Space Communications Requirements of the Department of Defense

Military requirements for space communications are described in terms of general needs rather than specific applications. Communications to meet these needs may be divided into communications to, from, and among objects in space. The functions of these communications are command, tracking, and data transmission, the major considerations affecting each function being briefly described. Communications by means of objects in space, which is of most interest here, is comprised of systems utilizing either passive or active relay objects. The latter systems may be delayed retransmission types or real time repeaters, both of which may have military application.