A High-Throughput Satellite System for Serving whole Europe with Fast Internet Service, Employing Optical Feeder Links

Abstract

Geostationary communication satellites can effectively cover gaps in internet-connectivity of European households that cannot be reached by terrestrial technology. However, these satellite systems need a major technological advancement in terms of data throughput. Therefore we propose a bidirectional communication satellite system with user links in the Ka-band and feeder-links that provide Terabits per second transmission rates. To keep the number of gateway stations at a reasonable number, higher RF frequencies (Q/V-band) or even optical feeder links are required. This new transmis-sion technology requires a conceptual change in ground network layout, at the same time increasing satellite throughput capabilities by around two orders of magnitude.