Little LEO Systems

While broadband systems are suited for a variety of applications envisaged in the next decade, there is an array of applications which can be served by low bit rate/low cost systems. In this respect little LEO systems could well seize a substantial market. Little LEO satellite systems operate in a different band, use low cost simple satellites and deliver small amounts of data to small low cost user terminals. The markets targeted include pipeline monitoring, reading meters from remote areas, fleet management, hand held messaging, etc. The market for such systems is expected to be driven by the success of a number of other complementary markets, such as hand held computers, GPS receivers, cellular voice and data, internet/electronic mail, etc. One of the key features of such systems is the low cast space segment which comprises simple small satellites.

As geostationary satellites become larger and more complex, little LEO satellites are expected to get smaller, smarter and cheaper. On the extreme end of this shift, researchers are pursuing radically different technologies which could enable satellites to shrink to palm size, weighing around half an ounce and using control systems based on the principles of animal neurones (Page, 1998). These satellites do not use microprocessors for control or fixed algorithms for operation. The so called nervous net technology 'works like the neurones in animal nervous systems which put out spiked pulses that hold information in the timing between the pulses'. The gradients of the Earth's magnetic fields are used for stabilization and the light gradient from photosensors for orienting the satellite with respect to sun. Short range antennas can be used for short intersatellite links and long range antennas will establish more distant communications. The purpose of this particular development is for scientific studies, but suffice to say that such concepts, if applied to communication satellites, can bring a significant reduction in the cost of LEO systems in the long term. Low cost LEO satellite technologies are being investigated in a number of companies, institutions and universities, such as the University of Surrey in the UK.

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