Fleet GPS Tracking – Know Your Way Around Satellites !

Intrinsic to any vehicle tracking system is the use of a mobile network which sends its position data to a central server, enabling real-time viewing of a trailer location. Often a GSM – a mobile phone network, is employed, which may not provide sufficient coverage in certain areas and costs of roaming when operating out of the UK can also present difficulties.

A recommended alternative to terrestrial networks (GSM) is GPS vehicle tracking or Satellite Communications, which generally offer a wider geographic operating area and come under two categories, ‘Geostationary’ and ‘Non Geostationary’.

Geostationary

Geostationary satellites are positioned at a fixed height of about 36,000 km above the earth, where they rotate around the earth at the same speed as the earth rotates around its axis.

This means they are seen as remaining stationary above a point on the earth - normally directly overhead of the equator and thus, can repeatedly scan the same points on the earth beneath them.

However, Fleet GPS tracking, utilising Geostationary satellites systems, almost always require a large amount of power because of the 'high-orbit' of the satellite.

Polar orbiting satellites have a much lower orbit, moving rapidly around the earth and scanning different areas at relatively infrequent periods.

In addition, these types of systems can suffer a “shadowing” effect from stationary objects, e.g. tall buildings, mountain ranges.

Currently, the whole earth is covered by 5 or 6 key satellites strategically positioned at regular intervals around the equator.

Non Geostationary

A non-geostationary satellite is one where its position relative to the Earth is not fixed. Vehicle tracking devices using Non Geostationary networks tend not to suffer from the ‘shadowing’ effect and require much far less power because they are in a Low Earth Orbit - around 500 – 2,000 km.

However, low power consumption can lead to a limited functionality.