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Alphabus… and Then? Alphabus Extension NEOSAT the Issues of Electric Propulsion ALPHABUS INFORMATION PACK The new line of platform for high-power satellites © Astrium Contents p. 4 p. 6 p. 8 p. 10 p. 12 p. 14 p. 18 p. 20 Information pack ALPHABUS 2 In brief A look back on… Half a century of space telecommunications What is a platform? 1. Increasing the capacity of communications satellites Serving the needs of operators and their customers What is a transponder? 2. Alphabus capabilities The product of a perfect blend of heritage and innovation Among the main innovations Alphabus: key figures Alphabus: key dates 3. A fruitful cooperation Between ESA and CNES Between manufacturers Between the public sector and the private sector 4. Alphasat: the first user of the Alphabus platform Alphasat, a high-power communications satellite Alphasat: Key figures 5. Alphabus… and then? Alphabus extension NEOSAT The issues of electric propulsion CNES, the French space agency Contacts Information pack ALPHABUS 3 Smartphones, Internet and television: as we broadcast increasing amounts of high definition images and information, satellites must boost their capacity to transmit them. Alphabus is the European response to growing market demand. © Astrium IN BRIEF © Photononstop elevised broadcasts, loads which are heavier, more Internet access, digital powerful and more cumbersome. radio or high definition It targets services such as direct TV broadcasting, a new to home television broadcasting, generation of mobile digital audio broadcasting, mobile Tand broadband services - com- services and broadband access. munications satellites today pro- vide many services which require The Alphabus platform addresses a constant increase in capacity. the top end of the market, and is For this reason, their payloads are a complex and innovative pro- becoming more and more complex duct managed jointly by As- and heavy, consuming and dissi- trium and Thales Alenia Space pating power. in a novel industrial arrange- ment, allowing them to build Alphabus is Europe’s response to this unique platform series for the growing market demand for the high-end market. Alpha- large telecommunications pay- bus has therefore fully benefited Information pack ALPHABUS 4 Telstar, the first communications satellite, 1962. What is a platform? A satellite is made up of two parts: A look back on… - Its payload, which directly carries out the targeted mission; - Its bus, or platform, which actually carries the payload Half a century of © Alcatel Lucent and supplies the power, dissipates its heat and maintains space telecommunications the satellite’s orbital position. The platform is almost identical for every satellite, 10 July 1962. Telstar, the first communications satellite, was and comprises: sent into orbit. It was monitored by two ground stations, one in • a structure (the equivalent of the chassis and bodywork of a car); Pleumeur-Bodou in Brittany, and the other in the United States. • electrical power supply; And on 23 July, John F. Kennedy had his first speech broadcast • one or more means of propulsion; live on both sides of the Atlantic. The satellite had just demons- • a thermal control system: the payloads consume trated that the technology was available for this type of service. and dissipate more and more power, which must be disposed of in space; Since then, several waves of innovation have renewed the tele- • an attitude control system: the satellite must communications market, which has continued to grow over the be steered and pointed with extreme accuracy. last 50 years, meeting increasingly sophisticated needs. For economy of scale, a Most of the main families of applications that we know today platform model is developed emerged in the 1970s: telephony, television broadcasting, tele- which will be used for dozens of different satellites. phone communication in ships, etc. Today, Internet access is A platform takes ten years to to poised to replace telephony, hundreds of television channels develop, whereas a satellite have been developed, and listening to sailors’ voices out in the only takes three years to middle of the ocean is no longer good enough: we can now see produce, on average. them with high-quality images. This standardisation in production reduces At the same time, new countries have emerged and demand on manufacturing times the telecommunications market is constantly growing. However, and makes savings the more we wish to broadcast higher definition images and infor- on the equipment. mation, the more satellites must increase their capacity to trans- Astrium Dominique Marques © EADS mit them. The European Alphabus platform has been designed to meet that demand. from the experience of the two Alphabus platform, should be industrial partners Thales Alenia launched during summer 2013 Space and Astrium with their res- by Ariane 5 ECA from the Euro- pective platform families: Spa- pean Spaceport in Kourou, French cebus and Eurostar. Alphabus Guiana. This first launch will pro- enables the European industry to vide an opportunity to test and widen its range of communica- validate the performance of the tions satellites far beyond the Alphabus platform. current platform capabilities. Alphabus Extension, currently This new generation platform is under development, will bring available on the commercial mar- this power up to 22 kW and the ket to cover missions with pay- maximum launch mass to 8.8 t, load power in the range of 12 and to meet the requirements of com- 18 kW and a launch mass within 6 munications satellites for higher to 8 tonnes. mass and power. Alphasat, the first to use the Information pack ALPHABUS 5 1 Alphabus serves the needs of operators and their customers, which require very high payload capacity (mass and power), in particular because placing higher capacity payloads into orbit with a given launcher can reduce costs for the transponder in orbit: developing this platform therefore makes economic sense. The market in question is estimated to be one order for one satellite per year. The platform will enter into direct competition with Boeing and Loral, leaders in this segment up until now. Information pack ALPHABUS 6 Alphabus : Increasing the capacity of communications satellites © ESA/Jacku HUART Alphabus offers an increased payload throw weight compared to Spacebus and Eurostar, in terms of mass (up to 2 tonnes), power (14 to 22 kW), and number and size of antennas. What is a transponder? It is therefore a complementary platform for the Spacebus and Eurostar ˝core range˝ sec- tors. Furthermore, the increased throw weight A communications satellite receives data streams it provides means more complex payloads can from Earth and broadcasts them to their users. be considered, such as the flexible telecommu- The satellite components performing this function of receiving nications payloads which can be adapted to and transmitting data are the transponders. changes in requirement and traffic throughout The number of transponders will largely dictate how much the satellite’s life (15 years or more), in order to power a satellite consumes, as this equipment uses up a lot respond to the constantly changing worldwide of electricity. A satellite’s communication power is ultimately market in space telecommunications. measured by the number of channels; a channel represents Furthermore, a technical synergy has been the frequency band handled by a transponder. created between Alphabus, Eurostar and Spa- cebus, so that they can enrich one another with their innovative functions. Every satellite has a frequency range allocated to it by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) which it The market in extra-large telecommunications can use without risk of interference with its neighbours. missions is relatively small, but boosts the entire range. When the most innovative tech- The wider the range, the greater the amount of information nology is developed and validated, it does not the satellite is able to broadcast. take long to migrate in turn to the core range. That is why the avionics designed by Thales Alenia Space for Alphabus are already used on the Spacebus platform. And the electric power supply equipment, developed by Astrium for Alphabus, is already used on Eurostar today. Information pack ALPHABUS 7 2 The Alphabus service module. Helium and xenon tanks Central tube housing the two propellant tanks Lithium-ion batteries Plasma thrusters Avionics bay Liquid propellant apogee motor Telemetry and telecommand antennas © CNES/Pierre Jalby The Alphabus service module houses the platform equipment. It is designed around a central tube, an internal deck and structural load-bearing walls. The central tube contains the two large propellant tanks which supply the apogee motor. It supports the helium tanks and the xenon tanks of the plasma propulsion system. Information pack ALPHABUS 8 Alphabus capabilities The platform can carry a payload of up to 2,000 kg, the total mass of the satellite at launch Alphabus: key figures can therefore range from 6 to 8.8 tonnes. Satellite mass (Alphabus platform It can accommodate up to 12 antennas with + payload + propellant rigid reflectors of up to 3.5 metres in diameter Up to 8.8 t (with chemical propulsion for orbit raising) or deployable reflectors 15 metres in diameter. Payload mass While allowing these high performance levels, Up to 1.5 t (2 t in extended version) it is still compatible with a dual Ariane launch Payload power or a Proton launcher. Up to 18 kW (22 kW in extended version) Its capacity ranges from 230 (TWTA) to 250 Lifespan (SSPA) power amplifiers depending on the 15 years technology used. The product of a perfect blend of heritage Alphabus: key dates and innovation The design of Alphabus greatly benefited 2001: feasibility studies from the experience accumulated by Thales 2002: ESA-CNES cooperation agreement Alenia Space and Astrium on the Spacebus 2007: contract signed with Inmarsat for the Alphasat satellite 4000 and Eurostar E3000 platforms. This 2010: Qualification of the Alphabus programme natural relation has today generated a return 25 July 2013: Alphasat launch legacy, since the technology developed for the top of the range enriches these two core range sectors.
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