23-15-00  SATELLITE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM Back

A. System Function

The Satellite Communication system (SATCOM) and the Tecom High-Gain Antenna system gives continuous voice and data communication to and from the aircraft through a satellite.

SATCOM gives two channels of full duplex voice communication and on channel of data communication. A personal computer, with a modem, can be connected to a ground telephone network.

Interfaces between the SATCOM system and the aircraft avionics are used to let the system to accept data and voice communications from different sources. This information is then encoded and modulated on the applicable radio frequency (RF) for transmission to the Ground Earth Station (GES) through a satellite. The system receives RF signals from the GES through a satellite, demodulates the signals, does the necessary decoding and outputs the data or voice communication to the flight crew or the mission controller.

B. System Components

The sub-systems of the SATCOM system are:

• SATCOM avionics (Ref. Fig. 2 thru Fig. 4, Fig. 6 and Fig. 7)
• High-Gain antenna system (HGA) (Ref. Fig. 5 and Fig. 8)
• Communications/ Control system (CCS) (Ref. Fig. 1)