Sustainability or Survivability? Eliminating the Need to Choose in LEO Satellite Constellations

2025-08-25

AI Summary

LEO satellite networks (LSNs) face dual challenges of sustainability—driven by excessive satellite count and energy consumption—and survivability—threatened by space radiation and collision risks—largely due to conventional designs neglecting the strong spatiotemporal heterogeneity of Internet traffic and fundamental constraints of the near-Earth space environment. To address this, we propose the Sun-Synchronous orbital plane (SS-plane) design paradigm, the first framework that jointly models Earth’s diurnal cycle, global Internet traffic patterns, and space environmental factors (e.g., radiation dose and debris density). This enables co-optimization of coverage requirements and orbital rotation period. Compared to the conventional Walker-delta constellation, our approach reduces required satellite count by up to 90%, decreases cumulative radiation exposure by 23%, and significantly improves energy efficiency, system robustness, and long-term on-orbit survivability.

Technology Category

• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Search and Optimization: Algorithm Configuration
• Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Satisfiability

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Sustainability and carbon-aware systems for Web, mobile, and WoT
• Responsible Web: Sustainability and climate impact of web technologies
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Incentives in network design for Web infrastructures and ecosystems

Abstract

LEO Satellite Networks (LSNs) are revolutionizing global connectivity, but their reliance on tens of thousands of satellites raises pressing concerns over sustainability and survivability. In this work, we argue that the inefficiencies in LSN designs stem from ignoring the strong spatiotemporal structure of Internet traffic demand (which impacts sustainability) and the physical realities of the near-Earth space environment (which affects survivability). We propose a novel design approach based on sun-synchronous (SS) orbits called SS-plane, which aligns satellite coverage with the Earth's diurnal cycle. We demonstrate that SS-plane constellations can reduce the number of satellites required by up to an order of magnitude and cut radiation exposure by ~23% compared to traditional Walker-delta constellations. These findings suggest a paradigm shift in LSN research from large, disposable megaconstellations to more sustainable, targeted LEO constellations.

Problem

• Addressing sustainability and survivability concerns in LEO satellite networks
• Reducing inefficiencies from ignoring Internet traffic spatiotemporal structure
• Mitigating physical environmental impacts on satellite constellation survivability

Innovation

• Sun-synchronous orbits aligning with diurnal cycle
• Reducing satellite count by order of magnitude
• Cutting radiation exposure by twenty-three percent