V/Ka-band LEO high-throughput satellite and integrated satellite–terrestrial network experiment system: First two years flight results

Abstract

Satellite Internet technology has evolved significantly over the past few years. Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication technology and its applications have received growing interest in the field of global communication, due to their advantages of faster speed, lower latency, higher throughput, etc. GalaxySpace’s first satellite (YINHE-1) has been the world’s first V/Ka-band LEO broadband satellite with a communication capacity of 24 Gbps. The satellite was launched on the 16th of January 2020, and a series of in-orbit tests and satellite–terrestrial communication experiments were carried out within the two years of orbital flight. YINHE-1 is still operating and will participate in subsequent missions developed by GalaxySpace. This paper describes the overall scheme of satellite design and presents an integrated satellite–terrestrial network experiment system. Based on the two-year in-orbit test results, the Q/V band feed beam tracking, throughput and latency, communication under low elevation angles, and user beam switching are evaluated. In addition, the experiment results of integrated satellite–terrestrial communication are analyzed in detail. It is shown that the LEO broadband satellite possesses satisfactory capability in LTE/5G backhaul and Internet applications.