Globalstar link verification

Globalstar is a LEO mobile satellite communications system with a satellite constellation of 48 satellites at an altitude of 1410 km orbit. It is an extension of the terrestrial phone system designed to provide voice and data services to users worldwide. The Globalstar system is a synthesis of many advanced technologies wherein it combines CDMA and FDMA technologies along with multiple beam array (MBA) satellite technology to provide seamless wireless services to the user. This paper addresses the verification of the link budget of the Globalstar system after a first set of four Globalstar satellites were launched on the Boeing Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida in February 1998. The Globalstar system of satellite communications comprises chiefly of a space segment, a user segment, and a ground segment. The satellite to user link is spatially divided into 16 beams in both uplink and downlink. The link budget takes into account all the links involved in the communications between the user to the gateway through the satellite and all the elements in the gateway, the satellite payload and the user terminal through which the signal traverses