Non-TLE-based pointing acquisition of inclined-geostationary satellite

A system for locating an inclined geostationary satellite, comprising:

• an antenna;
• a steering device coupled to the antenna, the motive device operative to change a pointing direction of the antenna;
• and
• a controller communicatively coupled to the antenna and the motive device, the controller including a processor and memory, and instructions stored in memory and executable by the processor, wherein when executed the instructions cause the processor to
• a) obtain an analemma of the inclined geostationary satellite;
• b) determine a plurality of points that are to be searched, wherein the plurality of points follow a centerline of the analemma;
• c) select one point of the plurality of points;
• d) command the motive device to point the antenna at the selected point;
• e) while the antenna is pointed at the selected point, transmit via the antenna a query to the inclined geostationary satellite and record an RF power level of a response to the query transmitted by the inclined geostationary satellite and received by the antenna;
• f) select another point of the plurality of points;
• g) repeat steps c-f for each of the plurality of points;
• h) determine which point of the plurality of points produced a response to the query having the highest power level;
• and
• i) command the motive device to point the antenna at the point having the highest power level.

A method for pointing an antenna at an inclined geostationary satellite, comprising:

• obtaining an analemma of the inclined geostationary satellite;
• transmitting a query to the inclined geostationary satellite while the antenna is pointed at each of a plurality of different locations that follow a centerline of the analemma;
• for each query, recording a power level of a response from the inclined geostationary satellite;
• and
• pointing the antenna at the location that produces the highest power level.