Menu
Since 2016, when the Federal Communication Com-mission (FCC) initiated its first Processing Round for U.S. Market Access, more than twenty distinct entities applied for authority to launch and operate fixed satellite service (FSS) satellite constellations consisting of more than 70,000 satellites [1]. One of the fundamental challenges, from a technical, regulatory and financial perspective, of these systems is a low-cost, consumer broadband, user terminal solution that complies with today’s strict regulations. At the national level, the FCC defines require-ments for satellite systems in its 47 CFR Part 25 Rules. The most pertinent of these regulations for user terminals are: power flux density (25.208), earth station gain mask requirements (25.209), offaxis equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) density envelope requirements (25.218), and requirements for Earth stations in motion (ESIMs) (25.228). These regulations were first developed with geostationary (GSO) systems in mind, and have evolved to consider the increase in number of non-geostationary (NGSO) systems and megaconstellations. At the international level, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) sets forth power flux density (PFD) and equivalent power density (EPFD) requirements in Article 22 of the Radio Regulations (RR). This work offers an overview of modern phased array user terminal technology (namely analog, digital and hybrid beamforming techniques), today’s manufacturers of phased array technology, as well as the national and international regulations with which these devices must comply.