Leveraging Aerial Platforms for Downlink Communications in Sparse Satellite Networks

Although a significant number of satellites are deemed essential for facilitating diverse applications of satellite networks, aerial platforms are emerging as excellent alternatives for enabling reliable communications with fewer satellites. In scenarios with sparse satellite networks, aerial platforms participate in downlink communications, serving effectively as relays and providing comparable or even superior coverage compared to a large number of satellites. This article explores the role of aerial platforms in assisting downlink communications, emphasizing their potential as an alternative to dense satellite networks. First, we account for the space-time interconnected movement of satellites in orbits by establishing a stochastic geometry framework based on an isotropic satellite Cox point process. Using this model, we evaluate space-and-time performance metrics, such as the number of orbits, the number of communicable satellites, and the connectivity probability, primarily assessing the geometric impact of aerial platforms. Subsequently, we analyze signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) coverage probability, end-to-end throughput, and association delay. Through examination of these performance metrics, we explicitly demonstrate how aerial platforms enhance downlink communications by improving various key network performance metrics that would have been achieved only by many satellites, thereby assessing their potential as an excellent alternative to dense satellite networks.