Satellite-aided mobile communications: Experiments, applications, and prospects

NASA's application technology satellites (ATS) were used in a series of communications and position-fixing experiments with automotive vehicles, ships, and aircraft. Applications of the communications were demonstrated and evaluated for public services including law enforcement, search and rescue, medical emergency, and for commercial uses in the land and maritime transportation industries. The technical success of the experiments and the demonstrated potential value of the communications prompted a study that concluded an operational satellite-aided system would be a valuable augmentation of planned trunking or cellular-type terrestrial mobile radio telephone systems.