Communications satellite

Moon Relay was a telecommunication project carried out

by the United States Navy. Its objective was to develop
a secure and reliable method of wireless communication
by using the Moon as a natural communications satellite.
The rst articial Earth satellite was Sputnik 1. Put into
orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, it was
equipped with an on-board radio-transmitter that worked
on two frequencies: 20.005 and 40.002 MHz. Sputnik
1 was launched as a step in the exploration of space and
rocket development. While incredibly important it was
not placed in orbit for the purpose of sending data from
one point on earth to another. And it was the rst articial
satellite in the steps leading to todays satellite communications.

An Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite relays secure communications for the United States and other
allied countries.

The rst articial satellite used solely to further advances

in global communications was a balloon named Echo
1.[4] Echo 1 was the worlds rst articial communications satellite capable of relaying signals to other points
on Earth. It soared 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) above
the planet after its Aug. 12, 1960 launch, yet relied
on humanitys oldest ight technology ballooning.
Launched by NASA, Echo 1 was a 30-metre (100 ft) aluminised PET lm balloon that served as a passive reector for radio communications. The worlds rst inatable
satellite or satelloon, as they were informally known
helped lay the foundation of todays satellite communications. The idea behind a communications satellite is
simple: Send data up into space and beam it back down
to another spot on the globe. Echo 1 accomplished this
by essentially serving as an enormous mirror, 10 stories
tall, that could be used to reect communications signals.

A communications satellite is an articial satellite that

relays and amplies radio telecommunications signals via
a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at dierent locations on Earth. Communications satellites are used for
television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications. There are over 2,000 communications satellites
in Earths orbit, used by both private and government
organizations.[1]
Wireless communication uses electromagnetic waves to
carry signals. These waves require line-of-sight, and
are thus obstructed by the curvature of the Earth. The
purpose of communications satellites is to relay the signal around the curve of the Earth allowing communication between widely separated points.[2] Communications satellites use a wide range of radio and microwave frequencies. To avoid signal interference, international organizations have regulations for which frequency ranges or bands certain organizations are allowed to use. This allocation of bands minimizes the risk
of signal interference.[3]

The rst American satellite to relay communications was

Project SCORE in 1958, which used a tape recorder to
store and forward voice messages. It was used to send
a Christmas greeting to the world from U.S. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower.;[5] Courier 1B, built by Philco,
launched in 1960, was the worlds rst active repeater
satellite.
There are two major classes of communications satellites, passive and active. Passive satellites only reect the
signal coming from the source, toward the direction of
the receiver. With passive satellites, the reected signal is not amplied at the satellite, and only a very small
amount of the transmitted energy actually reaches the receiver. Since the satellite is so far above Earth, the radio signal is attenuated due to free-space path loss, so the
signal received on Earth is very weak. Active satellites,
on the other hand, amplify the received signal before re-

History

Todays satellite communications can trace their origins

all the way back to February 1945 and Arthur C.Clarke's
letter to the editor of Wireless World magazine, Clarke
further eshed-out this theory in a paper titled ExtraTerrestrial Relays Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide
Radio Coverage?, published in Wireless World in October 1945. Decades later a project named Communication
1

transmitting it to the receiver on the ground.[3] Passive

satellites were the rst communications satellites, but are
little used now. Telstar was the second active, direct relay communications satellite. Belonging to AT&T as part
of a multi-national agreement between AT&T, Bell Telephone Laboratories, NASA, the British General Post Ofce, and the French National PTT (Post Oce) to develop satellite communications, it was launched by NASA
from Cape Canaveral on July 10, 1962, the rst privately
sponsored space launch. Relay 1 was launched on December 13, 1962, and became the rst satellite to broadcast across the Pacic on November 22, 1963.[6]

SATELLITE ORBITS

Earth orbit (LEO), and is about 160 to 2,000 kilometres (99 to 1,243 mi) above Earth.

As satellites in MEO and LEO orbit the Earth faster, they

do not remain visible in the sky to a xed point on Earth
continually like a geostationary satellite, but appear to a
ground observer to cross the sky and set when they go
behind the Earth. Therefore, to provide continuous communications capability with these lower orbits requires a
larger number of satellites, so one will always be in the
sky for transmission of communication signals. However,
due to their relatively small distance to the Earth their sigAn immediate antecedent of the geostationary satellites nals are stronger.
was Hughes' Syncom 2, launched on July 26, 1963.
Syncom 2 was the rst communications satellite in a
geosynchronous orbit. It revolved around the earth once 2.1 Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites
per day at constant speed, but because it still had northsouth motion, special equipment was needed to track Main article: Low Earth orbit
it. Its successor, Syncom 3 was the rst geostationary A low Earth orbit (LEO) typically is a circular orbit about
communications satellite. Syncom 3 obtained a geosynchronous orbit, without a north-south motion, making it
appear from the ground as a stationary object in the sky.
Beginning with the Mars Exploration Rovers, probes on
the surface of Mars have used orbiting spacecraft as communications satellites for relaying their data to Earth. The
orbiters were designed for this relay purpose to allow the
landers to conserve power. The Orbiters with their solar
power arrays, large antennas and more powerful transmitters enable them to transmit data to Earth with a much
stronger, and as a result, clearer signal than a lander could
manage on its own from the surface.[7]

Satellite orbits

Communications satellites usually have one of three primary types of orbit, while other orbital classications are
used to further specify orbital details.
Low Earth orbit in Cyan
Geostationary satellites have a geostationary orbit
(GEO), which is 35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi)
from Earths surface. This orbit has the special characteristic that the apparent position of the satellite in
the sky when viewed by a ground observer does not
change, the satellite appears to stand still in the
sky. This is because the satellites orbital period is
the same as the rotation rate of the Earth. The advantage of this orbit is that ground antennas do not
have to track the satellite across the sky, they can be
xed to point at the location in the sky the satellite
appears.

160 to 2,000 kilometres (99 to 1,243 mi) above the earths

surface and, correspondingly, a period (time to revolve
around the earth) of about 90 minutes.
Because of their low altitude, these satellites are only visible from within a radius of roughly 1,000 kilometres (620
mi) from the sub-satellite point. In addition, satellites in
low earth orbit change their position relative to the ground
position quickly. So even for local applications, a large
number of satellites are needed if the mission requires
uninterrupted connectivity.

Low-Earth-orbiting satellites are less expensive to launch

into orbit than geostationary satellites and, due to prox Medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites are closer to imity to the ground, do not require as high signal strength
Earth. Orbital altitudes range from 2,000 to 35,786 (Recall that signal strength falls o as the square of the
distance from the source, so the eect is dramatic). Thus
kilometres (1,243 to 22,236 mi) above Earth.
there is a trade o between the number of satellites and
The region below medium orbits is referred to as low their cost.

2.4

Geostationary orbits (GEO)

In addition, there are important dierences in the onboard Earths rotational period of 24 hours, continuous coverand ground equipment needed to support the two types of age was impossible. It was apparent that multiple MEOs
missions.
needed to be used in order to provide continuous coverage.

2.2

Satellite constellation

Main article: Satellite constellation

A group of satellites working in concert is known as a
satellite constellation. Two such constellations, intended
to provide satellite phone services, primarily to remote
areas, are the Iridium and Globalstar systems. The Iridium system has 66 satellites.

2.4 Geostationary orbits (GEO)

Main article: Geostationary orbit
To an observer on the earth, a satellite in a geostationary

It is also possible to oer discontinuous coverage using a

low-Earth-orbit satellite capable of storing data received
while passing over one part of Earth and transmitting it
later while passing over another part. This will be the
case with the CASCADE system of Canada's CASSIOPE
communications satellite. Another system using this store
and forward method is Orbcomm.

2.3

Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)

A MEO is a satellite in orbit somewhere between 2,000

and 35,786 kilometres (1,243 and 22,236 mi) above the
earths surface. MEO satellites are similar to LEO satellites in functionality. MEO satellites are visible for much
longer periods of time than LEO satellites, usually between 2 and 8 hours. MEO satellites have a larger coverage area than LEO satellites. A MEO satellites longer duration of visibility and wider footprint means fewer satellites are needed in a MEO network than a LEO network.
One disadvantage is that a MEO satellites distance gives
it a longer time delay and weaker signal than a LEO satellite, although these limitations are not as severe as those
of a GEO satellite.

Geostationary orbit

orbit appears motionless, in a xed position in the sky.

This is because it revolves around the earth at the earths
own angular velocity (360 degrees every 24 hours, in an
equatorial orbit).

A geostationary orbit is useful for communications because ground antennas can be aimed at the satellite without their having to track the satellites motion. This is
Like LEOs, these satellites dont maintain a stationary
relatively inexpensive.
distance from the earth. This is in contrast to the geostationary orbit, where satellites are always approximately In applications that require a large number of ground
antennas, such as DirecTV distribution, the savings in
35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi) from the earth.
ground equipment can more than outweigh the cost and
Typically the orbit of a medium earth orbit satellite is
complexity of placing a satellite into orbit.
about 16,000 kilometres (10,000 mi) above earth. In various patterns, these satellites make the trip around earth The concept of the geostationary communications satelin anywhere from 212 hours, which provides better cov- lite was rst proposed by Arthur C. Clarke, building on
work by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and on the 1929 work
erage to wider areas than that provided by LEOs.
by Herman Potonik (writing as Herman Noordung) Das
Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums der Raketen2.3.1 Example
motor. In October 1945 Clarke published an article titled
Extraterrestrial Relays in the British magazine Wireless
In 1962, the rst communications satellite, Telstar, was World.[8] The article described the fundamentals behind
launched. It was a medium earth orbit satellite designed the deployment of articial satellites in geostationary orto help facilitate high-speed telephone signals. Although bits for the purpose of relaying radio signals. Thus,
it was the rst practical way to transmit signals over the Arthur C. Clarke is often quoted as being the inventor of
horizon, its major drawback was soon realized. Because the communications satellite and the term 'Clarke Belt'
its orbital period of about 2.5 hours did not match the employed as a description of the orbit.[9]

2.4.1

SATELLITE ORBITS

Examples

gets the farther from the equator. This will cause problems for extreme northerly latitudes, aecting connectiv The rst geostationary satellite was Syncom 3, ity and causing multipath interference (caused by signals
launched on August 19, 1964, and used for com- reecting o the ground and into the ground antenna).
munication across the Pacic starting with television
Thus, for areas close to the North (and South) Pole, a geocoverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics. Shortly
stationary satellite may appear below the horizon. Thereafter Syncom 3, Intelsat I, aka Early Bird, was
fore, Molniya orbit satellites have been launched, mainly
launched on April 6, 1965 and placed in orbit at 28
in Russia, to alleviate this problem.
west longitude. It was the rst geostationary satellite
for telecommunications over the Atlantic Ocean.
Molniya orbits can be an appealing alternative in such
cases. The Molniya orbit is highly inclined, guaranteeing
On November 9, 1972, Canadas rst geostationgood elevation over selected positions during the northary satellite serving the continent, Anik A1, was
ern portion of the orbit. (Elevation is the extent of the
launched by Telesat Canada, with the United States
satellites position above the horizon. Thus, a satellite at
following suit with the launch of Westar 1 by
the horizon has zero elevation and a satellite directly overWestern Union on April 13, 1974.
head has elevation of 90 degrees.)
On May 30, 1974, the rst geostationary communi- The Molniya orbit is designed so that the satellite spends
cations satellite in the world to be three-axis stabi- the great majority of its time over the far northern latlized was launched: the experimental satellite ATS- itudes, during which its ground footprint moves only
6 built for NASA.
slightly. Its period is one half day, so that the satellite
After the launches of the Telstar through Westar
1 satellites, RCA Americom (later GE Americom,
now SES) launched Satcom 1 in 1975. It was
Satcom 1 that was instrumental in helping early
cable TV channels such as WTBS (now TBS Superstation), HBO, CBN (now ABC Family) and The
Weather Channel become successful, because these
channels distributed their programming to all of the
local cable TV headends using the satellite. Additionally, it was the rst satellite used by broadcast television networks in the United States, like
ABC, NBC, and CBS, to distribute programming to
their local aliate stations. Satcom 1 was widely
used because it had twice the communications capacity of the competing Westar 1 in America (24
transponders as opposed to the 12 of Westar 1), resulting in lower transponder-usage costs. Satellites
in later decades tended to have even higher transponder numbers.

By 2000, Hughes Space and Communications (now

Boeing Satellite Development Center) had built nearly 40
percent of the more than one hundred satellites in service worldwide. Other major satellite manufacturers include Space Systems/Loral, Orbital Sciences Corporation
with the STAR Bus series, Indian Space Research Organisation, Lockheed Martin (owns the former RCA Astro
Electronics/GE Astro Space business), Northrop Grumman, Alcatel Space, now Thales Alenia Space, with the
Spacebus series, and Astrium.

2.5

Molniya satellites

is available for operation over the targeted region for six

to nine hours every second revolution. In this way a constellation of three Molniya satellites (plus in-orbit spares)
can provide uninterrupted coverage.
The rst satellite of the Molniya series was launched
on April 23, 1965 and was used for experimental
transmission of TV signals from a Moscow uplink station to downlink stations located in Siberia and the Russian Far East, in Norilsk, Khabarovsk, Magadan and
Vladivostok. In November 1967 Soviet engineers created a unique system of national TV network of satellite
television, called Orbita, that was based on Molniya satellites.

2.6 Polar Orbit

Main article: Polar orbit
In the United States, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) was established in 1994 to consolidate the polar satellite operations of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration). NPOESS manages a number of satellites for various purposes; for example, METSAT for
meteorological satellite, EUMETSAT for the European
branch of the program, and METOP for meteorological
operations.

These orbits are sun synchronous, meaning that they cross

the equator at the same local time each day. For example,
the satellites in the NPOESS (civilian) orbit will cross the
Geostationary satellites must operate above the equator equator, going from south to north, at times 1:30 P.M.,
and therefore appear lower on the horizon as the receiver 5:30 P.M., and 9:30 P.M.
Main article: Molniya orbit

Structure

5 Applications

Communications Satellites are usually composed of the

5.1
following subsystems:

Telephone

Communication Payload, normally composed of

transponders, antennas, and switching systems
Engines used to bring the satellite to its desired orbit
Station Keeping Tracking and stabilization subsystem used to keep the satellite in the right orbit, with
its antennas pointed in the right direction, and its
power system pointed towards the sun
Power subsystem, used to power the Satellite systems, normally composed of solar cells, and batteries that maintain power during solar eclipse
Command and Control subsystem, which maintains
communications with ground control stations. The
ground control earth stations monitor the satellite
performance and control its functionality during varAn Iridium satellite
ious phases of its life-cycle.
The bandwidth available from a satellite depends upon the
number of transponders provided by the satellite. Each
service (TV, Voice, Internet, radio) requires a dierent
amount of bandwidth for transmission. This is typically
known as link budgeting and a network simulator can be
used to arrive at the exact value.

Frequency Allocation for satellite

systems

The rst and historically most important application for

communication satellites was in intercontinental long distance telephony. The xed Public Switched Telephone
Network relays telephone calls from land line telephones
to an earth station, where they are then transmitted to a
geostationary satellite. The downlink follows an analogous path. Improvements in submarine communications
cables through the use of ber-optics caused some decline
in the use of satellites for xed telephony in the late 20th
century.

Satellite communications are still used in many applications today. Remote islands such as Ascension Island,
Saint Helena, Diego Garcia, and Easter Island, where
no submarine cables are in service, need satellite telephones. There are also regions of some continents and
countries where landline telecommunications are rare to
nonexistent, for example large regions of South America, Africa, Canada, China, Russia, and Australia. Satellite communications also provide connection to the edges
of Antarctica and Greenland. Other land use for satellite
Within these regions, frequency bands are allocated to phones are rigs at sea, a back up for hospitals, military,
various satellite services, although a given service may be and recreation. Ships at sea, as well as planes, often use
allocated dierent frequency bands in dierent regions. satellite phones.[10]
Some of the services provided by satellites are:
Satellite phone systems can be accomplished by a number of means. On a large scale, often there will be a
Fixed satellite service (FSS)
local telephone system in an isolated area with a link to
Broadcasting satellite service (BSS)
the telephone system in a main land area. There are also
services that will patch a radio signal to a telephone sys Mobile satellite service
tem. In this example, almost any type of satellite can be
Radionavigation-satellite service
used. Satellite phones connect directly to a constellation
of either geostationary or low-earth-orbit satellites. Calls
Meteorological-satellite service
are then forwarded to a satellite teleport connected to the
Amateur-satellite service
Public Switched Telephone Network .
Allocating frequencies to satellite services is a complicated process which requires international coordination
and planning. This is carried out under the auspices of the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU). To facilitate frequency planning, the world is divided into three
regions: Region 1: Europe, Africa, what was formerly the
Soviet Union, and Mongolia Region 2: North and South
America and Greenland Region 3: Asia (excluding region
1 areas), Australia, and the southwest Pacic

5.2

5 APPLICATIONS

Television

Main article: Satellite television

(3.6 m) or larger for C band). They use linear polarization

for each of the transponders RF input and output (as opposed to circular polarization used by DBS satellites), but
this is a minor technical dierence that users do not notice. FSS satellite technology was also originally used for
DTH satellite TV from the late 1970s to the early 1990s
in the United States in the form of TVRO (TeleVision
Receive Only) receivers and dishes. It was also used in
its K band form for the now-defunct Primestar satellite
TV service.

As television became the main market, its demand for

simultaneous delivery of relatively few signals of large
bandwidth to many receivers being a more precise match
for the capabilities of geosynchronous comsats. Two
satellite types are used for North American television and
radio: Direct broadcast satellite (DBS), and Fixed Service Some satellites have been launched that have transponSatellite (FSS).
ders in the K band, such as DirecTVs SPACEWAY-1
The denitions of FSS and DBS satellites outside of satellite, and Anik F2. NASA and ISRO[11][12] have also
North America, especially in Europe, are a bit more am- launched experimental satellites carrying K band beabiguous. Most satellites used for direct-to-home televi- cons recently.[13]
sion in Europe have the same high power output as DBS- Some manufacturers have also introduced special anclass satellites in North America, but use the same linear tennas for mobile reception of DBS television. Using
polarization as FSS-class satellites. Examples of these are Global Positioning System (GPS) technology as a referthe Astra, Eutelsat, and Hotbird spacecraft in orbit over ence, these antennas automatically re-aim to the satellite
the European continent. Because of this, the terms FSS no matter where or how the vehicle (on which the anand DBS are more so used throughout the North Ameri- tenna is mounted) is situated. These mobile satellite ancan continent, and are uncommon in Europe.
tennas are popular with some recreational vehicle owners.
Fixed Service Satellites use the C band, and the lower portions of the K band. They are normally used for broadcast feeds to and from television networks and local aliate stations (such as program feeds for network and syndicated programming, live shots, and backhauls), as well
as being used for distance learning by schools and universities, business television (BTV), Videoconferencing,
and general commercial telecommunications. FSS satellites are also used to distribute national cable channels to
cable television headends.

Such mobile DBS antennas are also used by JetBlue Airways for DirecTV (supplied by LiveTV, a subsidiary of
JetBlue), which passengers can view on-board on LCD
screens mounted in the seats.

Free-to-air satellite TV channels are also usually distributed on FSS satellites in the K band. The Intelsat
Americas 5, Galaxy 10R and AMC 3 satellites over North
America provide a quite large amount of FTA channels
on their K band transponders.

Satellite radio oers audio broadcast services in some

countries, notably the United States. Mobile services allow listeners to roam a continent, listening to the same
audio programming anywhere.

The American Dish Network DBS service has also recently utilized FSS technology as well for their programming packages requiring their SuperDish antenna, due to
Dish Network needing more capacity to carry local television stations per the FCC's must-carry regulations, and
for more bandwidth to carry HDTV channels.

5.3 Radio broadcasting

Main article: Satellite radio

A satellite radio or subscription radio (SR) is a digital radio signal that is broadcast by a communications satellite,
which covers a much wider geographical range than terrestrial radio signals.
Satellite radio oers a meaningful alternative to groundbased radio services in some countries, notably the
United States. Mobile services, such as SiriusXM, and
Worldspace, allow listeners to roam across an entire continent, listening to the same audio programming anywhere they go. Other services, such as Music Choice
or Muzaks satellite-delivered content, require a xedlocation receiver and a dish antenna. In all cases, the
antenna must have a clear view to the satellites. In areas where tall buildings, bridges, or even parking garages
obscure the signal, repeaters can be placed to make the
signal available to listeners.

A direct broadcast satellite is a communications satellite

that transmits to small DBS satellite dishes (usually 18
to 24 inches or 45 to 60 cm in diameter). Direct broadcast satellites generally operate in the upper portion of
the microwave K band. DBS technology is used for
DTH-oriented (Direct-To-Home) satellite TV services,
such as DirecTV and DISH Network in the United States,
Bell TV and Shaw Direct in Canada, Freesat and Sky in
the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand and DSTV in South
Africa.
Initially available for broadcast to stationary TV receivers,
Operating at lower frequency and lower power than DBS, by 2004 popular mobile direct broadcast applications
FSS satellites require a much larger dish for reception (3 made their appearance with the arrival of two satellite rato 8 feet (1 to 2.5 m) in diameter for K band, and 12 feet dio systems in the United States: Sirius and XM Satellite

7
Radio Holdings. Later they merged to become the con- (also known as X-band) or EHF (also known as K band)
glomerate SiriusXM.
frequency bands.
Radio services are usually provided by commercial ven- Further information: X Band Satellite Communication
tures and are subscription-based. The various services
are proprietary signals, requiring specialized hardware for
decoding and playback. Providers usually carry a variety
of news, weather, sports, and music channels, with the 6 See also
music channels generally being commercial-free.
In areas with a relatively high population density, it is easier and less expensive to reach the bulk of the population with terrestrial broadcasts. Thus in the UK and some
other countries, the contemporary evolution of radio services is focused on Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB)
services or HD Radio, rather than satellite radio.

Commercialization of space
List of communication satellite companies
List of communications satellite rsts
Reconnaissance satellite
Satellite space segment

5.4

Amateur radio

Main article: Amateur radio satellite

Amateur radio operators have access to amateur satellites, which have been designed specically to carry amateur radio trac. Most such satellites operate as spaceborne repeaters, and are generally accessed by amateurs equipped with UHF or VHF radio equipment and
highly directional antennas such as Yagis or dish antennas. Due to launch costs, most current amateur satellites
are launched into fairly low Earth orbits, and are designed
to deal with only a limited number of brief contacts at any
given time. Some satellites also provide data-forwarding
services using the X.25 or similar protocols.

5.5

Internet access

Main article: Satellite Internet access

After the 1990s, satellite communication technology has
been used as a means to connect to the Internet via broadband data connections. This can be very useful for users
who are located in remote areas, and cannot access a
broadband connection, or require high availability of services.

5.6

Military

7 References
[1] Labrador, Virgil (2015-02-19). satellite communication. Britannica.com. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
[2] Satellites - Communication Satellites.
lites.spacesim.org. Retrieved 2016-02-10.

Satel-

[3] Military Satellite Communications Fundamentals | The

Aerospace Corporation. Aerospace. 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
[4] ECHO 1 space.com
[5] Martin, Donald; Anderson, Paul; Bartamian, Lucy
(March 16, 2007). Communications Satellites (5th ed.).
AIAA. ISBN 978-1884989193.
[6] Signicant Achievements in Space Communications and
Navigation, 1958-1964 (PDF). NASA-SP-93. NASA.
1966. pp. 3032. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
[7] Communication: How the rover can communicate
through Mars-orbiting spacecraft. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
[8] Extraterrestrial Relays
[9] Arthur C. Clarke, inventor of satellite, visionary in technology, dead at 90. Engadget.com. 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
[10] Connected | Maritime. Iridium. Retrieved on 2013-0919.
[11] GSAT-14. ISRO. Retrieved 16 January 2014.

Communications satellites are used for military com[12] Indian GSLV successfully lofts GSAT-14 satellite.
munications applications, such as Global Command and
NASA Space Flight. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 16 JanControl Systems. Examples of military systems that use
uary 2014.
communication satellites are the MILSTAR, the DSCS,
and the FLTSATCOM of the United States, NATO satel- [13] DIRECTVs Spaceway F1 Satellite Launches New Era in
High-Denition Programming; Next Generation Satellite
lites, United Kingdom satellites (for instance Skynet), and
Will Initiate Historic Expansion of DIRECTV. Spacsatellites of the former Soviet Union. India has launched
eRef. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
its rst Military Communication satellite GSAT-7, its
[14]
transponders operate in UHF, F, C and K band bands.
[14] Indias rst 'military' satellite GSAT-7 put into earths orTypically military satellites operate in the UHF, SHF
bit. NDTV.com (2013-09-04). Retrieved on 2013-09-18.

External links
Satellite Glossary
Satellite Industry Association
European Satellite Operators Association
SatMagazine
SatNews
The future of communication satellite business
Communications satellites short history by David J.
Whalen
Beyond The Ionosphere: Fifty Years of Satellite Communication (NASA SP-4217, 1997)
html Lloyds Satellite Constellations
Satcom Online
An Overview of Satellite Operating Frequencies and
their Applications
Telecommunications Satellite

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Philopedia, Doctor Whom, Oldkentuckyshark, Grafen, Moppet65535, Tony1, Ma3nocum, DrSlaw, Kkmurray, Engineer Bob, Deville,
Acer, Brianh6630, Jrjm, AntL, Cynthia Bennett, DocendoDiscimus, Yakudza, Elonka, Jereykopp, KnowledgeOfSelf, Sea diver, Mercifull, Senordingdong, Davewild, Nickst, By78, Xaosux, Gilliam, Ohnoitsjamie, Fogster, Macdu, Bluebot, Thumperward, Oli Filth,
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VolkovBot, Sdsds, Philip Trueman, TXiKiBoT, Oshwah, Colmanian, GDonato, Bogatabeav, Olly150, Anna Lincoln, Jackfork, Noformation, Dirkbb, AlleborgoBot, Anggraeni, BotMultichill, Phe-bot, Flyer22 Reborn, Rdlehmer, Wombatcat, Varcroft, Pieissweet, Lightmouse, Vsathish, Jacob.jose, Alpha Centaury, ImageRemovalBot, Martarius, ClueBot, NickCT, Ndenison, Maniac18, Chech Explorer,
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Darkdisaster13, Mythdon, XLinkBot, Rror, NellieBly, Thatguyint, Addbot, Dlouisseize, KitchM, Sillyfolkboy, SpBot, LinkFA-Bot,
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AnomieBOT, DemocraticLuntz, Piano non troppo, Materialscientist, Kalamkaar, ArthurBot, Hovergear, LilHelpa, Jagcat98, Xqbot, Seajaypea, Vivaelcelta, Shulini, Srich32977, Smteacsmo, Nasa-verve, Ita140188, Egospoon, Mark Schierbecker, Smteacsm1, Doulos Christos,
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Glossary, Anurag6859wik, Kees08, UnitTwo and Anonymous: 438

9.2

Images

File:AEHF_1.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/AEHF_1.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:

http://www.losangeles.af.mil/art/media_search.asp?q=aehf&btnG.x=0&btnG.y=0 [1] Original artist: USAF (Los Angeles AFB)
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9.3

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