C Band and Ku Band Satellite Bandwidth Explained

This page dives into the basics of satellite bandwidth, specifically focusing on C band and Ku band satellite communication. Satellites are a crucial solution for providing communication to remote areas where laying cables isn’t practical. They cover vast areas of the Earth. There are different types of satellites, such as LEO (Low Earth Orbit), MEO (Medium Earth Orbit), and GEO (Geostationary Orbit). Each of these operates in various frequency bands and is used for different applications. We’ll be looking at C band and Ku band in detail.

C Band Satellite Bandwidth

• C band satellites use an uplink frequency range of 5925 to 6425 MHz and a downlink range of 3700 to 4200 MHz.
• Different satellites will have varying numbers of transponders.
• Each transponder occupies a portion of the total satellite bandwidth (BW), typically around 500 MHz.
• As shown in Figure-1, transponder channels commonly utilize 36 MHz of bandwidth each, taken from the total 500 MHz bandwidth.
• A guard band of 4 MHz is usually implemented between transponders to minimize interference.

Ku Band Satellite Bandwidth

• Ku band satellites operate with an uplink frequency range of 14000 to 14500 MHz and a downlink range of 11700 to 12200 MHz.
• Figure-2 shows a common setup with 24 transponders, each using 36 MHz of bandwidth from the total of 500 MHz.
• Typically, there are 24 transponders in the uplink direction and 24 in the downlink. Keep in mind that the exact number of transponders and their bandwidth allocation can differ across various satellite models.