Does the International Space Station ISS get TV?

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For obvious reasons the ISS cannot get cable TV. Can the ISS get the new digital air TV or satellite TV and put an issued dish and receiver on it like a house? How would that be done compared to how it is normally received?

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edited 55 mins ago

asked 1 hour ago

Muze

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up vote
2
down vote

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enter image description here

edited 55 mins ago

asked 1 hour ago

Muze

1,590944

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

favorite

enter image description here

edited 55 mins ago

asked 1 hour ago

Muze

1,590944

enter image description here

orbital-mechanics iss communication-satellite data-transmission football

edited 55 mins ago

asked 1 hour ago

Muze

1,590944

edited 55 mins ago

asked 1 hour ago

Muze

1,590944

edited 55 mins ago

asked 1 hour ago

Muze

1,590944

asked 1 hour ago

Muze

1,590944

asked 1 hour ago

Muze

1,590944

add a commentÂ |Â

2 Answers
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up vote
3
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More or less.

While the ISS is below the satellites use for TV transmissions, it is passing by so fast that the coverage will be highly intermittent, meaning that you would be able to watch a channel for only a couple of minutes, have black outs over the oceans, and repeat.

Other notable differences would be:

Normal satellites receiver are "fixed": The dishes don't move. As the ISS is travelling, the antenna will need to move to track the satellites.

The ISS is moving... And it's moving fast! There will be a significant doppler effect; and the receiver will need to account for that (broader spectrum antenna, and shifting the frequency dynamically).

The licensing might be a bit complicated; it's unclear wether space is included in the bundle.

answered 56 mins ago

Antzi

6,2641846

Nice. I thought maybe a dish like on a house might work?
â€“Â Muze
54 mins ago

@Muze Might. Probably not for too long. It will have to be able to handle the temperature swings, vacuum, the receiver will need to be able to switch frequencies fast enough, ...
â€“Â Antzi
19 secs ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

@Antzi's answer is right, but I'll add some context as a supplement.

While Doppler (mentioned there) might or might not be an issue for an off-the-shelf commercial satellite TV box (I don't know) it could probably be fixed with a mod that NASA could easily manage.

The real problems

NASA's TDRS satellites are at the same geosynchronous altitude as "TV satellites", and in fact are more "wobbly" (higher inclination) and yet are to the go-to solution for data and comms for the ISS.

The reason that the TDRS satellites tend to be clustered in three groups equally spaced around the Earth, is that the GEO "TV satellites" would constantly be eclipsed by the planet. With a ~90 minute orbit you'd loose line-of-sight communications at irritating moments during 1 hour and many half-hour "shows". For TDRS you just need to slew the dish to the next position.

You'l need some more, and expensive articulated dish antennas to constantly track the "TV satellites" as the ISS orbits. See this excellent answer to the question Do antennae on the ISS have to constantly move to maintain data links? There's even a video!

edit: These days a flat phased array antenna might do the trick nicely (for TV reception) and be cheaper as well as far faster in the "slewing".

Selecting the right TV viewing package (as pointed out in @Antzi's answer) might be a substantial challenge even for NASA. It sounds like a question that the US House of Representatives could spend months investigating.

edited 2 mins ago

answered 19 mins ago

uhoh

28.9k1495355

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2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

2 Answers
2

active

oldest

votes

up vote
3
down vote

More or less.

Other notable differences would be:

Normal satellites receiver are "fixed": The dishes don't move. As the ISS is travelling, the antenna will need to move to track the satellites.

The ISS is moving... And it's moving fast! There will be a significant doppler effect; and the receiver will need to account for that (broader spectrum antenna, and shifting the frequency dynamically).

The licensing might be a bit complicated; it's unclear wether space is included in the bundle.

answered 56 mins ago

Antzi

6,2641846

Nice. I thought maybe a dish like on a house might work?
â€“Â Muze
54 mins ago

@Muze Might. Probably not for too long. It will have to be able to handle the temperature swings, vacuum, the receiver will need to be able to switch frequencies fast enough, ...
â€“Â Antzi
19 secs ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
3
down vote

More or less.

Other notable differences would be:

Normal satellites receiver are "fixed": The dishes don't move. As the ISS is travelling, the antenna will need to move to track the satellites.

The ISS is moving... And it's moving fast! There will be a significant doppler effect; and the receiver will need to account for that (broader spectrum antenna, and shifting the frequency dynamically).

The licensing might be a bit complicated; it's unclear wether space is included in the bundle.

answered 56 mins ago

Antzi

6,2641846

Nice. I thought maybe a dish like on a house might work?
â€“Â Muze
54 mins ago

@Muze Might. Probably not for too long. It will have to be able to handle the temperature swings, vacuum, the receiver will need to be able to switch frequencies fast enough, ...
â€“Â Antzi
19 secs ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
3
down vote

More or less.

Other notable differences would be:

Normal satellites receiver are "fixed": The dishes don't move. As the ISS is travelling, the antenna will need to move to track the satellites.

The ISS is moving... And it's moving fast! There will be a significant doppler effect; and the receiver will need to account for that (broader spectrum antenna, and shifting the frequency dynamically).

The licensing might be a bit complicated; it's unclear wether space is included in the bundle.

answered 56 mins ago

Antzi

6,2641846

More or less.

Other notable differences would be:

Normal satellites receiver are "fixed": The dishes don't move. As the ISS is travelling, the antenna will need to move to track the satellites.

The ISS is moving... And it's moving fast! There will be a significant doppler effect; and the receiver will need to account for that (broader spectrum antenna, and shifting the frequency dynamically).

The licensing might be a bit complicated; it's unclear wether space is included in the bundle.

answered 56 mins ago

Antzi

6,2641846

answered 56 mins ago

Antzi

6,2641846

answered 56 mins ago

Antzi

6,2641846

answered 56 mins ago

Antzi

6,2641846

Nice. I thought maybe a dish like on a house might work?
â€“Â Muze
54 mins ago

@Muze Might. Probably not for too long. It will have to be able to handle the temperature swings, vacuum, the receiver will need to be able to switch frequencies fast enough, ...
â€“Â Antzi
19 secs ago

add a commentÂ |Â

Nice. I thought maybe a dish like on a house might work?
â€“Â Muze
54 mins ago

@Muze Might. Probably not for too long. It will have to be able to handle the temperature swings, vacuum, the receiver will need to be able to switch frequencies fast enough, ...
â€“Â Antzi
19 secs ago

Nice. I thought maybe a dish like on a house might work?
â€“Â Muze
54 mins ago

@Muze Might. Probably not for too long. It will have to be able to handle the temperature swings, vacuum, the receiver will need to be able to switch frequencies fast enough, ...
â€“Â Antzi
19 secs ago

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

@Antzi's answer is right, but I'll add some context as a supplement.

While Doppler (mentioned there) might or might not be an issue for an off-the-shelf commercial satellite TV box (I don't know) it could probably be fixed with a mod that NASA could easily manage.

The real problems

NASA's TDRS satellites are at the same geosynchronous altitude as "TV satellites", and in fact are more "wobbly" (higher inclination) and yet are to the go-to solution for data and comms for the ISS.

The reason that the TDRS satellites tend to be clustered in three groups equally spaced around the Earth, is that the GEO "TV satellites" would constantly be eclipsed by the planet. With a ~90 minute orbit you'd loose line-of-sight communications at irritating moments during 1 hour and many half-hour "shows". For TDRS you just need to slew the dish to the next position.

You'l need some more, and expensive articulated dish antennas to constantly track the "TV satellites" as the ISS orbits. See this excellent answer to the question Do antennae on the ISS have to constantly move to maintain data links? There's even a video!

edit: These days a flat phased array antenna might do the trick nicely (for TV reception) and be cheaper as well as far faster in the "slewing".

Selecting the right TV viewing package (as pointed out in @Antzi's answer) might be a substantial challenge even for NASA. It sounds like a question that the US House of Representatives could spend months investigating.

edited 2 mins ago

answered 19 mins ago

uhoh

28.9k1495355

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

@Antzi's answer is right, but I'll add some context as a supplement.

While Doppler (mentioned there) might or might not be an issue for an off-the-shelf commercial satellite TV box (I don't know) it could probably be fixed with a mod that NASA could easily manage.

The real problems

NASA's TDRS satellites are at the same geosynchronous altitude as "TV satellites", and in fact are more "wobbly" (higher inclination) and yet are to the go-to solution for data and comms for the ISS.

The reason that the TDRS satellites tend to be clustered in three groups equally spaced around the Earth, is that the GEO "TV satellites" would constantly be eclipsed by the planet. With a ~90 minute orbit you'd loose line-of-sight communications at irritating moments during 1 hour and many half-hour "shows". For TDRS you just need to slew the dish to the next position.

You'l need some more, and expensive articulated dish antennas to constantly track the "TV satellites" as the ISS orbits. See this excellent answer to the question Do antennae on the ISS have to constantly move to maintain data links? There's even a video!

edit: These days a flat phased array antenna might do the trick nicely (for TV reception) and be cheaper as well as far faster in the "slewing".

Selecting the right TV viewing package (as pointed out in @Antzi's answer) might be a substantial challenge even for NASA. It sounds like a question that the US House of Representatives could spend months investigating.

edited 2 mins ago

answered 19 mins ago

uhoh

28.9k1495355

add a commentÂ |Â

up vote
2
down vote

@Antzi's answer is right, but I'll add some context as a supplement.

While Doppler (mentioned there) might or might not be an issue for an off-the-shelf commercial satellite TV box (I don't know) it could probably be fixed with a mod that NASA could easily manage.

The real problems

NASA's TDRS satellites are at the same geosynchronous altitude as "TV satellites", and in fact are more "wobbly" (higher inclination) and yet are to the go-to solution for data and comms for the ISS.

The reason that the TDRS satellites tend to be clustered in three groups equally spaced around the Earth, is that the GEO "TV satellites" would constantly be eclipsed by the planet. With a ~90 minute orbit you'd loose line-of-sight communications at irritating moments during 1 hour and many half-hour "shows". For TDRS you just need to slew the dish to the next position.

You'l need some more, and expensive articulated dish antennas to constantly track the "TV satellites" as the ISS orbits. See this excellent answer to the question Do antennae on the ISS have to constantly move to maintain data links? There's even a video!

edit: These days a flat phased array antenna might do the trick nicely (for TV reception) and be cheaper as well as far faster in the "slewing".

Selecting the right TV viewing package (as pointed out in @Antzi's answer) might be a substantial challenge even for NASA. It sounds like a question that the US House of Representatives could spend months investigating.

edited 2 mins ago

answered 19 mins ago

uhoh

28.9k1495355

@Antzi's answer is right, but I'll add some context as a supplement.

While Doppler (mentioned there) might or might not be an issue for an off-the-shelf commercial satellite TV box (I don't know) it could probably be fixed with a mod that NASA could easily manage.

The real problems

NASA's TDRS satellites are at the same geosynchronous altitude as "TV satellites", and in fact are more "wobbly" (higher inclination) and yet are to the go-to solution for data and comms for the ISS.

The reason that the TDRS satellites tend to be clustered in three groups equally spaced around the Earth, is that the GEO "TV satellites" would constantly be eclipsed by the planet. With a ~90 minute orbit you'd loose line-of-sight communications at irritating moments during 1 hour and many half-hour "shows". For TDRS you just need to slew the dish to the next position.

You'l need some more, and expensive articulated dish antennas to constantly track the "TV satellites" as the ISS orbits. See this excellent answer to the question Do antennae on the ISS have to constantly move to maintain data links? There's even a video!

edit: These days a flat phased array antenna might do the trick nicely (for TV reception) and be cheaper as well as far faster in the "slewing".

Selecting the right TV viewing package (as pointed out in @Antzi's answer) might be a substantial challenge even for NASA. It sounds like a question that the US House of Representatives could spend months investigating.

edited 2 mins ago

answered 19 mins ago

uhoh

28.9k1495355

edited 2 mins ago

answered 19 mins ago

uhoh

28.9k1495355

answered 19 mins ago

uhoh

28.9k1495355

answered 19 mins ago

uhoh

28.9k1495355

add a commentÂ |Â

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