Satellite Communications (SatCom) are a backbone of worldwide development. In contrast with the past, when the GEO satellites were the only means for such connectivity, nowadays the multi-orbital connectivity is emerging, especially with the use of satellite constellations. Simultaneously, SatCom enabled the so-called In-Flight Connectivity, while with the advent of 5G-NTN, the development of this market is being accelerated. However, there are still various missing points before such a technology becomes mainstream, especially in the case of Rotary Wing Aircraft (RWA). Indeed, due to their particular characteristics, such as the low altitude flights and the blade interference, there are still open challenges. In this work, an End-to-End (E2E) analysis for the performance of SatCom under 5G-NTN for manned and unmanned RWA is performed. Various scenarios are examined, and related requirements are shown. The effects of blades and other characteristics of the RWA are established, and simulations for these cases are developed. Results along with related discussion are presented, while future directions for development are suggested. This work is part of the ESA ACROSS-AIR project.

翻译：卫星通信（SatCom）是全球发展的支柱技术。与过去仅能依靠地球静止轨道（GEO）卫星实现此类连接不同，如今多轨道连接正逐步兴起，特别是通过卫星星座的应用得以实现。与此同时，卫星通信催生了所谓的“飞行中连接”服务，而随着5G非地面网络（5G-NTN）的出现，这一市场的发展正在加速。然而，在该技术成为主流之前仍存在诸多待解决的问题，尤其在旋翼机（RWA）应用场景中。事实上，由于旋翼机低空飞行、旋翼干扰等特殊特性，相关技术仍面临开放性的挑战。本研究针对有人与无人旋翼机在5G-NTN下的卫星通信性能进行了端到端（E2E）分析。通过考察多种场景并展示相关需求，明确了旋翼叶片及其他机体特性对通信的影响，并针对这些情况开发了仿真模型。文中展示了实验结果及相关讨论，同时提出了未来的发展方向。本工作隶属于欧洲空间局（ESA）ACROSS-AIR项目。