Satellite Communications Glossary

Ka Band.  As the C and Ku bands begin to become congested, significant interest has been generated in Ka band (30/20 GHz) for commercial satellite communications applications. Ka-band systems have greater bandwidth and do not have to be shared with terrestrial systems. The difficulty in Ka band is that rain attenuation becomes so severe that link margins of the order of 14 dB are required.

Kepler's Laws.  Johann Kepler developed empirically three laws of planetary motion, based on conclusions drawn from the extensive observations of Mars by Tycho Brahe (taken around the year 1600). While they were originally defined in terms of the motion of the planets about the Sun, they apply equally to the motion of natural or artificial satellites about the Earth.

Klystron.  A klystron is a high-power amplifier used in satellite communications.

Ku Band.  To avoid the congestion in C band, newer satellite communications satellites operate in the higher frequency bands such as Ku band.

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