{"id":64312,"date":"2018-08-16T18:43:38","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T10:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/earth-fade-and-its-implications-for-leo-satellite-communications\/"},"modified":"2018-08-16T18:43:38","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T10:43:38","slug":"earth-fade-and-its-implications-for-leo-satellite-communications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/earth-fade-and-its-implications-for-leo-satellite-communications\/","title":{"rendered":"Earth Fade and its Implications for LEO Satellite Communications"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Unlike rain fade which only persists during precipitation events in the atmosphere, operators of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) systems will find that many of their customers will not be able to receive 99.9 percent availability services due to the presence of objects on the Earth. These objects block the view to LEO satellites, which cross the sky at lower elevations below the height of mountains, towers, buildings, trees, light poles, cables, and other objects. I define the loss of signal due to these terrestrial obstructions as \u201cEarth fade.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the reasons why the Geostationary Orbit (GEO) was selected by satellite communications pioneers is because in this orbit, satellites do not move relative to the fixed earth station antennas on the Earth. This allows antennas on the ground to be simple and without tracking systems, since the satellite positions do not change. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PJhIQyhSTLKOL7TIppwz_01_VS_090118_Cover_DGTL-1-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" style=\"width: 120px; height: auto;\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PJhIQyhSTLKOL7TIppwz_01_VS_090118_Cover_DGTL-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PJhIQyhSTLKOL7TIppwz_01_VS_090118_Cover_DGTL-1-800x599.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PJhIQyhSTLKOL7TIppwz_01_VS_090118_Cover_DGTL-1-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PJhIQyhSTLKOL7TIppwz_01_VS_090118_Cover_DGTL-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"fs-5 mt-0\">Explore the September 2018 Issue<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-0 fs-smaller text-balance\">Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<button class=\"btn btn-primary\" type=\"button\" data-bs-toggle=\"offcanvas\" data-bs-target=\"#offcanvasMENU\" aria-controls=\"offcanvasExample\" aria-label=\"button\" style=\"white-space: nowrap;\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tView More <i class=\"bi bi-arrow-right-circle\"><\/i><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<figure class=\"flex flex-col justify-center items-center w-full image-block px-8\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Placeholder alt text\" class=\"w-full object-cover mx-auto max-w-sm\" src=\"http:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/qk9T0TJSKulCX9689cnE_Opinion1_Chart1-1.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<p>However, in LEO, providing uninterrupted services will become significantly more complicated due to Earth fade. Because the Earth rotates as the satellites revolve around in their respective orbits, the elevation and look angle will constantly vary to each user as the satellites rise and fall across the visible sky. Since the position of each ground-serving LEO satellite can be totally random from the perspective of the user terminal, users would have to make sure that their LEO network has at least one satellite above the tallest object near the antenna, in order to receive uninterrupted services. I define this as the Minimum Clearance Elevation (MCE).<\/p>\n<figure class=\"flex flex-col justify-center items-center w-full image-block px-8\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Placeholder alt text\" class=\"w-full object-cover mx-auto max-w-sm\" src=\"http:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/EMn0SAwRguqKXaGw6AHg_Opinion1_Chart2-1.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<p>Relatively flat regions (such as plains and hills) with no tall towers or buildings would require low MCE. These places would have no problems receiving signals from most LEO systems. However, in suburban areas with many tall buildings, mountainous regions, or people living in areas surrounded by tall trees, they would require a relatively high MCE. <\/p>\n<p>For LEO satellite constellations, the number of satellites, their operating altitudes, and number of orbit planes will determine if the MCE required by each user terminal will avoid Earth fade. Constellations with hundreds of satellites operating in few orbit planes (sparse constellations) would provide lower MCEs, while systems operating thousands of satellites in multiple orbit planes (dense constellations) would provide Higher MCEs, and would thereby provide higher availability of service to greater number of end users. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"flex flex-col justify-center items-center w-full image-block px-8\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Placeholder alt text\" class=\"w-full object-cover mx-auto max-w-sm\" src=\"http:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/F7o0VREWRVCbEYzbnesr_Opinion1_Chart3.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"p-3 bg-gray-300 bg-opacity-50 italic mx-auto max-w-sm\">3600 Panoramic Sky View Examples<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The operators of LEO constellations will need to calculate the MCE required for each installation based on observing the physical environment of end user installations and compare it against their system characteristics, to determine if Earth fade can be avoided. If it is the latter, the Service Level Assurance (SLA) will be affected and the end users must agree to a form of Earth fade interruption of services. Even if the LEO constellation can mitigate Earth fade due to alternate satellites present in the user\u2019s field of view, user traffic control gateways will require sophisticated algorithms to reroute user traffic to alternate satellites when signals are interrupted. LEO systems with intersatellite links and user terminals that are capable of communicating with multiple satellites should be able to recognize when their user terminals have experienced Earth fade. This systems will better manage the service hand-offs to alternate satellites than the systems without crosslinks. <\/p>\n<p>Earth fade is a pressing issue for LEO systems. To mitigate its effects, LEO systems will require thousands (if not tens of thousands) of cross-linked satellites. This will further add to its complexity and cost. Until then, it seems clear that people who are living in mountainous or urban areas will find it difficult to receive reliable communications services via LEO broadband satellite networks.  <\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"widget-title\">In This Issue<\/h2>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 406955:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cqWQjYdXRcudzK2KfNYw_EdNote_Header_Web-300x167.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cqWQjYdXRcudzK2KfNYw_EdNote_Header_Web-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cqWQjYdXRcudzK2KfNYw_EdNote_Header_Web-800x446.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cqWQjYdXRcudzK2KfNYw_EdNote_Header_Web-640x357.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cqWQjYdXRcudzK2KfNYw_EdNote_Header_Web.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tA Long Hot Summer and a Market Heating Up<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 406909:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zdf6sRWGRx6NpDMR2sRZ_DduVhF0V4AAg5TV-1-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zdf6sRWGRx6NpDMR2sRZ_DduVhF0V4AAg5TV-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zdf6sRWGRx6NpDMR2sRZ_DduVhF0V4AAg5TV-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zdf6sRWGRx6NpDMR2sRZ_DduVhF0V4AAg5TV-1-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zdf6sRWGRx6NpDMR2sRZ_DduVhF0V4AAg5TV-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tAeroflot Exec Ready for IFC\u2019s Big Year<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 406896:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"193\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/V6HObUHTi2yObOnj3Ioc_ThinkstockPhotos-665333690-1-300x193.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/V6HObUHTi2yObOnj3Ioc_ThinkstockPhotos-665333690-1-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/V6HObUHTi2yObOnj3Ioc_ThinkstockPhotos-665333690-1-800x516.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/V6HObUHTi2yObOnj3Ioc_ThinkstockPhotos-665333690-1-640x413.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/V6HObUHTi2yObOnj3Ioc_ThinkstockPhotos-665333690-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tAmplifier Technology: Reflecting the Change in the Industry<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 406917:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/O6r6pU4rQGC0gBEuO4ZU_Broadcasting_Cyber-1-300x225.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/O6r6pU4rQGC0gBEuO4ZU_Broadcasting_Cyber-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/O6r6pU4rQGC0gBEuO4ZU_Broadcasting_Cyber-1-800x600.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/O6r6pU4rQGC0gBEuO4ZU_Broadcasting_Cyber-1-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/O6r6pU4rQGC0gBEuO4ZU_Broadcasting_Cyber-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, 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Environmental, Health and Safety Considerations<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 406924:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/lMjooKjJTWAUvnGK9gEd_IBC_MG_0204-HDR-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/lMjooKjJTWAUvnGK9gEd_IBC_MG_0204-HDR-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/lMjooKjJTWAUvnGK9gEd_IBC_MG_0204-HDR-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/lMjooKjJTWAUvnGK9gEd_IBC_MG_0204-HDR-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/lMjooKjJTWAUvnGK9gEd_IBC_MG_0204-HDR.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s in Store at IBC 2018?<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unlike rain fade which only persists during precipitation events in the atmosphere, operators of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) systems will find that many of their customers will not be able to receive 99.9 percent availability services due to the presence of objects on the Earth. These objects block the view to LEO satellites, which cross [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64312"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}