NASA TV on Satellite Galaxy 37
NASA Television programming on the Galaxy 37 domestic satellite is moving from transponder 11 to transponder 15. This move is in line with the Federal Communications Commission’s initiative to free up C-band bandwidth on domestic satellites in support of future 5G terrestrial communications efforts.
NASA Television’s channels NTV-1 (Public Channel) and NTV-3 (Media Channel) are in high definition. NTV-1 provides expanded programming of events of interest to the public and to educational audiences. NTV-3 provides mission coverage, news conferences and video/audio material relevant to local, national, and international news-gathering organizations. NASA’s Ultra High Definition (UHD) NTV-4 channel provides various live and previously recorded programing in a 2160p video format.
All NASA Television channels are available on the Galaxy 37 domestic satellite. Specific parameters for each channel are listed below.
News networks, their reporters, and other broadcast media organizations must tune their satellite receivers to the NTV-3 to ensure reception of clean feeds for all mission coverage, news conferences, and other agency distributed news and information. NASA TV is available in continental North America, Alaska, and Hawaii on Galaxy 37. A Digital Video Broadcast (DVB-S2) compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder (IRD) will be needed for reception on transponder 15. Below are parameters for each channel:
Satellite: Galaxy 37
Orbital Location: 127 Degrees West Longitude
Transmission Modulation Format: DVB-S2/8PSK
Downlink: 4009.00 MHz
L-band Frequency: 1141.00 MHz
Transponder: 15
Transponder Downlink Polarization: Vertical
Symbol Rate: 15.000 Msps
Data Rate: 36.225 Mbps
FEC: 5/6
NTV-1 (Public-Education) HD
Program 101
Video Compression Format: MPEG-2
Video PID = 0x112 hex / 274 decimal,
AC-3 PID = 0x113 hex / 275 decimal,
MPEG I Layer II Audio PID = 0x114 hex / 276 decimal.
NTV-3 (Media) HD
Program 103
Video Compression Format: MPEG-4
Video PID = 0x1031 hex / 4145decimal
AC-3 PID = 0x1034 hex / 4148 decimal
MPEG I Layer II Aud PID = 0x1035 hex / 4149 decimal
NTV-4 (UHD)
Program 104
Compression Format: HEVC @ 14 Mbps
Video PID: 0x1041 hex/4161 decimal
MPEG I Layer II Audio PID: 0x1044 hex/ 4164 decimal
AAC-LC PID: 0x1045 hex/4165 decimal
NASA LIMS (Live Satellite Interviews) Now Ku-Band
NASA’s Live Interactive Media Service (LIMS) has moved to Ku-Band service. Specific Ku-Band parameters are provided prior to each event. NASA will schedule each LIMS event on the Galaxy 17 satellite (Orbital Location: 91.0 Degrees West Longitude) or a satellite in proximity to the Galaxy 17 satellite whenever possible.
Uplink provider = Encompass Digital Media
Transponder = TBD (varies)
Ku-Band
Bandwidth = 18 MHz
Transmission Format = 4:2:0
Typical Downlink Polarization – Vertical
Typical Data Rate = 18.2954 Mbps
Typical Symbol Rate = 13.235
Transmission Modulation Format: DVB-S/QPSK
FEC – ¾
Video Format – 720p
MPEG-4 encoding (MPEG-2 available upon request)
HD 16×9