SATELLITE REGIONAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING ELLIPTICAL ORBITS Russian patent published in 2000 - IPC

FIELD: satellite communications. SUBSTANCE: proposed system has at least two orbits with at least two man-made satellites flying over respective orbits so that each satellite of one group reaches point of orbital pericenter with T/L offset, where L is integer number from unity to 2N, where N is number of system satellites; N and number of satellites on each orbit are interrelated to satisfy expression N = Px S ≥4, where P is number of orbits; S is number of man-made satellites on one orbit. Actual alternatives of proposed system incorporate six man-made satellites assembled in groups on two or three elliptical orbits, respectively. In first alternative, group has three man-made satellites placed on orbit so that each satellite reaches orbital pericenter point of its elliptical orbit with offset of one third or one sixth of orbital period relative to each other. In second alternative, group has two man-made satellites each reaching orbital pericenter point of its respective elliptical orbit with offset of half the orbital period relative to each other. EFFECT: provision for easy extension of coverage area in low latitude and for round-the-clock radio communications in coverage area. 3 cl, 3 dwg, 6 tbl