SatBeams Satellite Coverage & Channel Database: EIRP Footprints, Dish Sizes and Channel Line-Ups

SatBeams Satellite Coverage & Channel Database is the atlas of the cable satellite data hub: a satellite intelligence shelf organized around 500+ geostationary assets described as the source of record for the GEO arc, with the full LEO, MEO and HEO populations alongside. Each asset carries position, operator, model and launch history.

Around that census sit four more layers. Footprints and coverage: EIRP lookup with dish-size recommendations, beam pointing, 2D and 3D coverage maps, elevation/azimuth/LNB tilt calculations and sun-outage predictions. Constellation tracking: hierarchical LEO/MEO/HEO views with launch-year breakdowns keeping live orbital state on screen. Channel line-ups by satellite with transponder-level detail, package filters, community voting and FTA/HD/encryption filters. And a research layer holding two decades of curated capacity and market records.

On Datadory's 10-point rubric this record scores 7/10 against a catalog average of 7.81 across 1,744 datasets - the field dictionary below is documented in the inferred tier, and the sample-request section below says exactly what that means. Get a sample of this dataset - name the satellites, beams or ground sites, and real rows come back.

Three row shapes cover the whole database, and the block below shows each with its documented worked example:

# fleet layer - one row per satellite in the database
satellite name   : Eutelsat 36B
orbit class      : GEO              # GEO | LEO | MEO | HEO
operator         : SES

# footprint layer - one contour per beam over a named ground site
orbital position : 19.2° E         # GEO slot or current orbital state
eirp contour     : 52 dBW           # effective isotropic radiated power
dish size        : 60 cm            # recommended dish diameter

# channel layer - one row per service riding a transponder
channel name     : Sky Cinema
package          : Sky UK
FTA              : true
HD/UHD           : true
encryption       : Videoguard

Read the anatomy, including the deliberate contradiction: an FTA flag of true sitting next to Videoguard encryption cannot belong to one channel, and that is the point - each line is the worked example for its own column, not a fabricated composite row. The dictionary documents columns independently; deliveries join them back into the three shapes above, one row per satellite, per beam-over-site, and per channel on a transponder.

The join logic falls out of that design. Satellite name and orbital position anchor the fleet layer; EIRP contour and dish size describe the footprint layer over whatever ground location the question names; channel name, package, FTA, HD and encryption describe the broadcast layer hanging off a transponder. Questions like which encrypted HD services reach country X through package Y from slot Z resolve as filters across the three layers rather than parsing projects.

Twelve documented fields across the three layers, each carried with a worked example in the table below. The fleet layer names the asset (Satellite name, Orbit class as GEO/LEO/MEO/HEO, Operator, Orbital position). The footprint layer quantifies reach (EIRP contour in dBW, Dish size recommended for a location/beam). The broadcast layer describes what rides a transponder (Channel name, Package, FTA flag, HD/UHD flag, Encryption) and the TLE text field carries two-line element sets for orbital state.

Definitions in this record are documented in the inferred tier - reconstructed from the interface during cataloging rather than pinned against a published layout - and every one is re-verified against live rows when a sample is scoped. The vocabulary behind the footprint numbers is defined in our satellite footprint glossary entry, and the element-set format behind the TLE field in TLE, explained.

• Geography: global by construction - every geostationary slot plus the full LEO, MEO and HEO populations, with footprints computable for any ground location rather than only pre-listed cities.
• Temporal: current state held as living state, not periodic snapshots; the research layer beneath it spans two decades of curated capacity and market records, so today's footprint sits next to history where the question needs it.
• Granularity: three cuts - per satellite, per beam/footprint, per transponder channel - and the finest cut carries the flags that make filtering honest: package, FTA, HD/UHD, encryption.

That combination is rare. Most shelves hold either the fleet or the channels; this one holds the fleet, the physics that decides reception, and the programming those beams carry - in one schema.

API, files, or your warehouse. Daily, weekly, or hourly.

You pick the scope - whole-fleet extracts, named slots, beams over your sites, or channel rows filtered to packages and encryption states - and the landing zone: continuous feeds for running pipelines, bulk files for analysis, or warehouse-native loads straight into your storage. Rows stay keyed on satellite, position and transponder, so consecutive pulls reconcile without remapping. Every delivery ships the field dictionary and validation rows alongside, and a sample comes first either way, sized to test inside your pipelines before anything reaches production.

Ranked by how directly a fleet-plus-footprint-plus-lineups shelf answers the job:

1. Dish sizing and link-budget studies. EIRP contours with dish-size recommendations settle reception feasibility per site before hardware spend - the arithmetic a rollout team wants on day one.
2. Pay-TV lineup tracking. Package membership with FTA, HD/UHD and encryption flags makes bundle composition countable per position, so a platform adding or dropping marquee channels shows up as rows rather than trade-press rumor.
3. Constellation growth monitoring. Launch-year breakdowns across LEO/MEO/HEO turn non-geostationary build-outs into a measurable series beside the geostationary census.
4. Sun-outage planning. Outage predictions per site and position schedule maintenance around interference seasons instead of explaining blackouts after they happen.
5. Ground-segment engineering. Elevation, azimuth and LNB tilt calculations fold pointing math into the same rows the coverage study uses, as detailed on the developers builders use cases page.
6. Market sizing and media research. Footprint reach against channel supply per position sizes addressable markets with attributable rows, the pattern behind the competitive intel product teams use cases work.

Feature-engineering and citation workflows follow the same grain - see the data scientists use cases page.

Developers and data-product builders lead: typed rows keyed on satellite, position and transponder wire directly into receiver configuration, monitoring tools and coverage calculators. Competitive intelligence and product teams read operator portfolios across the arc plus package-level lineup composition - both sides of the satellite TV market in one schema. Market researchers and consultants size addressable households by matching footprint reach to channel supply per position. Data scientists and ML engineers get typed columns - EIRP level, orbit class, encryption, package, launch year - ready for feature work. Journalists and academics cite which operator broadcasts what from which slot with footprint evidence attached.

Three things, stated plainly.

First, the dictionary sits in the inferred tier. Definitions were reconstructed from the interface during cataloging rather than pinned against a published layout - the reason this record scores 7/10 against the 7.81 catalog average. Scoping a sample re-verifies each definition against live rows, so production schemas rest on checked columns, not reconstruction.

Second, scale claims live on the satellite side. The 500+ figure covers the GEO fleet and the non-geostationary populations are described as complete, but channel counts are not published upstream - the volume question answers itself the moment rows land in your sample.

Third, provenance is layered. The portal credits Space-Track.org, CelesTrak, GCAT and SatNOGS beneath its orbital elements, so joins against element-set catalogs key cleanly; line-up rows carry community votes, which we treat as signal about currency rather than authority about truth. Name your satellites, beams, ground sites or packages and the sample returns cut to that scope. Get a sample of this dataset before scheduling anything.

The orbital shelf has depth beyond one atlas:

• Fleet census: UCS Satellite Database freezes 7,560 operating satellites with owner, purpose, mass and contractor columns - the citable baseline whose slots this atlas maps.
• Live tracking: N2YO Live Real-Time Satellite Tracking Directory follows 35,103 objects in motion - where this atlas pins what beams where and what broadcasts from it.
• Broadcast inventory: KingOfSat European Satellite Zapping & Directory holds 25,839 channels with a stamped change log - deeper lineup detail, no footprint physics.
• Scan counterpart: SatIndex Daily Transponder Scan Database reads the signal across 17 European positions - narrower sky, PID-level depth.
• Head-to-head: SatBeams vs SatIndex Daily Transponder Scan Database settles whether your question needs the atlas or the logbook.

If any of these fields belong in a pipeline you maintain, get a sample of this dataset - real rows first, commitment after.