Contents

Abstract:..................................................................................................................... 2
Artificial satellites....................................................................................................... 3
Distribution of artificial satellites.............................................................................3
Sputnik....................................................................................................................... 6
First satelitte clash..................................................................................................... 8
What are they good for? How do we use them?.........................................................9
Satellite television and satellite radio.......................................................................10
Internet over satellite............................................................................................... 10
Satellite navigation systems..................................................................................... 11
Role of satellites in meterorology and science.........................................................12
Spy satellites............................................................................................................ 12
Most important artificial satellites............................................................................ 12
References................................................................................................................ 13

Abstract:
A satellite is an astronomical objet which circles around other astronomical objects with bigger mass.
Satellites can be natural and artificial. Natural satellites are astronomical object which most often circle
around planets. Artificial satellites are man-made and they circle in an orbit around the Earth, made to
serve people for a variety of purposes. Mostly used for telecommunications or observation, altought it is
used for military purposes also. The first artificial satellite was the Russian satellite Sputnik-1, launched
on the fourth of October 1957 in honor of the October revolution. Currently there are more than 3000
satellites orbiting around the Earth which are in function and 12000 more man-made objects which have
no function at all(old satellites, various parts of rockets and space debris). There are also artificial
satellites thich orbit around the Sun, and other planets, and there are even satellites who leave the solar
system and go into interstellar space.

Artificial satellites
Artificial sattelites are creations of human origin orbiting Earth. If the satellites move along the
equipotential surfaces they do not perform work against the forces of the gravity field. Equipotential
surfaces are surfaces on which the potential gravitational field has the same value. Satellites are in close
contact with the outer part of the Earth's atmosphere.
The making of artificial satellites reflected in many different areas of life most of all in technological and
social development i the development of communication. Also greatly significant in military uses.
In the year of 1946 American astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer was the first to give the idea of setting up
telescopes in the Earth's orbit or at another location in space. That was a decade before the launch of the
first satellite Sputnik into the orbit. Spitzer suggested a big satellite which would orbit around our planet
and performed observations of space and it's objects. After lobbying for this project during the 1960s and
1970s , the same was realised by launching the first space telescope Hubble, optical type, 20th of April
1990 Hubble was launch by the shuttle Discovery.
The first artificial satellite was the Russian satellite Sputnik-1, launched on the fourth of October 1957 in
honor of the October revolution in Russia.
It should be noted that to this day there are many telescopes launched into the orbit. Currently around our
planet Earth are orbiting more than 5000 artificial satellites which function and there are around that same
number of non functional outdated telescopes.
Distribution of artificial satellites
There are many types of artificial satellites divided by purpose:
1. Weather satellites are primarily used to monitor Earth's climate and weather
2. Astronomical satellites are satellites intended for observation of distant planets, galaxies and
other distant cosmic bodies
3. Navigation satellites are satellites which use radio signals to determine the position of the mobile
receiver on Earth. The relatively clear line of sight between the satellites and receivers on the
ground, combined with ever-advancing electronics, allows satellite navigation systems to
determine the location within a few meters, even less.
4. Miniature satellites are satellites of unusually small size and weight. In miniature satellites there
are basically three categories: minisatellite (500-100 kg), microsatellites (under 100 kg) and nano
satellites (under 10 kg).
5. Satellites for observing the planets, as their name suggests, are designed for the observation of
our planet, its nature, meteorology and create maps, for civilian purposes.

6. Biosatellites are satellites designed to carry living organisms, generally for scientific,
experimental purposes.
7. Anti-satellite weapons are in fact so-called "Killer satellites", designed to destroy enemy
warheads, satellites and other space objects. They can be armed with missiles, kinetic weapons,
energy weapons, or a combination of these weapons
8. Space station are constructions intended for staying and living of human beings in the universe.
Current cell design provides a medium-term stay in orbit, for periods of weeks, months, even
years.
9. Spy satellites are satellites for observing planets or communications satellites that have been
placed in military intelligence purposes. About these satellites is very unknown, because of
government data on these spy satellites are kept confidential.
10. Telecommunications satellites are satellites positioned in space designed for telecommunications.

Although today many countries (and companies) have their own satellites in orbit, only a few countries is
capable of independently launching an artificial satellite:Russia, Ukraine, USA, China, France, Japan,
Great Britain, Iran, Israel and India.
Table 1. Satelittes and year of first launch
Country

Year of first launch

Satellite

In addition to above South Korea and Iraq claim that they have launched their own satellites, but there is
no official confirmation of the succes of those missions.

Sputnik
The first communications satellite was the Soviet "Sputnik-1" which was launched on October 4 in
1957.It was equipped with a radio transmitter that was sending signals at frequencies of 20,005 MHz and
40,002 MHz. It's signal could have been followed by radio amateurs around the world. After 22 days, the
batteries in the transmitter ran out and the signal stopped. He was located in a low orbit and behind him
were a few sattelites that were also part of the space program Sputnik. The launch was carried out from
the Baikonur cosmodrome, which is by this day the largest launching ground in the world. It is located in
Kazakhstan, but it is leased by Russia until 2050.

Figure 1 Sputnik
As for the USA, the first satellite launched was Project SCORE(Signal Communications Orbit Relay
Equipment), in the year of 1958. In it was a recorder which used magnetic tape for recording and further
processing of voice messages.

NASA(The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in 1960 launched an Echo satellite, which
was 30 m in diameter aluminum balloon and operated as a passive radio reflector. Later that year the
Courier 1B was launched, the first active satellite transreciever. He is also known as a carrier of the first
transatlantic television. The first two satellites of the program Telstar were the Telstar 1, launched in July
1962,and the Telstar 2, launched in May 1963.They were experimental and almost identical. They carried
the first images, phone calls and broadcast the first transatlantic television from space.

Figure 2 Telstar

First satelitte clash

The first big clash of artificial satellites occurred on 10.02.2009. at an altitude of 789 km in Earth
orbit.The collision took place between the satellite Iridium 33 (Figure 3) and Kosmos-2251 (Figure 4) at a
speed of 42,120 km / h. Iridium 33 belonged to the American company "Iridium Satellite LLC," and was
one of 66 satellites the company that deals mainly with satellite telephony.Great support to this company
is Motorola, which supplies equipment and financial resources. Iridium 33 was launched on the 14th of
September 1997 from the Baikonur cosmodrome. Kosmos-2251 is a Russian communications satellite
launched on the 16th of June from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Unlike Iridium 33, the satellite is most
likely out of operation since 1995 and and flew out of control.

Figure 3 (Iridium 33)

Figure 4 (Kosmos 2251)

According to calculations of the two satellites needed to pass each other at a distance of 584 m. However,
at the time of the expected passing, Iridium 33 stopped transmitting. After the collision our orbit has
become "richer" for about 500 new small satellites. Both satellites have exploded at about 500 particles
and thus increase the number of space debris in our orbit.Space debris consists of all non-functional
objects including all of the outdated, inactive satellites, rocket modules, to tiniest particles resulting from
the explosion of the satellite. How cosmic environment does not produce friction, and the smallest screw
orbiting around the Earth, can easily reach speeds of 10 000 km / h.In the future, our orbit will be so
"polluted", it will have the status of "impassable". It will be impossible to launch a satellite or other
spacecraft, without it getting hit by space debris.

What are they good for? How do we use them?

Satellites have multiple roles in modern times.Telephone conversations between two people were carried
out by telephone cables.Today people from Europe can contact using the phone with someone from
America and that the connection is made through satellites.Streams of sports matches, concerts, carnivals
and other social events are transmitted via satellite communications. With satellites we can access the
Internet, and in those areas where there is no other way to connect to it (oceans, deserts, rain forests, high
mountains).In the case of floods, fires, power failures and other emergencies, when there are non-existent
other ways to transfer information (calling for help), we can send the same via satellite to reach the
receiver and it allows urgent action. For exploring planets, stars and the cosmos are used satellites.If we
want to find out where the place where we are we do it with the assistance of GPS (Global Positioning
System) whose roles have satellites.The movement of clouds, atmospheric changes the situation and
obtain weather forecasts and other meteorological changes get assistance from the system which is run by
satellites. Countries, and their intelligence services, the army, the police use satellites to get intelligence
and counter-intelligence tasks (detection and prevention of danger and for warfare) .In all these situations
satellites play an important role.
That is why satellites are used in:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Telecommunications
Meteorology
Navigation
Scientific purposes
Military and country purposes
Space stations
Astronomy
And many other situations.

Satellite television and satellite radio

Television broadcasting is done through communication satellites and the signal received by the
transmitter in the form of externals antennas (satellite dish). Households receive a signal from an external
device or via the built-in TV tuner, they canalso receive signals by the tuner in the form of a card or USB,
which may include the PC. Satellite television provides a wide aspect channels often in those areas where
there is no cable and other broadcasters.Direct broadcasting so-called. Direct Broadcast Satellite can be
performed analog or digital, which means that users have either an analog or a digital reciever. Today
there is a transition from analogue to digital Satellite TV because broadcasting stations are available in
better quality known as high frequency television. Many customers of satellite television in developed
markets receive programs from the service provider.They choose programs and broadcasters and sell that
as a package. Their goal is to raise much even up to 1000 programs to make competition to cable
television. The price of cable television depends on the broadcaster to broadcaster and the demand of the
buyers. Satellite radio transmits analog and video digital signals through one or more satellites and can
send signals longer than FM radio. In America, satellite radio has become a major supplier of background
music in enterprises such as hotels, retail chains and has the advantage of better sound quality and lower
price.

Internet over satellite

Satellite Internet is the internet access provided via satellite, it provides to users around the world
connection to the Internet and the rapid data transfer. Mostly in use in regions where traditional terrestrial
internet service (DSL, cable) are not available, as well as for users who frequently change their location.
They are used on ships and other vehicles.Divided into one-way and two-way satellite. internet. One-way
satellite intrenet is conventional dial-up internet access, outbound data going through a telephone modem
and the output is sent via satellite. Two-way satellite internet includes sending and receiving data over a
very small terminal (VSAT) over satellite telecommunications and back to terrestrial internet.Satellite
antenna over which the signal is established to a satellite has to be accurately adjusted in order to avoid
interference with other satellites.The market for satellite internetor this type can be divided into those
systems that support professional applications, such as banking, retail, and they are made to bring internet
access to small businesses and households.The advantages of satellite Internet: Internet access of highperformance whichis always on, covers the whole planet (at any place where there's satellite coverage)

the ability to simultaneously upload large files to multiple sites quickly through multicasting, complete
independence from providers of fixed telephony and terrestrial networks, the possibility of performing
phone calls without a phone apart (on a PC), free use of the existing telephone lines, the ability to be
installed in hard-to-reach places and the possibility of companies to connect headquarters with branches
which placed in hard to reach regions. It's drawback is the price of the connection (it is around a few
thousand dollars).

Figure 5 Internet over satellite

Satellite navigation systems

These systems allows accurate determination of certain positions as well as navigation on land, sea and
in air. At first it was designed for military purposes, but today have a wide civilian use.

Role of satellites in meterorology and science

Meteorological satellites are used for the collection of climatic and meteorological changes on Earth.
Observing the movement of clouds, their stream, the northern lights, storm, snowfall, changes in ice
fields, watching hurricanes and tornadoes, the fact of contamination collected environmental data and are
watching the city lights and fires . The recording sent by satellite to the ground provide valuable data that
terrestrial observers can not collect. They give true and accurate information.This collecting of
information used for the analysis of weather forecasting and are used by many (perhaps all)
meteorological satellites agencies. Artificial satellites have a very important role in scientific research and
discoveries. The informations that are collected by satellite are used for studying cracks in the earth,
finding active volcanoes, hurricanes and cyclones, discovering biodiversity, the study of the universe,
stars, moons, suns and solar systems and many other areas of science.

Spy satellites
These type of satellites are intended for the army secret intelligence agencies. They are actually telescopes
directed to the Earth. The first spy satellite Corrona carried out photographing objects, and these would
release canisters of photographs on the Earth. The spy satellites today are used to: create high resolution
photos, secret communications, wiretapping, detecting where rockets are launched. Thesesatellites are
used by the most modern countries in the world for intelligence and counter-intelligence.

Most important artificial satellites

There are many artificial satellites in the orbit but the most important ones are:
GLOBALSTAR, IRIDIUM, TELEDESIC, INMARSAT ,MILSTAR, GOES. All these satellites have their
specific tasks that they perform.

References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Dr.Radojka Pratalo "Satelitske komunikacije" Banja Luka.

Roman Galid "Telekomunikacije satelitima" kolska knjiga-Zagreb.
Stemfeld A., Galid "Vestacki sateliti" Tehnicka knjiga, Beograd 1958.
Sateliti, November, 25, 2015 , (https://sr.wikipedia.org/sr-el/Satelit)
Marko Gavrilovi, 5. aprila 2015, (https://fizikica.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/vestacki-sateliti/)