Satellite communications in the 1980s and after

Abstract

The second decade of satellite communications which we are now entering should show as rapid progress as the first, which saw the creation of a global network of satellites and Earth stations connecting eighty countries on six continents. Domestic systems are providing many types of services to small and large communities, and maritime systems to ships at sea. Future satellite communications systems will have higher capacity and provide varied services to small users. Increased transmission of television, graphics, and computer data will be provided, interconnecting individual users with ‘rooftop’ and mobile terminals. Technological advancements in this second decade will involve the use of new frequency bands (30/20 and 14/11 GHz), and frequency reuse through spatial separation and polarization discrimination. Digital transmission techniques will find widespread use. The third decade will see the application of very large multibeam, multifrequency antenna systems, beam shaping, and satellite onboard switching and processing. The use of the space shuttle with high-energy upper stage propulsion units will allow the deployment of very large, permanent geostationary platforms for providing economical multiple communications service.