produced two alternative inputs for the ATM Payload Design. The System Requirement Document (SRD) assumptions that the satellite component of the future “dual-link” defined in SESAR should be able to support all ATC and AOC traffic, and that all aircraft would use Low Gain Antenna terminals to minimise end-user’s costs led to a high power requirement, resulted in a large satellite with high power and large antenna.
Several payload options were designed including preliminary cost estimations:
- A payload with multiple spot-beams covering ECAC and the global region visible from the satellite,
- A payload with fewer ECAC spot-beams avoiding spot-beam handover requirements, but needing higher power in ECAC,
- A payload only supporting the traffic in ECAC,
- A reduced capacity payload serving ECAC only, intended to fit on a smaller platform.
In addition, the integration with existing satellite networks was investigated as an option to reduce costs for the programme and for the end-user. The feasibility, commercial impact, and any drawbacks in performance compared with a dedicated system are recommended as the subject of a detailed analysis for future study.
WP3000 – Preparation of Future Work was presented at the Final Review meeting at ESTEC.
A further design option looked at better frequency re-use for the fully operational system beyond 2025. In addition the optimum service model, the system certification for safety of life services, the risk and reliability assessments, and the business case were presented