LunaNet: a Flexible and Extensible Lunar Exploration Communications and Navigation Infrastructure

NASA has set the ambitious goal of establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon. Diverse commercial and international partners are engaged in this effort to catalyze scientific discovery, lunar resource utilization and economic development on both the Earth and at the Moon. Lunar development will serve as a critical proving ground for deeper exploration into the solar system. Space communications and navigation infrastructure will play an integral part in realizing this goal. This paper provides a high-level description of an extensible and scalable lunar communications and navigation architecture, known as LunaNet. LunaNet is a services network to enable lunar operations. Three LunaNet service types are defined: networking services, position, navigation and timing services, and science utilization services. The LunaNet architecture encompasses a wide variety of topology implementations, including surface and orbiting provider nodes. In this paper several systems engineering considerations within the service architecture are highlighted. Additionally, several alternative LunaNet instantiations are presented. Extensibility of the LunaNet architecture to the solar system internet is discussed

Satellite technology in the maritime world : applications and implications

This dissertation is a study of the widespread utilization of satellite technology in the maritime world, with particular reference to the applications and implications of communication, navigation and remote sensing satellites to shipping and other maritime related fields. A brief look is taken at the general background of satellite technology, including the growth and development and basic techniques as well as categorization of applications. This is followed by a more detailed view of the three different areas of the applications of satellite technology, namely maritime communications, marine navigation and maritime meteorology and oceanography. The two well-known satellite-based systems, the INMARSAT System and the Global Positioning System, are both widely used by the maritime community and thus emphasized in this study. Apart from a brief description of those two systems, their applications are examined, their impact on the marine industry is discussed and their future development is investigated in order to obtain an appreciation of their role in the present maritime world. The applications of remote sensing satellites in marine meteorology and oceanography are also discussed. In addition to the above, the impact of the increasing use of satellite technology on maritime education and training is investigated. The concluding chapter is a summary of the main points discussed in the core chapters, which reflect the author’s viewpoin

Aeronautics and space report of the President, 1980 activities

The year's achievements in the areas of communication, Earth resources, environment, space sciences, transportation, and space energy are summarized and current and planned activities in these areas at the various departments and agencies of the Federal Government are summarized. Tables show U.S. and world spacecraft records, spacecraft launchings for 1980, and scientific payload anf probes launched 1975-1980. Budget data are included

The space shuttle payload planning working groups. Volume 6: Communications and navigation

The findings of the Communications and Navigation working group of the space shuttle payload planning activity are presented. The basic goals to be accomplished are to increase the use of space systems and to develop new space capabilities for providing communication and navigation services to the user community in the 1980 time period. Specific experiments to be conducted for improving space communication and navigation capabilities are defined. The characteristics of the experimental equipment required to accomplish the mission are discussed

Hybrid Satellite-Terrestrial Communication Networks for the Maritime Internet of Things: Key Technologies, Opportunities, and Challenges

With the rapid development of marine activities, there has been an increasing number of maritime mobile terminals, as well as a growing demand for high-speed and ultra-reliable maritime communications to keep them connected. Traditionally, the maritime Internet of Things (IoT) is enabled by maritime satellites. However, satellites are seriously restricted by their high latency and relatively low data rate. As an alternative, shore & island-based base stations (BSs) can be built to extend the coverage of terrestrial networks using fourth-generation (4G), fifth-generation (5G), and beyond 5G services. Unmanned aerial vehicles can also be exploited to serve as aerial maritime BSs. Despite of all these approaches, there are still open issues for an efficient maritime communication network (MCN). For example, due to the complicated electromagnetic propagation environment, the limited geometrically available BS sites, and rigorous service demands from mission-critical applications, conventional communication and networking theories and methods should be tailored for maritime scenarios. Towards this end, we provide a survey on the demand for maritime communications, the state-of-the-art MCNs, and key technologies for enhancing transmission efficiency, extending network coverage, and provisioning maritime-specific services. Future challenges in developing an environment-aware, service-driven, and integrated satellite-air-ground MCN to be smart enough to utilize external auxiliary information, e.g., sea state and atmosphere conditions, are also discussed

Proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC 1990)

Presented here are the proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC), held June 17-20, 1990 in Ottawa, Canada. Topics covered include future mobile satellite communications concepts, aeronautical applications, modulation and coding, propagation and experimental systems, mobile terminal equipment, network architecture and control, regulatory and policy considerations, vehicle antennas, and speech compression

Advanced space system concepts and their orbital support needs (1980 - 2000). Volume 2: Final report

The results are presented of a study which identifies over 100 new and highly capable space systems for the 1980-2000 time period: civilian systems which could bring benefits to large numbers of average citizens in everyday life, much enhance the kinds and levels of public services, increase the economic motivation for industrial investment in space, expand scientific horizons; and, in the military area, systems which could materially alter current concepts of tactical and strategic engagements. The requirements for space transportation, orbital support, and technology for these systems are derived, and those requirements likely to be shared between NASA and the DoD in the time period identified. The high leverage technologies for the time period are identified as very large microwave antennas and optics, high energy power subsystems, high precision and high power lasers, microelectronic circuit complexes and data processors, mosaic solid state sensing devices, and long-life cryogenic refrigerators

An integrated approach to maritime satellite communications in Mozambique : its impact on the Mozambique maritime infrastructure

This dissertation examines the worldwide current development of Maritime Satellite Communications technology; the INMARSAT organization and its Maritime Services, either for safety of life at sea or commercial and social applications, as well as the introduction of the new Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), Search and Rescue (SAR) operations and the Communication systems for use in the GMDSS that comprise Satellite and Terrestrial Communications. In addition, the research has addressed special attention to the review of the current state of maritime communications in Mozambique, the role that the national telecommunications company (TDM) plays in the maritime communications. The government efforts leading to the introduction of the GMDSS communications system in Mozambique and the activities of the national Maritime Safety Authority (SAFMAR) are also discussed in this paper. The need of co-operation with neighboring countries in order to build up the efficient Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) is considered. The routing arrangement with Coast Earth Stations providing services in INMARSAT-A, B, C and M in all four ocean regions coverage by INMARSAT geostationary satellites is shown to be the transitional stage to the full introduction of new technology based in Maritime Satellite Communications in Mozambique. The need of training for those whose tasks are to operate the day-to-day GMDSS communications in Mozambique is discussed, as well as the role of Escola Nautica de Mocambique (ENM) regarding the training of personnel for General Operator’s Certificate (GOC), where the use of PC-based simulators, in addition to the real-life equipment already available at ENM is also considered. The concluding chapter sum up the key issues discussed in this dissertation and gives more emphasis on the need of proper training of personnel to serve the GMDSS radio stations either ashore or onboard ships equipped with this technology, where proper use of the English language is required