Summary of millimeter wave propagation experiments using Japan’s first geostationary satellite «Kiku-2»

A one year millimeter wave propagation experiment with a satellite-to-earth link was performed using Japan’s first geostationary satellite «Kiku-2». The satellite carries a beacon transmitter with three coherent frequencies, 1.7, 11.5 and 34.5 GHz. A coherent receiving system with a 10 m diameter antenna was employed. Other instrumentation included a C band rain radar. The experiment was carried out on 24 h-a-day basis and achieved nearly eight thousand hours of test time. The results show that a 20 dB rain margin is necessary for a millimeter wave satellite communication link with 99.9 % reliability. This paper describes the experiment and the results in outline.