Overview of Commercial Satellite Communications

The period from Arthur Clarke's 1945 prediction of geosynchronous satellite communications covering the entire planet until satellites were stationed over the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans was less than 25 years. In the following 15 year period, satellite communications has affected all of us. Most international calls are carried by satellite. Much of the television that we watch has been relayed, processed, or distributed by satellite. In fact, many of us who live in cabled cities can choose among 50 channels or more for viewing on a particular night, largely brought to us by satellite. Some morning papers, radio programs, and basic weather data appear coast to coast rapidly because of the satellite. Even while we sleep, computers in an increasing number of business offices are talking to each other by satellite. Virtually the whole world, from the busiest urban center to the most remote island, can be interconnected by satellite communications networks capable of providing economical and reliable transmission of communications signals, including voice, data, electronic mail, and video. The satellite's advantages of distance insensitivity, point-to-multipoint capability, and improved quality over long distances are unique. These facts have led Clarke to speculate on the future impact of satellite communications in The View from Serendip (1977): I submit . . . that the eventual impact of the communications satellite upon the whole human race will be at least as great as that of the telephone upon the so-called developed societies.