What Is Footprint Of A Satellite?

The footprint of a satellite is the earth are that the satellite can receive from or transit to this is a function of both the satellite  orbit  and height , and the type of antenna the satellite uses. As the satellite gets higher, it is in a line of sight to more that earth's surface . However, it is not always useful to have a satellite with a board  footprint for its  uplink or downlink  antennas.

This wider beam width means  that more interfering signals  will be picked  up at  the satellite uplink  receiver while  the desired  signal strength  is lower: also , the transmitter downlink  antenna will broadcast  to areas beside  the intended  earth station of the down link and so wastefully spread out its limited  power. By using a focused antenna pattern, the, the footprint of the satellite is more sharply restricted. The footprint of the INTESAT V general purpose of satellite or bited as a relay  between  North America  and Europe.

The satellite orbit around the earth can be relatively below 5o to several hundred miles or as high as 23000 miles or more. The time for one complete orbit of the satellite is determined primarily by this height.