Technique for sharing radio frequency spectrum in multiple satellite

Abstract

A technique for sharing radio frequency spectrum in a multiple communication satellite system with a plurality of satellites in each of a plurality of non-geostationary (non-GSO) Earth orbits. A first satellite communication system uses a plurality of predefined non-GSO Earth orbits and a second satellite communication system uses a plurality of predefined orbits that are interleaved with the orbital planes of the first satellite communication system. In this manner, it is possible to achieve satisfactory discrimination between satellites and Earth-based stations. With near polar orbits, the topocentric separation between satellites decreases as the latitude of the Earth-based stations increases due to the convergence of orbital planes near the poles. To compensate for the decreased topocentric separation, the system utilizes one or more mitigation techniques to select one of a plurality of possible satellites to communicate with the Earth-based station in order to effectively increase topocentric separation.