SATELLITES

INTERNATIONAL
 SATELLITES
INTERNATIONAL

JOSEPH N. PELTON
JOHN HOWKINS

Associate Editor
Janet Greco

S
M
TOCKTON
P R E S S
©Macmillan Publishers Limited, 1987
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1987 978-0-333-39499-1
All rights reserved. No part of the publication
may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form
or by any means, without permission.

Published in the United States and Canada by

STOCKTON PRESS, 1988
15 East 26th Street, New York, N.Y. 10010.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Satellites International

Includes index.
1. Artificial satellites in telecommunication. 2. Artificial satellites in telecommunication- Directories. I.
Pelton, Joseph N. II. Hawkins, John, 1945- . III. Greco, Janet
TK5104.S376 1987 621.38'0422 87-6507
ISBN 978-0-935859-07-2 (Stockton Press)

Published in the United Kingdom by

MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS LTD (Journals Division), 1987

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Pelton, Joseph N.
Satellites International.
1. Artificial Satellites
I. Title II. Hawkins, John
629.47 TL796

ISBN 978-1-349-08105-9 ISBN 978-1-349-08103-5 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-08103-5

Typeset by Gee Graphics Ltd, London and Crayford.

 CONTENTS

SECTION I

1 A User-Friendly Introduction to Satellites 1

Joseph N. Pelton

2 Trends in Satellite Communications 5

Albert Wheelan and Barry Miller

3 The Basics of Satellite Technology 19

Wilbur Pritchard

4 World Telecommunications Leaders

4A Intelsat: The Tomorrow Organization 25

Dean Burch

4B Inmarsat on the Move 29

Olaf Lundberg

4C The European Telecommunications Satellite Organization 31

Andrea Caruso

4D The International Telecommunication Union and Space Communications 33

Richard Butler

5 Earth Station Antennas 39

Kunishi Nosaka and Matsuichi Yamada

6 The Economics of Satellite Communications 49

Marcellus Snow

7 Public Policy Issues in Satellite Communications and Remote Sensing 57

Thomas L. McPhail

8 The ITU and Satellite Communications 61

George A. Codding, Jr

9 Satellite Communications and Development 71

Heather E. Hudson and Meheroo Jussawalla

10 Future Regional Satellite Systems: The Case of the Caribbean 79

Donna Demac and Aggrey Brown

11 Communications Satellite Services 85

llA Video and Audio Conferencing Networks 87
Louis A. Bransford and Suzanne G. Douglas

liB Telecommunications Satellites and the Press Today 91

Oliver Robinson and Louis A. Bransford
Satellites International
llC Satellites and Television Broadcasting 95
Peter Marshall

12 The 'Other' Application Satellites 99

Geoffrey K. C. Pardoe

13 Satellites for the Twenty-First Century 105

Joseph N. Pelton

SECTION II

1 Satellite Manufacturers and Systems 111

2 Main Launch Vehicles 117

3 Global Satellite Systems 119

Intelsat 119
Intersputnik 128
Inmarsat 130

4 Regional Satellite Systems 135

5 Applications Satellites 139

6 International Organizations A-Z 143

SECTION Ill

A-Z of Countries 147

EDITORS' FOREWORD

John Howkins and Joseph N. Pelton

Satellites International represents an ambitious undertaking.
It is an attempt to compile within a single reference source the
world's most complete, most authoritative and most systema-
tic treatment of satellites. This volume covers not only
communications satellites, but all types of applications satel-
lites from all over the world. The best way to achieve this
objective was obvious. We had to go to the world's leading
experts, wherever they were - in Europe, in Japan, in
Canada, in the United States and around the world- and then
to persuade them to collaborate on this ambitious effort.
Surprisingly, they all agreed.
The list of contributors is long and impressive. It includes
Richard Butler, Secretary General of the International Tele-
communication Union; Dean Burch, Director General of
Intelsat; Albert 'Bud' Wheelan, President of the Hughes
Aircraft Company Space and Communications Group; Oliver
Robinson, Executive Director of the International Press
Telecommunications Council, and many, many more.
Another challenge in the preparation of Satellites Interna-
tional was to have two editors an ocean apart and contributors
from several continents. Nevertheless, by using express mail
and especially satellite telephone calls, telexes and facsimile,
this project was not only started but also finished in a little
over one year.
SECTION I
 1 A USER-FRIENDLV INTRODUCTION TO SATELLITES

Joseph N. Pelton, Director, Strategic Policy, lntelsat

This section presents a basic overview of how satellites work. Starting with natural satellites and
the gravitational physics that govern their operation, one learns here about the nuts and bolts of
both natural and artificial satellites. Leaving aside highly technical jargon, satellites are explained
in layman's terms. In short, if you want to know more about why satellites are important, then this
is the place to start.

Mention satellites, rockets and space, and most people start
visualizing exotic and complex astra-technologies complete
with space-helmeted super heroes like Buck Rogers, Flash
Gordon, or at the very least, the more sedate Dr Who. To
most people, the technology seems extremely difficult to
understand. It isn't easy, but it's not impossible to learn.
Satellites and the key related technologies can be understood
without a Ph.D in electronic engineering or astrophysics.
First, we'll start with the basics and work our way up from
there. We'll start with what are satellites? Why do we need
them? What can satellites do that terrestrial communications
and sensing systems cannot do? Why are they placed into
different types of orbit? What are their strong points and
weak points?
Armed with this basic knowledge, you should be well-
equipped to learn a great deal more about the critical role
that satellites play in a $17 trillion global electronic economy,
and why satellites are truly instrumental in our complex and
increasingly international world.
Satellites today bring us accurate weather forecasts, they
help us spot crop disease, trace and rescue crashed pilots,
provide medical service, educate millions of students in
remote villages and link together world leaders during times
of strategic crises. These amazing satellites also allow stock
markets to trade freely around the world, and allow global
television shows like the Olympic Games to reach two billion
people. It seems incredible that only two decades ago Jive
transoceanic television broadcasts were not even possible.
Today, nearly half of the world's population can be linked
together live via satellite at any time of the day or night.
WHAT IS A SA TEL LITE?
There are only two basic types of satellites - natural and
artificial (or man-made). Natural satellites in our solar system
are numerous. Although Earth has only one natural satellite,
Jupiter and Saturn have over 25 between them. With new
exploratory satellite missions going to the outer limits of our
solar system, the number of known natural satellites is likely
to keep increasing. The recent Uranus 'fly-by' encounter, for
example, conducted by NASA's Voyager 2 in 1985, enor-
mously increased what we know about the Solar System.
But let's start with the most familiar natural satellite that
we all know quite well, our Moon.
This ancient satellite has revolved around the Earth for
billions of years and is now in a relatively stable circular orbit
roughly 385,000 kilometers (240,000 miles) away from the
Earth's surface. The Moon's velocity, about 3,600 kilometers
per hour (2,250 mph), allows it to make one revolution about
every 27 days - thus completing one rotation and one
revolution around the Earth in a lunar month. The angular
momentum of the Moon creates a centrifugal force that
equalizes the centripetal force of the Earth's gravity, keeping
the orbit stable. Like a whirling pail at the end of a rope that
keeps a perfect circle - the Moon is compelled to circle the
Earth.
The force of the Earth's gravity diminishes as one moves
away from Earth, thus the tug of gravity is much less than one
percent of the force that would apply if the Moon lay directly
on the Earth's surface. The Moon, of course, tugs back on the
Earth's surface. This is why we have daily tides- as the Moon
'pushes' and 'pulls' the oceans' waters. Billions of years ago
when the Moon was much closer to Earth, the Moon's pull
was much greater and thus 30-metre (100 foot) high tidal
waves were commonplace.
The Moon also happens to rotate on its axis one time as it
makes one revolution around the Earth. This is why we never
see the far side of the Moon. (As a quibble to accuracy, we do
over time manage to see around 6 to 7 percent of the far side
since there is some wobble in the Moon's axis in addition to
perturbations in the Moon's orbit. These perturbations occur
because the Earth is not a perfect sphere and because the
Sun's gravity is also part of the complex formula that governs
the Moon's orbit. Nevertheless, 93 percent of the Moon's far
surface is permanently facing away from Earth.
But enough about the Moon. What about artificial or
man-made satellites?
The basic physics that applies to natural satellites also
applies to artificial ones as well. Launch a satellite fast
enough and high enough and it will go into orbit in a manner
similar to the Moon. It takes more power and more speed to
launch a satellite into a higher orbit than a low one. The
rotational speed of the Earth, which is at its maximum at the
equator, helps achieve its orbital speed. This is why launch
centres tend to be located as near as possible to 0 degrees
latitude in places like Kourou, French Guiana or Cape
Canaveral, Florida.
Although we may think of outer space and satellites as a
new thing, the idea of orbiting a man-made object around the
Earth is hardly a new idea. The first astronaut, according to
Chinese legend, was a twelfth-century tinkerer and fireworks
expert. His idea was to mount a gross of rockets affixed to a 12
by 12 grid and ride his fiery steed into immortality in an
incendiary blaze of glory. And Sir Isaac Newton puzzled not
only about gravity, but orbital mechanics too. Sir Isaac's own

1
Satellites International
illustration of how a cannon aimed at the right angle and
armed with enough brute explosive power shows how he
envisioned a projectile being placed into orbit.
Design and mechanical considerations apart, they both had
basically the right idea.
Today, we have high-speed electronic computers that
calculate precise orbits to guide our rockets into space. Our
staged rockets allow us to lift large masses of equipment into
orbit with great efficiency, compared with the single rocket,
which must be returned intact to the Earth's surface. Without
this staging process, which allows one rocket to be placed on
top of another, man would still be trying to reach the moon,
rather than be able to say that he'd been there and back in
1969.
Once vou decide to launch a satellite into orbit, there are
lots of things to consider. For instance, what is the satellite's
mission, and what orbit is best suited to the task? There are
many different types of orbits. Some are good for navigation,
others for communications, yet others for Earth sensing. As a
general rule of thumb, as the orbit gets higher, more money
and power are needed for a successful launch. Because of
this, there is a tendency to use a low Earth orbit (sometimes
referred to as LEO) if it can do the job. Unfortunately, some
of the most useful orbits for important applications like
communications require orbits far away from the Earth's
surface.
WHAT ORBITS ARE BEST?
Generally speaking, there are four types of orbits \Yhich
might be appropriately used today for satellite applications,
even though there are exceptions to this rule. These four
orbits are :
• low Earth orbit (typically 500 kilometres or less than 300
miles);
• medium Eearth orbit (typically 500 kilometres or 7,000 to
8,000 miles above Earth);
• geosynchronous or geostationary Earth orbit (exactly
35,786.3 kilometres/22,238 miles);
• and super-synchronous orbits (sometimes known as cislu-
nar orbits) which represent orbital locations 'above' the
geosynchronous orbit and 'below' the lunar orbit.
Of course, in space, terms like above or below are rather
meaningless and phrases like 'in' and 'out' from Earth convey
much more meaning.
Low Earth orbits, because they are the easiest and least
expensive to achieve, are used most. The US Space Shuttle
(the official name is Space Transportation System, or STS) is
capable of launching a satellite directly into a low Earth orbit,
or it can capture a satellite in this orbit and return it to the
Earth for repair. The possible applications and scientific uses
of this orbit include reconnaissance, weightlessness or
vacuum experiments, material processing and space manufac-
turing activities, localized weather and resource imaging, and
many others.
The next class of orbits are considerably further out in
space and thus allow a much broader view of what is
happening to Earth on a planetary scale. Medium orbit
satellites are typically launched into a polar orbit so that when
a satellite passes over the Earth, it can be programmed to stay
in the sun's illumination, which is important for remote
sensing and weather monitoring. This type of orbit, which
allows one pass about every 90 minutes, is also particularly
well-suited for navigational purposes. The logic of this type of
orbit and its efficiency for serving the entire world is relatively
clear. Satellites in these types of orbits can quickly provide
2
updated information from space and a network of such
satellites can instantaneously pin-point locations anywhere in
the Earth's surface or in the atmosphere where aeroplanes
fly.
Much about space applications, past, present and future,
derives from literature that foretold actual events by many
years, and sometimes many centuries, ahead of the technol-
ogy. Edward Everett Hale, a nineteenth-century American
author, described the orbital logic explained above in his
book, The Brick Moon. In it, a large brick moon inhabited by
over 30 men, three women and palm trees was used for
navigation, much as the US Navy's Navstar system is used
today. Communication with the Earth consisted of choreog-
raphed manoeuvres whereby the crew jumped up and down
to create Morse Code signals. Hale's nineteenth-century ideas
about space must seem bizarre today, or at least quaint.
Nevertheless, Edward Everett Hale's tale of the brick moon
is not simply a historical curiosity, as we have seen, it
preceded later developments.
The third major type of orbit is a single, very precise orbit
known as the geosynchronous or geostationary orbit (also
know as GSO). This is sometimes also known as the Clarke
orbit, after Arthur C. Clarke who discovered it. Again, the
idea is a simple one. For most planetary bodies there is a
single magic orbit that meets these two conditions: a stable
circular orbit and an orbital speed that exactly matches the
speed of rotation of the planetary body. For the Earth, this
means a satellite in an orbit that is 35,786 kilometres above
the Earth's surface (or 42,165 kilometres from the Earth's
centre) which also maintains an orbital velocity of 3,075
metres per second. This precise orbit allows a satellite to
complete one revolution around the Earth every 24 hours.
There are several reasons why one might wish that the
geostationary or Clarke orbit was closer to the Earth's
surface. For communications there would be less delay
associated with sending the signal to the satellite and back.
Furthermore, if the orbit was closer to Earth you would be
able to use less power to overcome 'path loss' associated with
targetting your transmission to a point out in space about
one-tenth of the way to the Moon. But the laws of physics are
not to be denied. The careful balance of gravity, orbital
velocity, and rotational speed of a planet produce only one
such orbit for any planetary body. The Moon, for instance,
has its lunarstationary orbit; Mars and Venus likewise have
theirs. Phoebus, one of the two tiny natural satellites of Mars,
has a stationary orbital speed that could be achieved using a
baseball and a bat. Someday, we may find useful applications
for the stationary orbits of other planets, asteriods or natural
satellites associated with communications or sending mined
materials back to Earth.
The advantages of having a satellite fixed in a stationary
orbit with respect to the Earth's surface occured to visionary
thinkers long ago. An Austrian scientist and writer named
Potocnik, who wrote under the name Hermann Noordung,
first proposed the idea in Problems in Space Travel, pttblished
in 1928. Noordung suggested that the geostationary orbit
might serve as a good location for a manned space station.
Even earlier, the Russian rocket theorist Konstantin Tsiol-
kovsky noted that a geostationary orbit existed for Earth but
failed to note its practical benefits.
The first person to present a systematic proposal for
creating a global communications satellite network for
television and telecommunications which utilized the geosta-
tionary orbit was Arthur C. Clarke, the British (now Sri
Lankan) scientist and science fiction writer who first pre-
sented his ideas in Wireless World in 19~5. In many ways,
Arthur C. Clarke is today considered the father of the
 A User-Friendly Introduction to Satellites

communications satellite. Clarke, incidentally, did not try to

patent his idea because he envisioned that communications
satellites would need to be manned with technicians to
replace the radio tubes that would always be burning out. He
calculated that such massive and expensive satellites would
not be technically or economically achievable until the 21st
century. Clarke thus did not anticipate the revolutionary
impact of the transistor that was invented in the mid-1950s.
The transistor, in fact, ·allowed both miniaturization and
quantum leaps in reliability and thus allowed launch vehicles,
electronic computers and unmanned satellites to be
developed. Being a visionary and getting everything right can
be a very difficult job!
Geostationary orbits, although great for communications,
are also well-suited for meteorological and remote Earth
sensing. Today, a great demand for access to the geostation-
ary orbit is creating its share of problems as the number of
satellite launchings proliferate.
The final orbit we will address is the super-synchronous
orbit. This orbit, although not now in use, might be used in
the future for practical military communications or scientific
purposes. Such an orbit might be useful for keeping satellites'
locations secret against hostile forces, or, be used as a staging
point between the Lagrangian points where gravitational
effects between the Moon and the Earth cancel out.

WHAT IS THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF

SATELLITES?

This question was hard to answer when the first space

enthusiasts said we should build launch vehicles and boost
satellites into Earth orbit. When Dr Robert Hutching
Goddard was seeking funding support for his research into
rocketry, he recived more derision than money, at least in the
U.S. The New York Times devoted a major editorial to
ridicule his activities that terrorized cows and produced no
value. But the enthusiasts persisted. Only when the military
and strategic importance of the rocket became clear with the
buzz bombs and V2 weapons of World War II did the uses of
space research begin to be taken seriously.
Ironically, when Arthur C. Clarke published his article in
1945, he was greeted by two contradictory and unhelpful
responses. On one hand there were numerous skeptics and
naysayers, and on the other was the UK defense establish-
ment who wanted to classify almost everything that Clarke
wanted to publish. But today, with the benefit of nearly 30
years of practical experience, the advantages of space
exploration and its applications are very well documented.
Some 3,300 satellites have now been launched into orbit.
The direct and related revenues generated from communica-
tions satellites alone account for over $10 billion dollars each
year. Tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars in
avoided losses have come from the global network of
meteorological satellites. Search and rescue satellites and
mobile communications satellites are saving the lives of
aircraft pilots and ship-wrecked people on a daily basis. Early
warning satellites and reconnaissance craft protect against
unsuspecting hostile attacks. The exact details of how
satellites have discovered new information about the creation
of the universe, saved lives, enabled nations to talk together
and carry out their trade more efficiently are detailed later in
this volume, but it is perhaps sufficient at this point to say that
the economic return of satellites is worth far more than the
initial investment of time and money, and that in many
important ways the modern world could not exist without our
helpers in the sky.

3
 2 TRENDS IN SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

Albert Wheelan, President, Space and Communications Group and Executive Vice President, Hughes
Aircraft Company and Barry Miller, Senior Public Relations Executive, Hughes Aircraft Company

The rate of development of satellite communications over the last 20 years has been swift and
spectacular. International communications has increased by a factor of nearly one hundred in two
decades, largely as a result of satellites. Nearly 170 countries use domestic satellite television,
radio, telephone, and/or data services. Costs have fallen, satellite lifetimes have expanded and
technological innovations have come quickly. To appreciate how far satellites have come and
where they are going, we asked two executives of the aerospace organization that designed and
built most of the communications satellites in the world today to tell us their views.

INTRODUCTION
Recent years have witnessed dramatic changes in telecom-
munications. These are nowhere more apparent than in the
communications satellite sector. The sudden change from a
regulated monopoly to a competitive structure in American
telephone service has set a new direction for the US and
possibly for international services. Regional satellite systems
have appeared to complicate the role of Intelsat. National
satellite systems have continued to grow and have moved into
the 11114 GHz band of frequencies. Direct broadcast of
television signals to the home by satellite has emerged,
become confused, and is changing in response to new
technology. The space shuttle and Ariane rocket launchers
have provided important new routes to space, although the
current status of the space shuttle remains in question. New
spacecraft/launcher ideas have emerged for powerful new
systems. Policy and technical innovation will continue and
may significantly change the character of satellite com-
munications systems before the end of this decade.
INTELSAT
Intelsat is the telecommunications cooperative established by
treaty to provide international communications service by
satellite. Today it owns and operates 15 spacecraft in
geosynchronous orbit, representing an investment of over $3
billion. Besides handling two-thirds of all overseas telephone
and data communications, it provides virtually all live
overseas television. The ownership and use of Intelsat
facilities is widely shared among the members. Intelsat
membership has grown to 114 nations, and 170 users access
nearly 1,000 antennas to utilize the space segment for
domestic and international purposes. The group's traditional
greater than 20 percent annual traffic growth has slowed to
about 11 percent. Yet throughout this period its communica-
tion charges have decreased on 13 occasions despite a hefty
rise in the world wide cost of living index.
Intelsat has continued to support the development of
communications satellite technology in a major way. Because
of the consortium's unique service demands and traffic
growth, Intelsat spacecraft have consistently been developed
at the leading edge of space technology. Intelsat was the first
to use synchronous spacecraft for commercial service (Intel-
sat I), the first to use channelized repeaters (Intelsat IV), the
first to exploit spatial re-use of frequencies (Intelsat IV-A),
the first to combine spatial and polarization frequency re-use
(Intelsat V) and the first to sponsor international satellite
switched time division multiple access (TDMA) (Intelsat VI).
Through its spacecraft programmes, Intelsat has become the
world's most important sponsor of communications satellite
technology.
Intelsat expects that its traffic will increase from the present
90,000 equivalent half-circuits to 500,000 by the end of the
century. The growth will occur almost equally in the three
ocean basin service areas. Full-time television carriage is
expected to increase from 16 to 35 dedicated transponders in
the next ten years. In a major departure, Intelsat began
selling transponders in 1986 for domestic service in addition
to its long standing practice of leasing capacity for such
service. The organization expects the number of transponders
leased or sold for domestic service to double in the next five
years from the present figure of 50. With this outlook and the
remarkable accomplishments of the last 20 years, it is difficult
to see Intelsat as anything other than a resounding success.
And yet it is entering a period of considerable uncertainty.
There are two threats, both related to deregulation of the
telecommunications industry in the US. The first is posed by
cables. Since the costs of submarine cables go into the rate
base of the carriers but the costs of satellites do not, it would
have been natural for the carriers to place their traffic in
cables, not satellites. The Federal Communications Commis-
sion (FCC) anticipated this eventuality and directed that the
traffic be divided evenly. That restriction is now lapsing at the
very time that Intelsat's traffic growth rate has declined. Nine
percent per year is still good growth but it reflects significant
economic deceleration. Moreover, Intelsat is compelled by its
founding treaty to serve the world at common prices, so as to
average profitable business traffic with the costs of providing
inefficient services to developing countries. This rate averag-
ing was a matter of international policy, thoroughly under-
stood by all parties who joined Intelsat. By contrast, cables
serve only the high density routes. This economic advantage

5
Satellites International
is independent of the technology used: microwave or optical
fibre cables.
Intelsat could easily compete with cables by abandoning
rate averaging or by building two-beam satellites that would
connect only Europe and America . To be specific, a
Delta-class satellite with two reflectors would form two spot
beams- one directed to Europe and one to the eastern US.
Such a satellite has been discussed for at least a decade and
would probably undercut cable costs. In doing so, however, it
would destroy everything Intelsat is trying to preserve: rate
averaging over the entire world. It is an uncomfortable
dilemma, especially since the cable owners are not so
constrained. Many cable owners who are also members of
Intelsat must make difficult choices when they cast their votes
at Intelsat meetings.
This leads to the second threat facing Intelsat. In the
present climate of deregulation, a number of enterprizing
American firms asked the FCC for permission to provide
services across the Atlantic using aerial cable satellites. They
would serve primarily business interests, although some
would provide a public message service. All claim that such
satellites would do Intelsat no economic harm. But those who
understand the economics know better. These proposals are
for cream-skimming systems, which would serve only the
lucrative high capacity business routes. With policy
encouragement from the White House, the FCC has now
approved these new applications subject to technical and
economic coordination with Intelsat.
This is a strange turn of events, It was the US which
invented, championed and supported the establishment of a
single international satellite system. Now, the US proposes to
challenge Intelsat by authorizing competitive satellite sys-
~ ECS primary coverage
1/WA Arabsat coverage
Figure 1. Coverage ofArabsat and Eutelsat systems.
6
terns. Whatever one's position on the matter, it is clear that
the US has dramatically reversed its single system policy
position. The world of telecommunications does not deal
easily with sudden policy shifts - either domestically or
internationally.
Intelsat is thus entering a period of significant challenge. It
responded first by arguing on a policy level with its largest
owner, the US, which holds 23 percent of the Intelsat share.
This appeal was largely in vain . It has now turned to its
greater strength: its technical and economic momentum.
With those assets, Intelsat is beginning to compete vigorously
with the new satellite entrants. It is also taking steps to
compete effectively with cables. the outcome of these
contests will not be clear for several years . In the meantime,
there will be considerable turbulence in the international
arena , just as there is in the US.
Intelsat already faces competition from new regional
satellite systems. These systems pose a problem for Intelsat,
which is charged with providing international service through
a single integrated system. Starting in 1977, the Indonesian
national system has provided satellite capacity to its neigh-
bours on a transponder lease basis. This system also supports
some communications between countries in southeast Asia
that might have been carried by Intelsat. However, the
absolute magnitude of the traffic loss was unimportant. For
instance, it was substantially less harmful than the transfer of
the Hawaii/continental US west coast traffic from Intelsat to
Comstar in July 1976.
The next challenge from a regional system occurred when
the Arab League decided to proceed with the Arabsat system
in 1980. Arab nations argued that the traffic to be carried
among the 21 Arab countries (Figure 1) would not have gone

on Intelsat anyway, since these nations planned to build
terrestrial microwave networks to handle the traffic if their
satellite system proposal was turned down. Faced with the
significant economic and political influence of the Arab
nations, Intelsat accepted the new system, which was laun-
ched in February 1985. At this time only modest traffic is on
the Arabsat system, and little traffic has migrated from the
Intelsat system.
The same issue was re-enacted by the 26 European
countries which formed Eutelsat. two of the Eutelsat ECS
satellites are now in orbit. The Eutelsat system, with the
coverage shown in Figure 1, provides an alternative to the
well developed terrestrial system that connects the member
nations. It may also supply new services, such as high speed
digital transmission of business data and television distribu-
tion. In coordinating the system, Eutelsat noted that Intelsat
does not now carry intra-European traffic. The existing
terrestrial network could continue to do the job, so Intelsat
would lose nothing that it might have had. The coordination
of Eutelsat with Intelsat has been difficult and limited to a
five-year period.
A similar question was raised for traffic between Canada,
the US and Mexico. Intelsat, at the time of the original
coordination, had no satellites properly positioned to supply
such a service. Despite Intelsat's wish to provide for such
traffic in later years, the telephone authorities pointed out
that the north/south traffic was flowing nicely on the
terrestrial network and could easily continue without satellite
augmentation. Satellite interconnections have now been
negotiated bilaterally by satellite operators in the three
countries.
What is difficult here is that the original philosophy of
Intelsat did not adequately address the issue of satellite
connections between contiguous countries. The basic plan-
ning was for long transoceanic routes. The problem of
adjacent country connection is thus left to Intelsat to
negotiate with its member nations on a case-by-case basis. In
doing so, some members appear simultaneously as breakaway
petitioners and as Intelsat shareholders in the debates that
ensue.
Certain aspects of Intelsat intersystem coordination proce-
dures for separate international systems are now much clearer
with the successful determination by the Intelsat Assembly of
Parties in April, 1987, that the Pan am sat System did not
constitute 'significant economic harm' to Intelsat. Since this
finding only affected about 20% of the satellites' capacity this
precedent is still indicative of future actions by Intelsat
member countries.
The fundamental position of Intelsat is extraordinarily
strong. It is uniquely successful as an international commer-
cial venture, returning to all of its shareholders a handsome
return on their investments each year. It has a reliable
redundant system in place. It has a strong and growing
business base. Its communications satellites are the most
advanced now flying; those in development are even better. It
is a going business, with an established procedure for
collecting revenues, calling for capital contributions, buying
satellites and launchers and distributing earnings. With this
enormous power it can move in many directions- if it does so
carefully. The next few years will prove decisive for Intelsat.
MOBILE SERVICES
Telecommunications service to mobile users - ships, aero-
planes and surface vehicles- has always been one of the most
important uses of the radio spectrum, simply because there is
Trends in Satellite Communications
no other way for these vehicles to communicate. Satellites
provide an important new capability for mobile users because
of the broad access or geographic coverage available from
synchronous orbit. Satellite mobile service was first demons-
trated experimentally by Syncom II in 1963 and subsequently
with the A TS series. The US Department of Defense
furnished narrowband UHF service to military users with
Tacsat in 1969. This continued with Comsat's Marisat, the
Navy/Air Force Fleetsatcom and the Hughes Leasat prog-
ramme. However, civilian carriers were slow to provide such
service.
It was Comsat which took the pioneering step by adding
L band (1.5 GHz) radio capability to the Marisat spacecraft,
thereby delivering three-ocean maritime service from 1976
onward. The Marisat spacecraft were joined by the Marecs A
satellite in 1981, Marecs B2 in late 1984, and leased service on
Intelsat V satellites in 1983.
The International Maritime Satellite Organization (Inmar-
sat) has emerged as the international cooperative supplier of
maritime voice and data service to ships at sea, as the result of
many years of preparation by the International Maritime
Organization. Like Intelsat, its ownership is related to
member use. It is a young organization and is growing
rapidly. It now provides high quality telephone and data
service to 4,000 ships and off shore drilling rigs equipped with
suitable terminals. Inmarsar- recently initiated the develop-
ment of a new generation space segment with much higher
capacity than present systems. The next few years will be a
period of significant growth and evolution for Inmarsat.
During the same period, limited progress has been made on
supplying a public message service to aircraft in flight. There
is no satellite service to civilian aircraft although Inmarsat is
about to initiate a pilot project for such service and A ring, a
US company which has long been in the aeronautical radio
business has announced plans for their own aeronautical
satellite service by placing 'packages' on other satellites. It
expects this activity could lead to trial operations in the late
1980s or early 1990s.
The third class of mobile satellite service is for land or
surface vehicles. Because user equipment will probably be
omnidirectional, all users will see all satellites operating on
their side of the Earth, unless the satellites can form narrow
beams at UHF to divide the coverage area. This means that
there may be only one or two suitable orbit positions in each
hemisphere. These must be shared cooperatively among the
nations seeking to establish mobile service. This possibility is
being developed jointly by the US and Canada. Two
important questions face such a service: 1) how it will relate
to the terrestrial cellular radio system serving the same class
of users?, and 2) whether it can become a viable commercial
activity or must remain a government subsidized service? Our
impression is that there is a valid need for satellite service. It
should supplement cellular radio and probably use the
adjacent bands at 850 MHz. We believe that the initial service
should be established with modest channel capacity and small
spacecraft.
NATIONAL SYSTEMS
National systems which provide domestic telecommunica-
tions service by satellite have proliferated and expanded
rapidly. Table 1 lists the number of satellites in domestic
service in late 1979, those active in January 1986 and those
projected for end 1989. In constructing this summary, it was
difficult to differentiate between experimental programmes
and those in operational service. The forecast for 1988 was
7
Satellites International
especially difficult, because some nations and organizations began similar C-band (6/4 GHz) service earlier with Anik A.
discuss plans for building domestic systems without actually AT&T introduced signal sideband amplitude modulation
committing the large amounts of capital needed. However, (AM) in its Telstar system. Exploiting the unusual linearity of
the number of nations that lease transponder capacity from the solid state power amplifiers carried on its new Telstar 3
Intelsat affords a good indication of serious intent. Brazil, spacecraft, AT&T has shown it can carry 6,000 half-circuits
Mexico, Australia, the Federal Republic of Germany, France on each 36 MHz C-band transponder, in contrast to the
and India all leased Intelsat capacity before proceeding with maximum (single carrier) capability of 1,000 half-circuits in
their own space programmes. Twenty-six nations now lease the same transponder using frequency modulation.
the equivalent of nearly 40 full transponders from Intelsat for An unexpected but significant policy development for
domestic service. national systems occured in the US at the start of the 1980s.
Table 1 National Communications Satellites In the traditional ownership pattern, a few large communica-
(geostationary satellites only) tions carriers owned spacecraft and leased services on a tariff
basis. A number of major users became concerned about this
October October January End approach when Satcom III failed to achieve orbit in 1979 and
1979 1983 1986 1989 there was a sudden shortage of transmission capacity for
Argentina 2 video programming. The concern was aggravated by the
Australia 2 3 uncertainty of future satellite access and tariff charges.
Brazil 1 2 Hughes proposed that users be allowed to buy and own
Canada 4 5 6 5 individual transponders. For users who did not need the
France 2 2 capacity of an entire satellite, this had several benefits. Users
Germany, FR 2 could control their own transmission capacity and accurately
India 1 1 2 anticipate its cost. They could also enjoy the tax benefits of
Indonesia 2 3 2 2 ownership. This condominium approach to satellite service
Ireland 2 has broadened the participation of American firms in satellite
Italy 1 communications and is stimulating new applications.
Japan 2 2 4 The industrial firms responsible for building the current
Luxembourg 1 generation of national and regional communications satellites
Mexico 2 2 are summarized in Table 2. It is a very competitive field in
Nigeria 2* which price is usually the deciding factor. Two US firms have
Pakistan 2* shared most of the spacecraft sales so far: Hughes and RCA.
Thailand 2*
UK 2*
USA 8 21 28 38 DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITES
USSR 3 8 11 15
The initial direction for direct broadcast satellites was set in
Total 17 40 57 91
1977, at the special World Administrative Radio Conference
(W ARC) convened by the International Telecommunication
*Firm decisions have not been finalized.
Union (ITU). It established transmission standards and
The significance of Table 1 is not in its detail, but its trend. allocated orbit and frequency combinations for all nations in
The number of national systems is accelerating because they Europe, Africa and the Far East. Primarily at the request of
are an economical way to build long-distance networks the US, allotments for the western hemisphere were delayed
rapidly, both in developing nations and in accessible regions until a special conference was held in 1983. A great deal
ot advanced natiOns. In countries with existing terrestrial happened technologically in those intervening six years, and
systems satellites provide a simple way to establish new this is reflected by the differing standards established by the
services with separate nationwide networks. two conferences. The same technical progress probably
Two trends have characterized the evolution of national accounts for the difference of views between Canada and the
systems in this decade. The first is the start of Ku-band US. It certainly explains the continuing confusion within the
service: Canada, Australia, Europe, Mexico and the US have American DBS community. In short, we are in a period of
established Ku-band services at 11 and 14 GHz. Satellite extraordinary change in a field that was considered settled in
Business Systems (SBS) now operates four Ku-band 1977.
spacecraft and Telesat Canada is using two Anik C satellites The impetus for this change was the dramatic improvement
with another in orbital storage. GTE and RCA are also in ground station performance. In 1977, it was thought that a
deploying Ku-band systems. These users have found that the receiver/noise figure of 6 dB was achievable. Proceeding on
increased attentuation experienced at Ku-band is offset by that assumption and conservative estimates of system losses,
the ease of locating earth stations in urban areas. Other it seemed that equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP)
Ku-band systems are being planned by Luxembourg, Ireland, levels of 63 to 65 dBW would be required to provide
the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan and several recent satisfactory television reception. With antennas that cover
FCC licensees. average-size countries or the time zones of larger countries,
The second major trend in domestic systems is the this logic led to a judgement that travelling wave tube
introduction of new modulation techniques. The initial amplifiers (TWT A) of 230 watts or more would be required
national systems all used frequency modulation (FM). for each television channel. The Federal Republic of Ger-
Indonesia's Palapa system pioneered demand assignment many and France embarked on the development of such
service on one transponder in 1976 and is now preparing to tubes. They also began a joint programme to build direct
enlarge that capability. A major change was introduced by broadcast satellites using this technology, which resulted in
SBS which inaugurated full TDMA service in early 1981. This the French TDF-1 and the West German TV-Sat program-
TDMA system provides high quality voice and data service to mes. Japan's BS-1 experimental system, which flew in 1978,
some 107 sophisticated stations in the US. Telesat Canada was based on 100-watt tubes.

8
 Trends in Satellite Communications

Table 2 National and Regional Satellite Systems

Manufacturer
Country/ Total number BAel Aerospatiale
System* of space craft Hughes RCA Matra Ford Siemens (SNIAS) Meko Spar
us
Western Union Westar 4 4
SBS 6 6
GTE Gstar 4 4
GTE Spacenet 4 4
ASC 3 3
RCA K-band 4 4
EDS/GM 2 2
Indonesia
Palapa 3 3
Brazil
SBTS 2 2
Australia
Aussat 3 3
India
Insat 4 4
Japan
CS3 2 2
JCS 2 2
Arab League
Arabsat 3 3
Europe
Eutelsat 5 5
West Germany
DFS 3 3
France
Telecom 4 4
Total 58 20 15 9 4 3 3 2 2
'Programmes involving satellites currently under construction or awaiting launch.

Since that initial judgement was made, several things have
changed. First, the DBS receiver/noise figure has improved to
3 dB and may drop to 2.5 dB in the next few years. The
second change resulted from a more realistic evaluatton ot
system losses, reflecting video transmission experiments
made with the Communications Technology Satellite. That
spacecraft carried both 200-watt and 20-watt amplifiers.
Surprisingly, the Canadians and NASA found that the
20-watt channel provided high quality DBS service. Telesat
Canada implemented operational 20-watt Ku-band video
service on the Anik B spacecraft in 1980 and is continuing
that service on Anik C. When Australia was establishing its
satellite standards for outback television distribution, Canada
positioned the CTS over Australia for several months. The
Australians got the same high quality and built their DBS
service around 30-watt TWTAs.
As 1983 began, DBS plans in the US were in a state of
confusion. Eight organizations, CBS, Comsat, DBS Corpora-
tion, Graphic Scanning, RCA, US Satellite Broadcasting,
Western Union and Video Satellite System, applied to the
FCC for permission to operate such systems and were granted
provisional construction permission in November 1982. The
FCC insisted that the applicants begin construction by June
1984 or give up their grants. As that data approached, DBS
and Western Union abandoned their applications, and RCA
asked to be considered in a later round. Having argued
vigorously for many orbital slots at the special 1983 WARC,
the FCC was forced to soften its standard of progress. Of the
original eight, only Comsat was building satellites while two
others continued on a very thin expenditure basis. New
applications were invited. The crowning blow in this long saga
was Comsat's disclosure in November 1984 that it would
abandon its DBS programme, after almost completing its two
spacecraft and making significant progress payments for
launch services. In the end, this represents a financial
investment of $100 to $200 million for Comsat. Meanwhile,
the FCC has given q~nstruction permits to nine additional US
DBS applicants (including RCA's re-submission), however,
none appear to be moving with any haste to implement
service. Comsat meanwhile has tried to sell its two DBS
satellites in Europe.
Aside from technical considerations, there is a troubling
question about the programme content DBS operators will
offer. American television networks spend $600 million to
$800 million each year to programme a single television
channel. Current experience of American cable operators
suggests that the public's appetite for multiple channels is
limited. The basic question is whether DBS operators can
deliver programming of satisfactory quality and find sufficient
consumer acceptance for their systems.
Most of the high power DBS spacecraft are quite different
from the spacecraft that provide point-to-point service. This
is shown by the plot of satellite weight versus power in Figure
2. All the point-to-point satellites, from Early Bird to Intelsat
VI, lie roughly along a straight line. Adding channels to a
communications satellite with an established ground network
adds weight and power in equal measure. The DBS emphasis
so far is on satellite power. Weight is secondary, as long as the
heavy batteries needed to carry the service through eclipse
are not supplied. A DBS spacecraft based on the 1977
WARC is a high power, on-off, lightweight, small capacity
satellite.

9
Satellites International
provide many channels. The satellites that offer this service
will use 40-watt tubes and be indistinguishable from the
Fixed service satellites
Ku-band spacecraft that will provide point-to-point and
on-premises communication service. If we are right, we will
have come full circle, first trying desperately to distinguish
2000 DBS satellites, and finally blending them into established
designs and business arrangements.

SPACECRAFT

Current Domestic Systems

The recent past has has seen the introduction of several

0 summarized in Figure 3 and Table 3.
Power, kW (EOL)
Figure 2. Weight and power relationship ofdirect broadcast and
fixed service satellites. BOL, beginning of life; EOL, end of life.
Where is DBS now heading? Unplanned, a vigorous
quasi-DBS business has blossomed in the US at C-band.
Today, there are as many as 1.5 million receive-only dishes in
backyards and on rooftops. The number has been doubling
every 18 months. Dish owners are watching video program-
mes being transmitted by satellite to cable television oper-
ators. They have been poaching- not paying. They will begin
to pay as programmers increasingly start scrambling those
transmissions and offer decoders for a monthly fee. The
importance of these many listeners is that they represent an
established market - satellite watchers who were willing to
buy their own terminals. They are a demanding audience,
accustomed to receieving 40 or more television channels.
They will not settle for three channels which go off the air
during an eclipse.
Our view is that a real DBS service can be built on this
established market. It will probably act as a transmission and
billing service for those who fund video productions. It must
spacecraft for national and regional markets. Three generic
communications satellites have been proven in space and are
The RCA Satcom is a body-stabilized spacecraft that has
evolved steadily since 1975. Its weight has grown as the rocket
launchers have been upgraded. The spacecraft power has
increased by panel extensions to support more powerful and
diverse payload combinations. The current version of Satcom
is designed to fly on the Delta 3920 series, on Ariane, or on
the shuttle with a Pam-D. It uses a solid propellant apogee
motor and electrically heated hydrazine thrusters. Nickel
hydrogen batteries have replaced nickel cadmium cells. It is
basically a 24-channel cross-polarized C-band spacecraft,
although Ku-band and hybrid versions are also being pro-
duced. Later Satcom versions permit in-orbit antenna beam
reconfiguration to accommodate different orbital assign-
ments. The customer base for RCA Satcom is shown in Table
4.
The Hughes HS 376 satellite design was begun in 1977 to
provide a completely new transition spacecraft - one that
could fly equally well on the Delta 3920, Ariane or space
shuttle. It uses a telescoping solar panel to double the prime
power of a spinner. This feature and its fold down reflector
permit a more compact launch configuration to fit the volume
limitations of its three carriers. Both cross-polarized C-band
and Ku-band versions have been built. The HS 376 uses a

Table 3 Generic Communications Satellites

Manufacturer
British
Aerospace/
RCA Hughes Matra
Satellite Satcom Series 4000 HS 376 HS 393 ECS
Total weight (kg) 600 750 540 to 661 1090 610 to 680
Total power (Watts) 1000- 1375 2260 900- 1118 2250 1100
First launch October 82 November 85 November 80 November 87 June 83
Lifetime (years) 10 10 7- 10 10- 12 7

Table 4 Customers for RCA spacecraft

Number of First
Owner Name spacecraft Payload Channels flight
RCA Americom Satcom 4 C-band 24 October 1982
Ku 4 K-band 16 November 1985
GTE Spacenet 4 C-band/K-band 18/6 May 1984
G-star 4 K-band 16 May 1985
American Satellite ASC 3 C-band/K-band 18/6 August 1985
Luxembourg SES 1 K-band 16 1987
Total number of spacecraft 20

10
 Trends in Satellite Communications

BAe/MATRA
ECS

RCA
SATCOM
Hughes
HS376

t
Figure 3. Scale comparison of three current domestic spacecraft.

solid rocket motor for apogee impulse and nickel cadmium
batteries. It uses monopropellant hydrazine for orbit adjust-
ment. Operators and purchasers of the HS 376 are shown in
Table 5.
The British Aerospace (BAe )/Matra ECS programme
began in 1977 with the Orbital Test Satellite (OTS) prog-
ramme sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA}.
The same basic vehicle was later adapted to provide L-band
service in the Marecs programme. Telecom I is another OTS
derivative developed for French national service. The ECS
for Eutelsat is an OTS derivative with two three-panel
sun-tracking solar array wings. Power is increased in subse-
quent ECS derivatives by adding panels to the wings. This
generic spacecraft has grown in mass from 443 kilogrammes to
680 kilogrammes and in power from 750 watts to 1,300 watts.
The satellite bus is a cylindrical central thrust cone sur-
rounded by an equipment platform . Two co-rotating momen-
tum wht:els provide attitude control. The ECS employs a
solid rocket motor for apogee impulse and 16 thrusters for
stationkeeping. The users of the BAe/Matra spacecraft are
shown in Table 6.
The Arabsat three-axis spacecraft being constructed by
Aerospatiale (SNIAS) is sized to fly on Ariane and has a mass
of 1,134 kilogrammes in synchronous orbit. It uses a solid apogee
rocket and 12 thrusters for orbit control. Its solar panels
provide 1.3 kilowatts of prime power and its energy wtll be
stored in nickel cadmium batteries for eclipse operation. So
far, it has found only one custome r.
The Indian satellite built by Ford is a very special body
stablized spacecraft that provides point-to-point communica-
tion, direct broadcast and weather monitoring services- all in
one satellite. Because of this specialization, it has found no

Table 5 Customers for Hughes HS 376 spacecraft

Number of First
Owner Name spacecraft Payload Channels flight
Satellite Business Systems SBS 5 K-band 10- 14 November 1980
Telesat Canada Anik C 3 K-band 16 November 1982
Western Union Westar 4 C-band 24 February 1982
Indonesia Palapa B 3 C-band 24 June 1983
Brazil 1 SBTS 2 C-band 24 February 1985
Mexico Morelos 2 C-band/K-band 18/6 June 1985
Australia Aussat 3 K-band 15 August 1985
Telesat Canada 1 Anik D 2 C-band 24 August 1982
Hughes Communications Galaxy 3 C-band 24 June 1983
AT&T Telstar 3 3 C-band 24 July 1983
Total number of spacecraft 30
1 HS 376 is built under license by Spar Canada for these customers.

11
Satellites International

Table 6 Customers for British Aerospace/ Matra ECS spacecraft

Number of First
Owner Name spacecraft Payload Channels flight
ESA OTS 2 K-band 6 May 1978
ESA Marecs 3 L-band 40 voice December 1981
Eutelsat ECS 5 K-band 12 June 1983
French PTI Telecom 1 4 C-band/K-band 4/6/2 August 1984
Total number of spacecraft
1 Two versions of ECS are also being built for a British military mission . Skync t IV.

other market , although parts of its design have been applied
to Arabsat and to a new generation of US geosynchronous
meteorological satellites.
Future Domestic Systems
A new generation of spacecraft is now being developed for
the national and regional market by RCA, BAe/Matra and
Hughes . Full details of their designs have not yet been
publicly revealed, but the following information is available.
The third generation Hughes satellite - the HS 393 - is a
spinning vehicle designed to fill the gap between the HS 376
currently being mass produced for domestic service and the
large Intelsat VI. This is designed to fly on the space shuttle
with a 25 percent load factor , or, in half of the Ariane 4. On
the space shuttle, it will use integral propulsion with a
Minuteman III solid rocket motor for perigee boost. It will
use nickel hydrogen batteries and a hi-propellant system for
apogee impulse and on-orbit stationkeeping. The HS 393 will
weigh 1,361 kilogrammes and generate 2,800 watts of prime
power at the beginning of life in geosynchronous orbit. Three
customers have ordered HS 393s for service starting in late
1987.
RCA 's full direct broadcast version in contrast to the
interim weight and power configuration RCA built for
Satellite Television Corporation , is apparently based on a
liquid perigee stage to place the spacecraft in transfer orbit
after its ejection from the shuttle . RCA is also using the new
Pam D2 as the perigee stage for its upgraded spacecraft. This
gives it about 50 percent more payload than the Advanced
Satcom spacecraft. The first two K-band spacecraft in this
new series were launched in 1985 and early 1986. The
satellites have on-orbit mass of 1,025 kilogrammes and a
design life of ten years .
The British Aerospace/Matra team is also upgrading the
basic ECS spacecraft for greater payload capability. The
Eurostar is being designed for launch by Ariane 4 or by the
space shuttle with a Pam D2 . Its initial application will be as
the next generation of Inmarsat maritime satellites, starting in
mid-1988 . Inmarsat will have a mass at separation from the
STS/Pam D of 1,269 kilogrammes and from Ariane 4 of 1,160
kilogrammes.
Ford announced a new satellite design, known as Supersat ,
in 1983. Supersat is a body stabilized spacecraft that is
optimized for launch via the space shuttle. It uses a liquid
hi-propellant system for perigee impulse, the initial design of
which was done jointly by Ford and Aerojet. The same
hi-propellant motors will be used for apogee impulse , after
some tankage is staged in transfer orbit. With varied
propellant loading , the spacecraft offers a considerable range

Series I II Ill IV IVA VIVA VI

First
launch 1965 1966 1968 1971 1975 1980 1987

Contractor Hughes Hughes TRW Hughes Hughes Ford Hughes

Figure 4. Evolution of Inte/sat spacecraft.

12
 Trends in Satellite Communications
of payload weight capability. At the lower end of the scale, it Table 7 Comparison of lntelsat Spacecraft
provides the capability of Intelsat V; 950 kilogrammes and 1.6
kilowatts. At the upper end of its capability it weighs 1,528
kilogrammes and produces as much as eight kilowatts of Intelsat V Intelsat VA Intelsat VI
prime power (in the configuration proposed for a US Manufacturer Ford Ford Hughes
domestic hybrid system). The spacecraft's centralized digital
processor system will combine telemetry and control func- Atlantic capacity (half 25,000 30,000 80,000
tions, attitude control computation and power management circuits)
from a single unit. Number being built 9 6 5
First flight 1980 1985 1987
lntelsat spacecraft Bandwidth (MHz) 2,321 2,570 3,262
Initial mass in orbit (kg) 950 950 2,243
Two important new Intelsat vehicles have emerged in the last Total power (Watts, 1,354 1,354 2,300
few years. The Ford Intelsat V spacecraft first flew in 1980, EOL 1)
and all but one of the subsequent flights in the 15-satellite Lifetime (years) 7 7 10
VIVA series have been successful. Intelsat contracted Ford to Launcher Atlas Atlas STSor
upgrade the basic spacecraft to the Intelsat VA configuration, Centaur or Centaur or Ariane4
which exploits the increased lifting capability of the Atlas Ariane 1 Ariane 2
Centaur and Ariane. (Initial plans to fly the Intelsat V series 1 End of life.
on the shuttle were abandoned because the Pam A horizontal
launch configuration and the spacecraft modifications needed services for the space shuttle and for unmanned low altitude
for shuttle launch were too costly.) Communications payloads spacecraft. The first TDRSS was launched in April1983. The
were added to the Intelsat V and VA series to provide L-band second was destroyed in the explosion of the Challenger
maritime and K-band spot beam international business shuttle on 28 January 1986. Its initial in-orbit weight is
service, and increases in the global C-band service. The essentially the same as Intelsat VI. Because NASA elected to
15-spacecraft Intelsat V and VA series is summarized briefly launch it with the shuttle and the IUS stage, it has proven to
in Table 7, (and the entire Intelsat family is compared in be a very expensive system. The difference in launch costs for
Figure 4). these large new spacecraft is shown in Figure 6, which plots
Intelsat VI is the largest communications satellite prog- 1986 launch costs in 1982 US dollars. TDRSS and Intelsat VI
ramme ever undertaken. The development, engineering and will have about the same initial weight in orbit. However, the
production of the first five spacecraft is covered by a $700 combination of a long payload and the enormous cost of the
million contract. It is the largest and most complex spacecraft IUS stage (assumed here to be only $60 million) produces an
yet built for commercial service. When launched by the space $89 million difference in launch costs between the two.
shuttle, it would use integral propulsion and provide its own Olympus is a general purpose, body stabilized spacecraft
perigee impulse with a large solid rocket motor, although whose development by British Aerospace is sponsored by the
delays in the shuttle programme now make this unlikely. ESA. It is designed to carry a wide variety of communications
When it flies on Ariane 4, it will not need this motor, since payloads within its weight and power boundaries. The first
Ariane will place its 3,720 kilogrammes directly into transfer application, called L-Sat, is planned for both point-to-point
orbit. For both types of launch, the apogee impulse will be services and direct broadcast applications. It is designed to fly
generated by two hi-propellant thrusters. The same hi- on Ariane 3 and 4, with first launch scheduled for mid-1987,
propellant system will later feed small thrusters for orbital but can also ride on the shuttle with an IUS.
adjustment. Intelsat VI will use nickel hydrogen batteries and By contrast, Leasat is a shuttle-only vehicle designed
will be the first Intelsat spacecraft to employ RF beacon specifically to minimize launch costs. The 4.27-metre dia-
tracking for precise attitude control (better than 0.1 degree meter cylindrical spacecraft just fits within the 4.57 metre
even during orbit manoeuvres). It has a satellite switched inside diameter of the shuttle bay. With its solid perigee
TDMA and a completely reconfigurable antenna for the motor it weighs 6,818 kilogrammes and occupies 25 percent of
three ocean basin operating areas. The antenna provides the shuttle bay. The UHF payload provides service to the US
sixfold frequency re-use by polarization and spatial diversity. Navy, although the large deck offers great design flexibility
Considerable growth capability was built into Intelsat VI for for other antenna combinations. The spacecraft employs
the evolving communications needs of international users. integral propulsion and the Frisbee ejection technique.
With extra fuel loading this satellite can have a 14-year Leasat has two significant economic advantages. Its shuttle
operational lifetime. user charge is low because it occupies a minimum length in
the orbiter bay corresponding to its payload weight.
New large spacecraft Secondly, the user need not pay for a separate perigee stage.
Four of the five Leasat satellites have been successfully
In addition to Intelsat VI, three other large spacecraft are orbited and three of these are providing UHF communica-
being developed which will supply worldwide service from tions service.
geosynchronous orbit: 1) the TRW Tracking and Data Relay
Satellite (TDRSS), 2) the British Aerospace Olympus Spinning versus body stabilized
spacecraft, and 3) the Hughes Leasat. They each use the
increases in payload and volume capability provided by the A few satellites issues seem to have resolved themselves. Late
space shuttle and later versions of Ariane. Their characteris- in the 1970s, earnest debates were still heard about the
tics are summarized in Table 8 and Figure 5, where they are relative merits of body stabilized and spinning satellites. That
compared with Intelsat VI. The economics of each is closely debate has been largely ended by the configuration choices
tied to the trend in launch vehicles. that sophisticated owner/operators have made. Body stabil-
The TDRSS spacecraft is a body stabilized vehicle whose ized and spinning spacecraft have divided the national
multiple antennas provide two-way communication and data markets almost evenly. Intelsat went from spinners to body

13
Satellites International
stabilized and then back to spinners. American naval service
has gone from spinners to body stabilized and back to
spinners. What these market decisions show is what thought-
ful people have know for a decade: most satellite tasks can be
done with either technology. It is primarily the builder's
choice, which he makes based on experience. The rhetoric of
the past is now seen for what is probably was: an attempt to
differentiate the satellite products of companies which wished
to enter the field.

BAe Hughes Hughes TRW Hughes

L-SATI Leasat lntelsatVI TO ASS HS393

Figure 5. Scale comparison offive large new spacecraft.

Table 8 Characteristics of new large spacecraft

TDRSS Olympus Leasat Intelsat VI HS393
Manufacturer TRW BAe Hughes Hughes Hughes
Weight (kg. BOL 1) 2273 1454-2000 1315 2243 1090
Power (Watts. EOL2 ) 1700 2300 - 7000 1083 2300 2250
First launch 1983 1987 1984 1987 1987
Launcher STS/IUS Arianc 3/4 or STS STS or STSor
STS/IUS Ariane 4 Ariane 4
1 Beginning of life.

' End of life.

0
TDRSS
120
Clusters versus platforms

A new debate is taking shape for satellite system planning. It

is sometimes characterized as the choice between platforms
and clusters. More properly, it is a discussion about how large
individual spacecraft should become. The point is that we
OLYMPUS need not place all the transponders needed at a particular
0
...
INTELSATVI
___ orbital position on a single spacecraft. We now place all the
transponders on one platform because of the perceived
--- economy of shared housekeeping functions: power and
...---
LEASAT __.. __..
attitude control. We could just as well put half the transpon-
ders on one satellite, half on a second. We could then place
the two spacecraft near each other in space, so that they
0 2000 3000 appear as one from Earth . Relative orbit control of such
Initial in-orbit weight, kg neighbouring satellites is a technology that is in hand.
Figure 6. Launch cost versus weight for various large new Interconnection of transponders on the separate spacecraft
spacecraft. can be completed by short distance radio links if required -

14

again, a proven technology. We can thus factionate a large
spacecraft into modules. The choice of whether to do so is an
economic one.
The economics are influenced by several issues. The first is
the risk of catastrophic failure. A second risk is the cost of
replacing a system in the event of partial failure. What should
be done if one service fails but the rest of the satellite is fine?
The third issue is the flexibility provided by clusters when
system needs change in unplanned ways. With modular
spacecraft, one service can be augmented in response to
rapidly changing demand without disrupting the other service
components of the system - or starting all over too soon with
an even larger spacecraft.
It is our view that economics will favour modular systems
over large single spacecraft. We believe that the economics of
partial replacement and flexible growth clearly overshadow
the modest economy of scale now provided by a single
spacecraft. However, others hold contrary views, and the
proposition will be debated extensively. It will probably be
subject to its first decision in the international arena, where
accelerating traffic demands propel satellite planning.
SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY
It is useful to review the basic technology improvements that
have become available in recent years. We shall also try to
project how these technologies will unfold in the future.
Power
Prime power for communications satellites is generated by
solar cells responding to the sun's rays. Silicon solar cells have
been improved for 25 years (as shown in Figure 7). Rowever,
it would seem that we have wrung as much performance from
silicon cells as we can. It was long recognized that a new
material was required to increase further the efficiency of
solar cells. The best choice was identified as gallium arsemde
(GaAs), and cell development has been proceeding for over
ten years. The first GaAs flight cells are now becoming
available in usable quantities. They have a conversion
efficiency of 18 percent at beginning of life (BOL), and
exhibit 50 percent less degradation in the face of severe
radiation and thermal environments. Significant production
of these new cells is now beginning. It is hoped that their high
price can be brought down and their thickness reduced to
justify their application. In the early 1990s, it is expected that
multi-junction solar cells will be developed that will produce
over 25 percent efficiency.
The corollary to power generation is electrical storage,
since geosynchronous satellites pass through the Earth's
shadow 90 times each year for varying lengths of time. Nickel
cadmium batteries have been the traditional electrical storage
device. In the past eight years, a new solution to battery
needs has been perfected and committed to flight projects.
The nickel hydrogen battery provides twice the energy
density of the older cells, because it can be discharged to 70 or
80 percent of its capacity. Life tests show that these new cells
are less sensitive to charge and discharge cycles, and it is
believed that they can support 15-year missions. Nickel
hydrogen batteries are probably the only solution for satel-
lites that must store more than two kilowatts. Looking to the
future, we expect progressive improvements and scale-ups of
nickel hydrogen cells. Batteries based on sodium, sulfer and
lithium may provide weight-to-power reductions of 50 to 75
percent in the next decade.
Trends in Satellite Communications
30
36
32
--
Multi
junction
10
1965 1970 1985
Figure 7. Solar cell efficiency progression.
Propulsion
Propulsion subsystems available today are much improved
over those current in the 1970s, and most satellite program-
mes are moving to incorporate the new technology. The
major shift is from solid propellant apogee rockets to
hi-propellant thrusters - a technology first demonstrated by
Symphonie in 1975. There are several reasons for changing to
hi-propellants (nitrogen tetroxide for oxidizer and
monomethyl hydrazine for fuel). First, thrusters have been
developed that impart satisfactory stability and reliability.
Second, hi-propellants provide an improvement in specific
impulse over solids: 320 seconds versus 293 seconds. Third,
the central volume of modern satellites is usually occupied by
the solid propellant perigee motor. The apogee motor must
be wrapped around this cavity, and the only way to do so is
with a radially distributed system of liquid tanks, lines, valves
and thrusters. The fourth important reason lies in the option
of using the engines for multiple firings. Hi-propellant
thrusters can be fired to add velocity to the perigee impulse if
the solid motor is not perfectly matched to the spacecraft, and
are then fired again for apogee impulse. The recent launches
of Leasat, Insat and other satellites have demonstrated the
flexibility of liquid hi-propellant thrusters.
The conversion from mono-propellant hydrazine to hi-
propellant thrusters for stationkeeping and attitude adjust-
ment is a second new development. Now that reliable, long
life hi-propellant thrusters are available in the 4 to 22 Newton
class, the specific impulse advantage (290 seconds versus 220
seconds) of the new technology is commanding. Insat used
this approach, and so will Intelsat VI. The propellants
remaining in the tanks after apogee burn can be used by the
stationkeeping thrusters, so almost no propellant need be
wasted.
An alternative approach is to use electrically heated
monopropellant hydrazine thrusters for stationkeeping and
orbit control. The concept is to use excess electrical power
produced during sunlit conditions to heat the hydrazine and
thus obtain a 25 percent increase in specific impulse. This was
planned for Intelsat V, but was available only after flight
model 4. Reliable devices are becoming available, as evi-
denced by their application in RCA's Satcom IR and IIR.
The 20/30 GHz band
The enormous potential of communications satellites operat-
15
Satellites International
ing at 20 and 30 GHz (Ka-band) has been apparent for a
decade. People were first attracted by the large bandwidth
allocation. With the small wavelength, they could also
imagine forming multiple beams and using this band over and
over. What was not known was the extent of signal
attenuation in the atmosphere. Fortunately, Bell Telephone
Laboratories installed 20 and 30 GHz beacons on the
Comstar satellites. With their own ground stations and a
collaborative data collection effort around the US, Bell
mapped out the seasonal, diurnal and geographic statistics of
signal attenuation over a five-year period. 1 This significant set
of experiments cast the new band into a rather different light.
Hell found that propagation was interrupted by rain too often
to permit transmission that was up to AT&T telephone
standards (99.99 percent). With a 15 dB margin it might be
possible to achieve a one-way availability of 99.90 percent.
However, the data show clearly that even adding an
additional 20 dB margin would not yield 99.99 percent (see
Figure 8). Furthermore, the worst fades occur in the
afternoon during the peak east coast to west coast traffic. The
initial hope had been to avoid rain outages by using
diversified reception with two or three separated stations.
However, the measurements showed that rain cells are too
extensive to permit this solution.
i excited with the appropriate phase/amplitude distribution for
~) 10-2
aiCI) 100 .§ ~
o;o
~a 50 :::~.C
c -
~·~ CI)"O
.Q c
lii~
~i CDCI)
Eo
U..c i=1il
~ 10-3
3:
.5
10 20 30
Rain attenuation, dB
Figure 8. Ka band rain attenuation data gathered by Bell
Telephone Laboratories.
Several American companies have applied for authority to
use the new band. A number of satellite systems are already
planned by other countries. Japan launched its Sakura 2
satellites in 1983, each of which carries six Ka-band transpon-
ders serviced by six-watt travelling wave tubes. Italy is
planning a domestic satellite system that will provide redun-
dant transponders with 20 and 30 watt amplifiers. Germany's
DFS Kopernicus system will have a 20/30 GHz channel.
NASA's ACTS experimental satellite will demonstrate 20/30
GHz communications and sophisticated baseband signal
processing/switching techniques.
Our belief is that 20/30 GHz will eventually become an
incredibly valuable communications resource. Our frustration
so far has been in trying to make Ka-band do traditional jobs.
We believe that commercial systems using the new band will
appear in the 1990s. It will be used for new services, such as
teleconferencing and non-real time video transmission. These
require very large bandwidths and can stand the occasional
outage (3.5 hours per year) of 20 dB or more. In the
16
meantime, the basic components such as low noise HEMT
field effect transmitters for receiving at 30 G Hz and TWTs
and solid state devices for transmitting at 20 GHz are being
developed in government supported programmes.
Beam changing in orbit
The technical possibility of modifying a satellite's coverage
pattern after launch is now becoming an exciting reality. Such
modification can provide significant flexibility for domestic
satellites that must be built to operate at any position in a
wide orbital arc. With three years required to build satellites
and a late regulatory decision on location, antenna tuning
represents a major attraction compared with simply averag-
ing, and thus degrading, a satellite's beam to operate equally
well over a wide arc.
Intelsat must have spacecraft which can operate inter-
changeably in its three ocean basins, in which the earth
station complexes and coverage requirements are quite
different. Modest beam changing capabilities were included
in the C-band satellites developed a decade ago. Intelsat
IV-A and Intelsat V both have feed horns and therefore
special coverage patterns that can be switched in or out by
ground command.
The technology on Intelsat VI is spectacular by compari-
son. An array of 143 horns is used for the transmit antenna
and a similar number for the receive antenna. Each horn is
the three operating regions. Ground commands can mechani-
cally activate whichever feed distribution network is desired
and thereby produce the antenna pattern appropriate to each
operating ocean basin.
Beam modification can also be done by completely
electronic means. The possibility of a phased array in which
the beam can be instantly reformed on command is becoming
a reality. With the advent of solid state power amplifiers, the
potential of placing any transponder into any beam is not far
away. The operational opportunity for adjusting a satellite's
coverage and capacity to match rapidly changing traffic
requirements or interference problems is thus becoming
possible.
Transmitter amplifiers
Solid state power amplifiers (SSP As) based on gallium
arsenide field effect transistors have been developed and
flown since 1979. Satcom V employed 8.5 watt SSPAs. The
Telstar 3 series employs 5.5 watt SSP As, and Intelsat VI will
use 1.8 and 3.2 watt SSPAs for its low power transponders.
The expectation is that SSP As will provide longer life and
greater reliability than travelling wave tube amplifiers.
Heretofore, the significantly greater efficiency of TWT As
was offset by the superior linearity of SSP As. Recent SSP A
results at C-band- 39 percent overall efficiency at ten watts-
make SSP A efficiencies in this frequency range comparable
to those of TWT As.
In the future, we expect the performance margin between
SSP As and TWTAs to narrow even further. Our ability to
produce flight quality SSP As will be extended to Ku-band
and eventually Ka-band. We can build 16 watt amplifiers at
15 GHz today with 15 percent efficiency. Likewise, it is
possible to build 10 watt amplifiers at 20 GHz with 15 percent
efficiency. This technology will move ahead rapidly. It should
provide operationally useful SSP As at K-band in the next two
years.

Development of silicon carbide transistors offers substan-
tial performance improvements for millimeter wave power
generation. Five-watt devices at 40 GHz are expected, which
will make possible 10-watt power amplifiers at 40 GHz with 20
percent efficiency. This technology is expected to mature in
the 1990s.
Another important step has been linearizing the output
amplifiers. Techniques have been developed for improving
the linearity of both solid state and TWTAs. Linearity
improvement provides greater communications capacity and
is critical to modulation techniques like single sideband
amplitude modulation, which depends critically on linearity
in the carrier-to-intermodulation ratio over the communica-
tion bandwidth.
Signal Demodulation and Processing
The first TDMA system is now operating. In the SBS system,
the receive and transmit beams both see the entire coverage
area. Any TDMA signal that goes up to the spacecraft is
repeated and can be heard by any receiving station. Now
consider what would happen if the coverage areas were
divided into two or more zones served by individual beams. A
TDMA signal transmitted up in one beam could only go down
in another if there were some means in the satellite to
recognize its intended destination and route it to the
transmitters feeding that other beam. If there are thousands-
or millions - of individual signals coming up, the satellite is
presented with the tremendous task of reading and routing
individual messages at the clock rate of the TDMA system.
Intelsat VI will be able to recognize signal destination and
process signals appropriately for routing and retransmission.
Its satellite switched TDMA unit is a six by ten matrix of PIN
diodes driven by a digital logic unit. It will route individual
TDMA signal components from the six uplink beams to the
appropriate ten downlink beams at a clock rate of 944 KHz.
Satellite switching of digital signals will improve rapidly.
The next step is to demodulate upcoming signals to digital
form using high speed analog-to-digital circuits, then process
them for subsequent retransmission in a digital processor.
When this on-board digital sorting and distribution of signals
is combined with a rapidly scanning antenna beam, the result
can be a system solution of extraordinary capacity. 2
The prospect of on-board signal processing is made
possible by the rapid development of analog-to-digital con-
version circuitry and compact digital processors. This will be
an exciting area of satellite technology in the next decade and
clearly holds enormous potential for space telecommunica-
tions. This is one of the key elements of the ACT
experimental programme.
LAUNCH VEHICLES
The price of launch vehicles thus far has represented about
half the cost of establishing a communications satellite
system. Since powerful economic competition confronts
satellite communications (unlike government-sponsored
programmes to visit the planets or survey the Earth),
increasing attention has been focused on the cost of launch
services.
For all practical purposes, there are only two launch
vehicles suitable for commercial flights- the space shuttle and
Ariane although there are increasingly a number of options
becoming available, such as the Chinese Long March 2 and 3,
the Titan III C, Atlas Centaur and Delta (all of which may be
Trends in Satellite Communications
privatized by the US Government), several new US start up
firms and even the USSR's Proton. Both the shuttle and Ariane
were committed to operational service in 1982. The American
space shuttle first flew into low Earth orbit in 1981, and had
been a model of reliability on that and each succeeding flight,
until the Challenger tragedy. After four test flights, it ejected
two communications satellites, one Canadian and one Amer-
ican, during its first operational mission in November 1982. It
has flown 19 times since then, placing 22 additional commer-
cial communications satellites plus TDRSS into low Earth
orbit. It also demonstrated the unique utility of human
participation in space delivery by recovering. two errant
satellites and restarting a third. At this writing the shuttle's
future schedule, launch rate and the continuing role it will
play in commercial launchings are unclear, but most commer-
cial requirements are being shifted to other vehicles because
of their low priority vis-a-vis government missions.
It was anticipated that the shuttle would be very reliable
because of the safety demands imposed for the sake of the
astronauts. 3 This was reflected in low premiums for launch
insurance in 1983: four to seven percent for the shuttle versus
five to eight percent for Delta and 10 to 14 percent for Ariane.
Two years later insurance rates for the shuttle and Ariane had
risen substantially as an expression of a sharp increase in
casualty claims. The gap between the two has narrowed,
reflecting Ariane's rising success rate. Today, rates are well
above 20% and will not return to lower levels in the near
future.
The shuttle pricing policy announced in 1977 offered
attractive rates for the first three years of operation. The
pricing policy for the second three-year period began in
October 1985. This progression is shown in Figure 9 for a
typical domestic satellite, together with the price history for
launching such a spacecraft with the Delta and Ariane. This
comparison indicates a continuing, albeit diminishing price
advantage for the shuttle. A competitive price competition
between the shuttle and Ariane late in 1985 substantiated this
assessment. Critics on either side of the Atlantic complain
that the Ariane/shuttle differential is more a reflection of
government support than it is a fundamental disparity in
launch economics. Whatever the truth, satellite launch costs
took their first drop in two decades. Unfortunately the trend
was quickly reversed after the Challenge disaster.
The three American expendable launch vehicles: Delta,
Atlas Centaur and Titan may all be commercialized by the US
Government after years of delay. All have established
enviable records of reliability. In the face of the shuttle's
50
40
DELTA 3920/PAM
:::i!
~
1if 30
0
u
J:
u
.,c:
::;)
...J
20
10
0~--~--~----~--~----~--~----~--~
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Launch date
Figure 9. Launch cost progression for Delta class satellites.
17
Satellites International
operational success and aggressive pricing, however, expend-
able vehicles suffered a precipitous decline in orders. This
rapidly drove up unit prices, as fixed costs were spread over
fewer and fewer flights. The result was that the production
facilities for two of the three were phased out in 1983.
In early 1983 NASA offered to commercialize Delta, Titan
and Atlas Centaur by allowing private ventures to use
government tooling and launch facilities at reasonable rates.
Several firms explored this opportunity. However, a bid for
Intelsat VI launch services submitted by Titan backers was
not cost competitive with the shuttle and Ariane 4. But in the
wake of the Challenger disaster and the several years' delay
associated with an STS launch Intelsat has signed options for
two Titan III C launches with Martin Marrietta despite the
high costs.
The Ariane rocket is the major alternative to the shuttle. It
first flew almost coincidentally with the shuttle. It became
fully operational in June 1983. It has flown 16 times,
experiencing three failures, two of them early in the prog-
ramme. It presents a possible alternative way into space when
the shuttle is grounded or becomes overcommitted. A second
launch pad was built at Kourou, French Guiana, and this
increased confidence in the Ariane alternative. The rocket is
also being upgraded to the Ariane 4 configuration, which
could place 4,200 kilogrammes in transfer orbit.
To preserve the benefits of price competition and oper-
ational convenience, it was specified that Intelsat VI be
launchable either by the space shuttle or Ariane 4. However,
there is an important distinction between Ariane and the
shuttle. Ariane puts a satellite into elliptic transfer orbit, from
which it rises to synchronous altitude. In contrast, the shuttle
places a satellite into low Earth circular orbit at 160 nautical
miles. Shuttle launching therefore requires either an addi-
tional stage to push the satellite into transfer orbit, or, that
the satellite carry adequate propulsion capability to do the
job itself.
Two standard upper stages have been developed to place
shuttle payloads into transfer orbit. The Pam D is a
commercial venture that provides perigee impulse for Delta
class payloads with a solid rocket motor. It has worked
perfectly 30 times. However, two of these stages malfunc-
tioned in February 1984 on a shuttle flight, leaving the Westar
VI and Palapa B2 satellites stranded in low Earth orbit. The
spacecraft were subsequently recovered by a shuttle crew,
returned and refurbished to meet the needs of new custom-
ers. So Pam D appears to be a successful enterprise. Scores of
Pam D/Pam D2 stages have been ordered, roughly 60 percent
for commercial satellites. Most Pam Ds will be used on the
shuttle to life payloads into high orbits. The remainder were
final stages for Delta.
The second standard upper stage is the inertial upper stage
(IUS). This was developed by the US Air Force for its own
needs and those of NASA. It provides both the perigee and
apogee velocity impulses with two solid rocket motors
controlled by three redundant guidance systems and can place
2,273 kilogrammes in geosynchronous orbit. IUS had two
problems: one transient, the other systemic. During its first
operational use in April 1983, it failed to place TDRSS into
its intended synchronous orbit. This was caused by a second
stage motor nozzle failure, which was corrected with time and
money. The systemic problem is its cost. The original basis
for proceeding with IUS was that it would cost several million
dollars per shot. That price has now grown to over a hundred
million and is still rising. There are nd commercial users and
there will be none. Even some Air Force programmes have
abandoned IUS for cost reasons, and NASA has switched its
spacecraft to a new high .energy upper stage based on
18
Centaur. IUS exemplifies the classic problem of trying to do
all jobs with a single machine.
The economic alternative to standard upper stages is
integral propulsion. The concept is to incorporate a solid or
liquid rocket motor into the spacecraft design to provide the
perigee impulse - just as communications satellites have
always provided their own apogee kick motors. This techni-
que exploits the precision of the shuttle guidance system to
establish the correct initial orientation at spacecraft separa-
tion. This attitude is preserved gyroscopically by spinning out
of the shuttle bay until a safe separation distance is achieved
for perigee rocket motor firing. The leverage of this approach
is three fold. First, it uses the satellite's own guidance system,
rather than investing in redundant inertial platforms as IUS
does. Secondly, users buy only the combination of rocket
motors needed to place the specific satellite in orbit- instead
of the total capability required for all other users of the stage.
This minimum investment in integral propulsion contrasts
with the high common denominator implicit in standard
upper stages. The third virtue is the elimination of a separate
development organization and the network of interface
requirements that must be established between the standard
upper stage and every potential user.
The economic advantages of integral propulsion are over-
whelming in the telecommunications sector, where price
competition with alternate means of transmission is central to
decision making. Integral propulsion is being used for Intelsat
VI and was the decisive price difference in selecting the
developer. It seems to be the chosen path for many third
generation domestic satellites now being developed.
CONCLUSION
Satellite communications have made significant progress in
the past few years. Even greater strides will be made in the
years ahead as the number and capacity of new satellites
increase. However, a variety of economic, technical and
regulatory issues cloud this otherwise optimistic picture. How
we cope with these question will influence the long-term role
satellites play in worldwide telecommunications.
REFERENCES
1. 'Results from the 19 and 28 GHz Comstar Satellite
Propagation Experiments at Crawford Hill', a paper by
Donald C. Cox and Hamilton W. Arnold, in Proceedings of
the IEEE, Volume 70, no. 5, May 1982.
2. Bell Laboratories first proposed such a system, using a
synchronized flying spot beam and TDMA modulation
techniques. See 'Scanning Spot Beam Satellite System', by
Douglas 0. Reudink and Yu S. Yeh, in.Bell System Technical
Journal, Volume 56, no. 8, October 1977.
3. 'The Economics of Telecommunications in the Century of
the Satellite', by Albert D. Wheel on, in the proceedings of
the World Telecommunication Forum, ITU, Geneva, 20
September 1979.
 3 THE BASICS OF SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY

Wilbur Pritchard, Chairman of the Board, Direct Broadcast Satellite Corporation; Chairman of the Board,
Satellite Systems Engineering; Founding Chairman of the Board, Society of Satellite Professionals; IEEE
Fellow, AIAA Fellow

To understand how satellites work to provide communication services is not difficult. That is, it is
not difficult if you are provided with clear explanations, with an absence of technicalities and a few
understandable analogies. Among the world's best qualified teachers of the basics of satellite
technology is a man who has designed satellites, headed several aerospace corporations, founded
the International Society of Satellite Professionals, and is one of the key leaders of the direct
broadcast satellite industries and the cellular radio industry. This explanation, in part, first
appeared in a book published by Prentice-Hall under the title of Satellite Communication System
Engineering. It was so clear and concise, we asked Prentice-Hall for the right to edit and revise the
text for Satellites International. We thank Wilbur Pritchard and Prentice-Hall for granting this
request.

In the previous chapters, the basics of satellite communica-
tions from an overview perspective were covered. But how do
communication satellites actually work and what do earth
stations really do?; in particular, how is an end-to-end
satellite link established and operated? That is the very ques-
tion to be taken up here.
larger and more focused achieves greater directivity. In this
manner the antenna attains higher performance and higher
gain. Gain is measured on a logarithmic scale in de~ibels. In
the case of parabolic earth station antennas, the gain is
proportionate to the square of the antenna diameter,
adjusted by the 'efficiency' of the feed and reflector system.

Carrier-to-noise ratio: An electronic carrier wave can be

ESTABLISHING A SA TEL LITE LINK changed in amplitude, frequency or phase to send a message
(voice, data, radio, TV, etc). The detectability of the signal
A communications satellite typically operates as a distant modulated on its carrier is determined by the ratio of carrier
line-of-sight microwave repeater providing communications power to noise. The noise comprises thermal, receiver and
services among multiple earth stations in various geographic natural interference which serves to prevent the clear
locations. The performance of a satellite link is typically
specified in terms of its channel capacity and there are several Satellite repeater
definitions that are relevant. s
• A channel is a one-way link from a transmitting earth
station through the satellite to the receiving earth station.
• A circuit is a full duplex (or two-way) link between two
earth stations.
• A half-circuit is a two-way link between an earth station
and the satellite only.
The capacity of a link is specified by the types and numbers
of channels and the performance requirements of each
channel. In practical terms, a communications common
carrier providing voice service must provide circuits to its
customers. The channel, however, may also apply to televi-
sion and data circuits as well. In the case of an international
system, a link from a transmitting station to the satellite may
originate in one country and the link from the satellite to the
receiving earth station may terminate in a second country.
For broadcast and data collection applications, one-way
channels are typical (Figure 1).
To proceed further, we must learn a few technical terms
that may be helpful in understanding the explanations that
follow later on.
Full two-way link = 1 circuit
One-way link (A to B) = 1 channel
Antenna gain: Antenna gain for satellites and earth stations is Two-way link (A to S) = Y2 circuit
measured by a ratio between the sensitivity of an omni-
directional antenna (with a gain of one) and of the antenna
whose gain is being determined. Any antenna as it becomes Figure 1. Basic satelite links.

19
Satellites International
detection of the signal carried by the carrier wave.
Radio frequency: The frequencies that radio waves can be
transmitted for satellite communications generally fall
between 200 MegaHertz (MHz) and 300 GigaHertz (GHz).
Specific frequencies are assigned for satellite communications
by procedures defined by the International Telecommunica-
tion Union. The most common frequency bands are C-band
(6 and 4 GHz); Ku-band (14 and 12/11 GHz); and L-band
(1.5 GHz). Other bands, however, are used at higher and
lower frequencies.
Modulation: In sending a signal on a carrier wave the process
of varying the phase, frequency or amplitude of the wave is
known as modulation. The process of receiving the carrier
wave and recovering the signal from it is known as demodula-
tion.
Transponder: Transponders are the active electronics in a
satellite that receives a carrier wave, filters it, translates it
into the downlink frequency, amplifies it and transmits it back
to Earth. The amplifying tube in the transponder is known as
a travelling wave tube. Increasingly, lower powered satellites
are now using solid state amplifiers rather than travelling
wave tubes.
With these definitions in mind, it is possible to understand
how a satellite link is created.
The channel carrying capacity of a satellite radio frequency
(RF) link (typically expressed in terms of voice channels per
transponder) is directly related to the overall available carrie!-
to-noise ratio (C/N). Exclusive of interference, three baste
elements are considered in designing this RF link. The first is
the uplink, representing the channel from the transmitting
earth station to the satellite. The quality of this link is usually
expressed in terms of the uplink carrier-to-noise ratio, or
(C/N)u. This ratio depends on the power of the transmitting
earth station, the gain of the transmitting antenna, the gain of
the receiving antenna and the system noise temperature. The
power of the transmitter on the ground depends on the size of
the power amplifier employed. The gains of both the
transmitting and receiving antennas are directly related to
their sizes and efficiencies. The system noise temperature is
composed of the receiver temperature, the noise due to losses
between the antenna and the receiver system, and the
antenna noise.
The second component in the RF link is the downlink. The
corresponding figure of merit is called the downlink carrier-
to-noise ratio (C/N)d. As with the uplink, (C/N)d depends on
the power of the transmitter, the transmitting and receiving
antenna gains and the receiving system noise temperature.
The third component to be considered in the RF link design is
the electronic system found in the satellite transponder
which, in addition to amplifying the uplink noise, produces
undesirable noiselike signals that are normally measured by
an equivalent carrier-to-noise ratio which we shall call (C/N)i.
Several impairments, primarily intermodulation (or cross
modulation effects) are included in the overall (C/N)i
component. Interference from other sate~lites and terr~strial
systems can also be collectively charactenzed by a car~ter-to­
interference ratio. If one assumes that the thermal nmse and
all the noiselike impairments are low level and additive, they
can easily be combined to yield a composite carrier to noise
ratio ( C/N)t.
The overall carrier-to-noise ratio available in the link is a
combination of the three elements [(C/N)u, (C/N)i, (C/N)d],
and they combine in the same way as do resistors in parallel.
20
That is, the overall carrier-to-noise ratio can never be any
larger than the smallest of the three individual components.
Two basic elements are required to establish a satellite link.
The first is the satellite repeater, or transponder, and the
second is a satellite earth station. The following paragraphs
briefly introduce the characteristics of each.
Satellite transponders
From a communication standpoint, a satellite may be
considered as a distant microwave repeater which receives
uplink transmissions and provides filtering, amplification,
processing and frequency translation to the downlink band
for retransmission. This kind of transponder is a quasi-linear
repeater amplifier: the uplink and downlink bands are
separated in frequency to prevent oscillation within the
satellite amplifier while permitting simultaneous transmission
and reception at different frequencies. Moreover, the lower
frequency band is normally used on the downlink to exploit
the lower atmospheric losses (sometimes called path loss),
thereby minimizing satellite power amplifier requirements.
Thus, in communication satellite operation today 6 GHz
uplinks are paired with 4 GHz downlinks. Likewise, 14 GHz
uplinks are paired with 12 GHz downlinks. The 6 and 4 GHz
band, or C-band, frequencies have the advantages of adequ-
ate bandwidth, negligible fading, low rain loss (for earth
station elevation angles above five degrees) and the availabil-
ity of affordable and reliable microwave devices.
Unfortunately, the available orbital locations and thus the
number of times the available spectrum can be reused are
being consumed quickly. The frequency coordination and
spectral utilization problems have become severe. Therefore,
the trend toward using higher frequencies, which began in the
1920s, continues. The Ku-band at 14 and 12 GHz has become
popular in recent satellite design in developed countries (like
the US, Japan and Europe) as the device technology has
developed. Although Ku-band has the advantage of ame-
liorating the interference problem, a substantial fading
margin must be provided to accommodate the severe rain
loss. Despite this, Ku-band is rapidly taking its place along
with C-band for satellite communications. Given these
trends, interest in the Ka-band (at 30 GHz/20 GHz) is now
growing as well with two such systems filed for in the US and
other satellite systems, in Japan and Europe, under testing.
Satellite transponder amplifiers must provide relatively
high gains (in the range 80 to 100 dB) while maintaining
relatively low noise operation. (This 'gain' is the same as its
amplification of the transponders. It should not be confused
with antenna gain, a measure of the antenna's ability to
'capture' radiated energy in a particular direction.) The
high-gain requirements typically require multiple-stage low-
noise amplification. The first stages in modern transponder
amplifier chains are provided by solid state amplifiers. These
devices require careful design to minimize noise and intermo-
dulation effects. Filters must also employ careful design
practices to minimize interference from adjacent channels, as
well as other factors. Frequency translation from the uplink
to the downlink band causes the uplink noise to be amplified
by the multiple-stage amplifier chain. Final stages of ampli-
fication in the transponder are typically provided by
travelling-wave tube amplifiers. It is in this high power output
amplifier stage that most of the impairments that affect
(C/N)i are generated. In multiple carrier operation, intermo-
dulation is usually the dominant impairment. Other factors,
such as amplitude modulation-to-phase modulation (AM-to-
PM) conversion, must also be considered. AM-to-PM results
 The Basics of Satellite Technology

from amplitude variations that produce unintentional phase
modulation at the output of the travelling wave tube. The
AM-to-PM causes amplitude ripple in the passband of the
channelizing filters to reproduce spurious PM signals in its
output.
Adjacent channel and adjacent satellite interference must
also be included in an overall consideration of impairments.
Therefore, the designer, in addition to considering thermal
noise effects, must consider a wide range of linear and
nonlinear impairments. These impairments are related to
both the design of the satellite hardware components and the
design operating points in the RF link. It is interesting to note
that such impairments are often less serious in terrestrial
systems, including earth stations, where primary power and a
wide range of hardware are readily available. In a satellite,
however, the limitations of spacecraft mass and power in
orbit force systems engineers to balance the available power
against the acceptable distortion due to nonlinear impair-
ments.
Virtually all satellite transponders used to date have been
of the type described here. In the future, more sophisticated
trasnsponder designs employing regenerating repeaters will
surely be used for digital transmission. In a regenerating
transponder the digital signal is demodulated and a new
output signal is generated within the transponder itself. This
approach has the distinct advantage of separating the uplink
and the downlink into two independent paths.
Earth stations
The second basic element in a satellite link is an earth
terminal. A block diagram of a typical earth station con-
figuration is shown in Figure 2. Earth stations are available in
a wide variety of size, function, sophistication and cost. They
are categorized by function, by the size of the antenna, by the
figure of movement and by the level of radiated power.
Antenna diameters range in size from as small as 0. 7 metres
for direct broadcast receive only applications to as large as 30
metres in diameter for large international gateway stations.
With the new Intelsat standard, international stations are
today only 14 to 17 metres in diameter and domestic stations
seldom are larger than 10 to 11 metres. These larger stations
require tracking systems to maintain the pointing of the
antennas at the satellite.
An earth station consists of an antenna subsystem, a power
amplifier subsystem, a low-noise receiver subsystem, and a
ground communications equipment subsystem (GCE). Many
stations are equipped with' separate uninterruptable power
supply systems and control, test and monitoring facilities,
sometimes called telemetry, tracking, and command systems
(TT &C). Small stations usually do not require tracking
systems because of the large beamwidth of the antenna
compared to the narrow range in which satellite station
keeping is maintained.
The performance of an earth station is specified by its
equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP) and its gain-to-
system noise temperature ratio (G/T). EIRP is the product of
the power output of the high power amplifier at the antenna,
and the gain of the transmitting antenna. The receiving
system sensitivity is specified by G/T, which is the ratio of the
receive gain of the antennas to the system noise temperature.
The antenna gain is proportional to the square of the
diameter and is dependent on the efficiency of the feed/
reflector system. The system noise temperature is composed
of three components: the noise of the receiver, the noise due

r----------------------------~
I I
I I
.-----1 High-power I Up- IF
amplifier I converters Modulator Baseband MUX
I )
I /
L ________ - - - - - - - - - - - ____ J
BeamW/G Polarization
and
tracking
Feed servo
r-- -----------------------
I
I
'
l
Low-noise I Down- IF I
receiver converters Baseband MUX
I
I
I I
L - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ___ J
Commercial
power input
AZand EL Antenna
drive tracking
motors servo
Diesel acpower
generator to station
loads

Telemetry tracking
and de power
command system to station
loads

Figure 2. 'JYpical earth station configuration, showing the transmission and reception paths ofasignal. The upper path (from right to
left) is the transmitting path, from the signal origination to the dish. The lower path (from left to right) shows the signal being received.
Abbreviations are: WIG, wavelength; IF, intermediate frequency; AZ, azimuth; EL, elevation; MUX, multiplex; UPS,
uninterruptible power supply.

21
Satellites International
to losses between the antenna feed system and the receiver,
and the antenna noise. Although the performance of an earth
station is typically limited by thermal noise, it can also be
plagued with some of the same difficulties caused by
nonlinear impairments in a satellite transponder. In general,
the larger the station, the more affordable high power levels
and equipment become, the fewer system compromises must
be made. The system designer must account for impairments
such as intermodulation distortion in the high power amplifier
located in earth stations as well as in the satellite transponder.
However, the difficulties presented to the designer in the
earth station are less restrictive than those in the satellite
transponder.
THE TERRESTRIAL LINK
The second part of the end-to-end satellite communications
problem is embedded in the terrestrial link between the
satellite earth station and the user environment. This part
deals more specifically with the baseband signal (i.e., the signal
after demodulation). To provide adequate satellite service to
a user, the service requirements must be well defined in terms
of quality. Quality of service, specified in terms of parameters
such as link availability (grade of service), bit error rate,
transmission rate, and signal-to-noise ratio, may then be
translated into a required carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N)r in the
RF link. The required (C/N)r is then compared with the
available carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N)a to determine the
overall capacity of the link. In designing systems to meet
required quality and grades of service, several fundamental
baseband processing elements must be considered.
The first level of processing is source coding and/or
modulation, wherein a source signal (voice, data or imagery)
is coded in digital form or processed in analog form to
prepare it for terrestrial transmission and multiplexing. In
analog transmission it is common to use amplitude modula-
tion (AM) and frequency modulation (FM). For digital
transmission, pulse code modulation (PCM) is used most
often.
Following individual source coding, the next processing
level is multiplexing. For analog transmission, channels are
combined using frequency division multiplex (FDM), which
employs frequency separated carriers, each of which
accommodates one channel. In digital transmission, multiple
channels are combined into higher level digital signals using
time division multiplexing (TDM), which employs separate
time slots, each carrying the information from one channel.
The next level of processing is channel coding, which may
be used to improve the quality of digital transmission by
adding redundancy to the transmitted information to reduce
the overall error rate. Finally, RF modulation is used to
modulate either single or multiple channel signals onto radio
frequency carriers high enough for transmission on the
satellite link. Analog transmission typically uses FM
(although AM is also used occasionally), and digital transmis-
sion usually employs some form of phase shift keying (PSK).
Note that either FM or AM may be used twice in the
composite source satellite transmission.
The final level in signal processing is 'multiple access'. To
exploit the satellite's geometric advantage, we must design
systems that permit more than one earth station pair to utilize
a transponder simultaneously. Multiple access techniques
have been used extensively in satellite communications. For
commercial applications, two types have beem employed
most often. The first is frequency division multiple access
(FDMA), which employs multiple carriers within the same
22
transponder. It is the most common method in use because it
was a natural extensim~ of the frequency division multiplex
(FDM) systems that were in use for many years in terrestrial
carrier systems. In FDMA, each uplink RF carrier occupies a
defined frequency slot and is assigned a specific bandwidth in
a multicarrier repeater. The receiving station selects the
desired carrier by RF filtering. In FDMA, multiple access is
achieved through frequency planning.
The second basic type used in commercial satellite com-
munications is time division multiple access (TDMA).
TDMA employs a single carrier which is time shared among
many users. It operates in burst mode, such that the
transmission bursts from all stations arrive at the satellite
transponder consecutively. The bursts are contiguously inter-
leaved without overlapping in time. Each earth station
receives all bursts from all stations (including its own) and
selects those destined for its users. Utilizing time shared
single carrier TDMA provides some distinct advantages over
FDMA. In particular, a single carrier TDMA approach
avoids the intermodulation distortion that must be accommo-
dated in multiple carrier FDMA systems.
A third kind of multiple access system, known as code
division multiple access (CDMA), is one in which all uplink
signals occupy the same frequency band at the same time.
Each has its own pseudorandom code chosen from a set,
which is used to separate the desired signal from the other
signals. The other signals are considered the same way as
interference or even jamming. This system has been used
primarily in military applications for security purposes but is
now being used for data distribution to microterminals.
Commercial applications of CDMA (or spread spectrum, as it
is sometimes called) are thus beginning to emerge for lower
speed data communications networking for speeds up to 56
kilobits per second.
COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS AND SERVICES
A telecommunications system must service several types of
networks to achieve full interconnectivity among users. The
shortest networks consist of buses used to distribute informa-
tion from PBXs or distributed computer systems operating
within a building or a small campus environment. Such
networks are typically less than 0.1 kilometre in maximum
communications distance and are normally serviced through
wire pairs, or other short distance techniques, such as
line-of-sight optical or infrared systems.
In the next level of the network hierarchy are local
networks extending over distances from 0.1 kilometre to
about 10 kilometres. ·Examples of such networks are those
servicing large campuses or small cities. These networks are
potentially implemented using one of several technologies,
such as optical fibres, coaxial cable systems and multipoint
digital radio distribution (sometimes referred to as digital
termination service, or DTS). Still larger networks,.such as
regional networks, extend from one kilometre to several
hundred kilometres. These include systems serving large
cities or compact multistate areas. Long-haul networks with
mean distances greater than 100 kilometres are the most cost
effective applications for fixed service satellite transmission.
Although most satellite networking applications cover dis-
tances greater than 1,000 kilometres, shorter distances are
becoming economically feasible.
Created and encouraged by the continued development of
digital technology, many new telecommunication services
have emerged in recent years. Still heading the list is
traditional telephone service, accounting· for approximately

80 percent of the value of telecommunication services
currently in place. Although telephone service has had a long
evolutionary history, spanning more than one hundred years,
the last decade has produced a revolution because of
deregulatory actions taken in the US, Japan and the UK. The
divestiture of the Bell System in the US, and the emergence
of digital technology will undoubtedly have enormous impact
on the future for satellite communications and its use for
voice service.
New video services have also emerged from the digital
revolution. Once these services were limited to full-motion
broadcast quality video. New services have been developed to
create revolutionary communication systems, such as video
teleconferencing for business applications. New transmission
systems have evolved for communicating image signals at
data rates and bandwidths far less than normally required for
broadcast quality video. Facsimile and graphics systems are
also developing rapidly as new tools to communicate image
information while saving on the cost of travel. Nevertheless
video conferencing is still a developing service not likely to
achieve its potential until the 1990s.
Perhaps the fastest growing area is that of data communica-
tion services. Seeded by the financial community and large
corporations seeking to manage their businesses better, new
data communication services have emerged. Database access
and data transfer through widely dispersed processing sys-
tems, transactional service for retail operations, inventory
management systems, network management, remote access
and electronic mail are just a few examples of new services. A
wide range of data rates is required to support these various
services. For discussion purposes, we classify data services in
terms of speed, roughly in accordance with the bandwidth
capabilities of the transmission media.
Speed range Data rate
Low speed (narrowband) < 1200 bits per second
Medium speed (voiceband) 1.2 to 64 kilobits per second
High speed (wideband) 64 kilobits per second to
3 megabits per second
Table 1
Network Data
Technology distance rate
Satellite Long haul Medium to high speed
Digital microwave radio Local/regional High speed
Optical fibres/coaxial Local/regional High speed
cable
Local distribution radio Local/regional Medium to high speed
Wire pairs Local Low to medium speed
The Basics of Satellite Technology
COMPARISON OF TRANSMISSION
TECHNOLOGIES
Many new technologies are emerging during the 1980s.
Table 1 summarizes the five most popular: satellites, digital
microwave radio, optical fibres/coaxial cables, local distribu-
tion radio and wire pairs. Each of them will expand greatly in
the coming years. Historically, as each new technique was
introduced, those associated with its creation were often so
zealous in promoting it that the inexperienced were misled
into thinking that it would dominate the telecommunications
field. This has not often been the case. Each technique tends
to apply best under a particular set of circumstances, and as
telecommunications expand, each finds its proper place in the
overall communications framework.
Table 1 lists each technology and illustrates those applica-
tions for which it performs best. Also noted are the primary
issues or problems associated with that particular technology.
Satellite transmission, for example, applies best in long-haul
applications for medium to wideband transmission. Because
of its geometric advantage, it is suited for multipoint-to-
multipoint (multiple access), multipoint-to-point (data
gathering), or point-to-multipoint (broadcast) applications.
In these services its inherent advantage over terrestrial tech-
niques is formidable.
One of the early uncertainties in satellite technology was
the effect of the long time delay to geosynchronous orbit. The
combination of delay and echo can be distressing on a
telephone conversation and the delay alone can reduce the
'through point' when data are transmitted, although it
certainly must be considered in any satellite communications
systems design, proven solutions to the problems exist. Error
correction algorithms must be tailored to satellite transmis-
sions. The unique geometric advantage of a satellite
in geosynchronous orbit makes it possible to service
complex, fully interconnected mesh networks with in-
dividual nodes widely seperated on the Earth's surface.
Note that with N links, the geometric advantage of
the satellite position allows [N(N-1)/2] links of inter-
connection without introducing switching. This means if there
are 50 earth stations in a network, 1,225 direct pathways
Primary limit
Connectivity consideration
Multipoint-to- Propagation time delay
multipoint
Point-to-
multipoint
Multipoint-to-
point
Point-to-point Transmission path
geometry
Point-to-point Construction cost (cable
duct availability)
Point-to-point Transmission path
Point-to- geometry
multipoint
Point-to-point Construction cost (cable
duct availability)
23
Satellites International

are possible via satellite [e.g., 50(49)/2= 1 ,225]. Note also that Earth station growth, in sheer numbers, is even more
communications between any two nodes in such a network is dramatic. The estimated value of the annual earth station
independent of the distance between them. This distance marketplace by the end of the decade is well over
insensitivity is a distinct characteristic of satellite systems $300,000,000. There are multiple market segments employing
which applies within the coverage area of a particular RF large numbers of earth stations. These markets include
beam. One should be careful not to interpret distance common carriers, large businesses, government and televi-
insensitivity within a particular beam as meaning that the cost sion distribution. The continued long-term growth is concen-
of a satellite link is independent of the size of the total trated in large business communications government and
geographic area covered by the beam. As coverage area common carriers. It should be noted that small home
increases, more satellite power is needed to produce the same terminals for direct broadcast and mobile satellite applica-
EIRP on the ground and thus higher costs are incurred. tions may ultimately number in the millions.
Digital microwave radio, evolving at the same time, fits
well in local or regional network applications and is applic-
able to wideband transmission in point-to-point applications. FURTHER READING
Typically, the issue for the systems engineer is to transmit the
desired information and accommodate the network Communications Act of 1934, as amended, latest edition
geometry, while coordinating frequency and power levels so (stock number 0400-0264), Superintendent of Public Docu-
as to share the spectrum with other systems. ments, United States Government Printing Office, Washing-
Optical fibre and coaxial cable systems, now rapidly ton, DC 20402.
developing, are also applicable to wideband transmission. 'Determination of Coordination Area', CCIR Report 382-3,
Point-to-point and in some cases point-to-multipoint network CCIR Green Books, Volume IX, International Telecom-
applications are possible. The salient issue is the cost of munication Union, Geneva, Switzerland.
construction of the network. Regardless of the cost of the Edelson, Burton I. 'Global Satellite Communications', Scien-
optical fibre itself, the cost of the cable ducts (or just the cost tific American, Volume 236, no. 2, February 1977.
of installing the fibre in existing ducts) can make a network IEEE Transactions on Communications: Special Issue on
too expensive compared to other methods. However, the Satellite Communications, October 1979.
installed cost of fibre links is dropping rapidly, thus now
providing strong competition for satellite communications in
high traffic density point-to-point applications.
The technology for local distribution radio has been
developing for many years and is now emerging rapidly
because it allows the instantaneous set-up of digital services
between a central site and a local network node. Data rates
and services from low speed (1,200 bits per second) to high
speed (1.544 megabits per second) are easily set up covering
network distances of approximately 5 to 15 miles. Transmis-
sion path geometry, as in the case of any radio system, is the
critical item.
Twisted wire pairs are one of the greatest natural com-
munications resources for local distribution existing in the
world today. Narrowband and medium band information and
correspondingly low and mediumdata rates are possible on
the wire pairs that have been installed by telephone com-
panies over the past one hundred years. The use of wire pairs
is limited to point-to-point applications and the critical issue is
installation cost, often re'l,~ted to the availability of pathways
for cable installation. We can expect that the pathways for
existing local telephone systems will be used in the future to
accommodate coaxial cables and optical fibres where twisted
pairs are now used.

THE GROWTH OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

In fewer than 25 years, satellite communication has grown

from a few experiments by major governments into a
multi-billion dollar industry developed with private funding
and support from large corporations and governments of all
sizes. The growth of the industry can be appreciated by
considering the number of satellites and earth stations in
operation and planned in the coming years. For example,
more than 40 satellites are spaced along less than 80 degrees
of the geostationary orbital arc over North America for use in
domestic satellite communications alone. In fact, the density
of satellites occupying this precious orbital arc has become a
major concern in the satellite communications field in recent
years.

24
 4 WORLD TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEADERS

The history of satellites is a tale not only of outstanding technological achievement but also of
remarkable international co-operation. Here the leaders of four of the major international bodies
which have orchestrated and advanced this co-operation outline the development and objectives of
their own organizations. Dean Burch, Director General of Intelsat, describes the scale of Intelsat's
success and its strategy for continuing innovation and expansion. The Director General of
Inmarsat, Olof Lundberg, writes about past and future improvements made in maritime and
aeronautical communications through Inmarsat's utilization of the space segment. The success of
Eutelsat both as a provider of telecommunications services and as a catalyst for the European
space industry are described by the Secretary General of Eutelsat, Andrea Caruso. Richard
Butler, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union, explains the structure
and work of the Union in the field of regulation, standardization and development of
telecommunications in general, and space communications in particular.

4A lntelsat: The Tomorrow Organization Dean Burch

4B lnmarsat on the Move Olof Lundberg

4C The European Telecommunications Satellite Organization Andrea Caruso

40 The International Telecommunication Union and Space Communications Richard Butler

 4A INTELSAT: THE TOMORROW ORGANIZATION
Dean Burch, Director General of lntelsat
The Intelsat global cooperative, formed in 1964, has a 20-year
record of outstanding success. This success can be measured
in many ways, such as the growth of the traffic on the system
which has grown an incredible 500 times - from 150 voice
channels at year-end 1965 to over 75,000 equivalent voice
channels today. Intelsat began the global communications
satellite revolution with Early Bird, our first satellite, in 1965.
This satellite, with 240 telephone circuits, more than doubled
the capacity available for transatlantic telecommunications
services in its day.
Early Bird is now dwarfed by the capabilities of today's
satellites. In 1987, Intelsat will launch the Intelsat VI satellite
that will have the capacity to send simultaneously either
40,000 voice circuits or, in an all-video mode, over 200
television channels - or an incredible three billion bits of
information per second. That is sufficient digital capacity to
send the Encyclopaedia Britannica (including colour facsimile
of the illustrations) from New York to London once every
three seconds.
Today, incredible telecommunication feats are being
achieved by lntelsat as a matter of routine. Each year lntelsat
facilitates tens of millions of airline bookings around the
world. Trillions of dollars in electronic fund transfers flow
through the Intelsat global satellite network annually. During
1986, Intelsat relayed about one billion telephone conversa-
tions carried along some 1,800 different international earth
station-to-earth station pathways. In all, Intelsat now serves
170 countries and territories around the world.
Intelsat's near achievement of a global electronic village is
dramatically shown by the fact that for global television
spectacles, like the Olympics and the World Cup soccer
matches, global satellite audiences exceed over a billion
people. Indeed, with the 1986 World Cup Soccer Finals in
Mexico and the Republic of Korea's Olympic Games in 1988,
global video audiences may well reach two billion. It is for
these reasons that Intelsat is sometimes called the 'tomorrow
organization'.
Intelsat was formed for the purpose of creating an
international telecommunications satellite network available
to all countries of the world on a non-discriminatory and
globally averaged basis. In fact, it has achieved this objective
and much more. Today, Intelsat also provides international
maritime mobile services to its sister organization, Inmarsat.
It provides domestic (or internal) long-distance and rural
telecommunications in nearly 30 nations around the globe.
The list of domestic service leases now ranges alphabetically
from Algeria to Zaire. With the recent innovation of planned
domestic services (whereby capacity can be leased on a
non-preemptible basis or even sold for $3 to $5 million per
transponder) the prospects are good that the number of
countries relying on Intelsat for internal communications will
double by 1990. With up to 170 transponders available to sell
or lease for planned domestic services, this new Intelsat
policy could have a major impact on the rapidity with which
local communication development is achieved in the next
decade. In terms of communications impact on a worldwide
basis. few activities or events in recent times are of
comparable scope.
But major innovations with global impact are not new to
Intelsat. In 1982 there was no such thing as a full-time
international satellite TV distribution system. No more!
Starting with a US-to-Australia system on the Pacific Ocean
satellite, the phenomenon of a full-time international net-
work for satellite distribution has caught on quickly in the last
three years. Today, there are 12 full-time international video
networks in operation or scheduled for operation, in which a
growing number of countries around the world participate.
Intelsat's performance in terms of providing reliable
international and domestic satellite services, has constantly
improved, despite declining utilization charges. Satellite
reliability ratings are much higher than 99.9 percent. Intelsat
thus exemplifies. on a day-in, day-out basis, how the nations
of the world- large and small, developed and developing-
can effectively cooperate together with outstanding success.
Intelsat's market-oriented strategies ensure that it Will
continue to provide state-of-the-art telecommunications
services to all parts of the globe. through this decade and
beyond.
INTELSA T'S FIVE-POINT STRATEGY
Intelsat's innovative plans for the 1980s and 1990s have, as
their essence. five essential points.
New Services and Tariffs
Since 1984, Intelsat has introduced more than 300 new
services. The characteristics of these new services and tariffs
involve lower costs, various levels of protected services.
greater flexibility in long-term lease capacities (from one to
seven-year periods), new digital and video services. the
introduction of new services that effectively utilize small and
lower cost earth stations, advanced new services for sophisti-
cated business users. on the one hand, and thin route rural
and remote services to developing countries on the other, and
greater flexibility for smaller users. such as new types of
part-time services and off-peak rates. Almost all of these
innovations, particularly those offering services where small
earth terminals can be utilized, bring Intelsat closer to the
customer. Intelsat has thus tried very hard to anticipate
customer market-place demand.
In this respect Intelsat has made its biggest effort to
introduce new digital services that are cost effective. Its new
digital tariffs that entered into effect in April 1987. define a
charge for only 'digital bearer' channels. This means that up
to five 'derived' channels can be realized from this single
'bearer' channel. In effect Intelsat signatories who invest in
25
Satellites International
low rate encoding equipment and digital speech interpola-
tion equipment can obtain their new digital services at a
fraction of the previous cost.
In addition to these new commercially structured services
Intelsat has also initiated Project SHARE in association with
the IIC. Project SHARE provides free satellite services for
education and health purposes. So far some 70 countries have
participated in this programme, including the People's
Republic of China. which has initiated a national satellite-
distributed educational system.
Small Earth Station Design
Among the more important of Intelsat's new service offerings
are the Intelsat Business Service (IBS), the Intelnet data
service to micro terminals, the Vista low-density telephony
service, and new analog and digital television service. In all of
these new services, the key ingredient is the introduction of
much smaller and lower-cost earth terminals. With IBS. a
3.5-metre earth station can be used on the customer's
premises to interconnect directly into the global system. With
Intelnet. microterminals as small as 75 centimetres in
diameter can be used to receive data at 19.2 kilo bits per
second. Intelnet thus can be used to support such diverse
operations as electronic mail, remote printing of electronic
newspapers, and news and financial distribution services.
Because each microterminal, complete with encoding and
decoding equipment and microprocessors, costs only about
$2,500, they open a broad range of opportunities for
broadcast and large network operations that were never
before possible with satellite communications. VISTA earth
terminals, for thin route and rural communications, some 4.5
metres in diameter. can and soon will be bringing satellite
communications to remote parts of Africa, South America,
Asia and the South Pacific. Indeed, it is Intelsat's special duty
and obligation to promote the cause of communication
development that distinguishes Intelsat in a substantive and
important way from US entrepreneurs who are promoting
private transoceanic satellite systems.
Finally, Intelsat has redefined its earth station perform-
ance characteristics to allow significant reductions in the cost
of building Intelsat standard earth stations. This will stimu-
late dJstnbutiOn ot earth statiOn networks w1th many smaller
antennas serving as multiple gateways into the Intelsat
network.
Advanced Modulation and Operating Techniques
Intelsat is planning to implement a number of advanced
modulation and operating techniques that should allow
significant increases in the amount of communications capac-
ity that can be derived from the Intelsat space segment in
future years.
In particular, Intelsat will implement (in the late 1980s and
early 1990s) voice processing techniques - initially, at 32
kilobits per second data rates for telephone services and
ultimately, at 16 kilobits per second. This innovation alone
will allow Intelsat to double and then quadruple the capacity
of the Intelsat space segment.
Intelsat will also be implementing a special 'cable in the
sky' type of service (initially for the restoration of optical
fibre systems) to transmit 140 megabits of data per second
through a single wideband Intelsat transponder. This, in
effect, means that eight such transponders will be able to
duplicate the entire capacity of the T AT-8 transatlantic
optical fibre cable system.
Intelsat has also introduced a digital video service which
26
can be transmitted at data rates ranging between 15 megabits
per second and 68 megabits per second. The development of
more advanced and lower cost digital coding and decoding
equipment (or codecs) for video application suggests that
studio-quality satellite transmissions should be achieved
within the next five years in the range of 15 to 20 megabits per
second. Intelsat has already tested a 15 megabit digital
compression television system under the Intelsat research and
development programme on live satellite demonstrations.
This system gives promise of allowing up to five television
channels to be derived from a single Intelsat transponder.
Similar breakthroughs at lower data rates should be achieved
in the video conferencing service areas, particularly on
dedicated corporate networks. This means that highly effec-
tive motion video conferencing may be provided in the range
of, say, 512 to 768 kilobits per second and, perhaps within the
next five years, at substantially lower rates as well.
All of these advanced techniques. largely of a digital
nature, will in effect allow Intelsat's global satellite charges to
continue to decrease in future years. lntelsat is also exploring,
on a parallel basis. more efficient operating techniques to
derive higher fill factors in the lntelsat space segment, in
order that lntelsat-satellites will, in the future, more closely
approximate the fill factors achieved in terrestrial and
submarine cable transmission systems. This, too, will help
Intelsat achieve highly cost-competitive communications ser-
vice capabilities for the 1980s and 1990s.
Advanced Technologies
The Intelsat VI satellite today represents the largest and most
sophisticated commercial communications satellite either in
orbit or in production. This satellite has 50 transponders and
operates in several frequency bands with a variety of
modulation techniques. Perhaps most significant is the fact
that Intelsat VI can be optimized to operate in the satellite-
switched TDMA mode, utilizing two 6x10 matrices for
dynamic switching and beam interconnection. The optimized
mode of operation allows Intelsat VI to transmit some three
billion bits of information per second; and provide services
ranging from low, medium and high power (including a
high-powered 44 DBW spot beam). Special new features,
such as a domestic beam configuration to provide higher
powered services optimized for domestic and/or regional
leases or for transoceanic 'cable buster' service have been
undertaken on two Intelsat VI satellites.
If the possible lifetime extension of lntelsat VI is taken into
consideration, as well as the low Intelsat option prices for
additional purchases, then the cost efficiency of Intelsat's
space segment looks very impressive. These spacecraft (in
terms of transponder performance per year in orbit) if not the
most cost effective communications facilities available any
place in the world, are certainly very close to it. regardless of
whether you are talking of domestic, regional or international
service. For the future, Intelsat is looking at new capabilities,
such as on-board processing techniques and electronic scan-
ning or hopping beam technology, that will allow Intelsat to
push ahead even further the frontiers of communications
satellite technology to create not only highly cost-effective
space segment capacity, but also the ability to operate with
simplified TDMA terminals, whose cost may drop below
$100,000 per terminal. Receive-only services will become
available at very low costs indeed.
Greater Reliability
Intelsat is also exploring procedures to ensure the increased
 World Telecommunications Leaders

reliability of communications services in the future. In

particular. this focus ranges from new, enhanced reliability
services (such as Intelsat's business services) using forward
error correction to achieve up to 99.99 percent reliability, to
distribution of traffic among all 17 satellites in the Intelsat
system to achieve maximum diversity, m terms ot routmg
communications services.
Intelsat's space segment reliability for many years has been
99.9 percent, in contrast to submarine cable systems that have
generally ranged in the level of 93 to 95 percent reliability.
Intelsat's 'in-orbit spare' philosophy has consistently allowed
CCI R and CCITT reliability recommendations to be
achieved. Exploitation of new capabilities in future spacecraft
techniques in the 1990s (such as intersatellite link intercon-
nectivity and satellite-switched TDMA) can perhaps allow
even higher levels of reliability to be achieved. This will also
allow demanding new ISDN and advanced fast packet
switching standards to be met.
The Intelsat svstem now serves some 170 different coun-
tries, territories. and jurisdictions around the world. As
Intelsat enters the last part of the 20th century, it will
continue to focus a significant amount of its research and
development efforts towards ensuring the increased reliability
of its services and a responsiveness to global market demand.
Thus Intelsat believes its five-point strategy of new
services, small earth station design, new modulation and
operating techniques, new satellite technology and greater
reliability, will position it and its 170 users around the world
to be highly competitive in a new international telecom-
munications environment.

27
 48 INMARSAT ON THE MOVE
Olof Lundberg, Director General, lnmarsat
Inmarsat came into being in July 1979, and began operations
in February 1982. Its purpose, as amended in October 1985, is
'to make provision for the space segment necessary for
improving maritime communications and, as practicable,
aeronautical communications, thereby assisting in improving
communications for distress and safety of life, communica-
tions for air traffic services, the efficiency and management of
ships and aircraft, maritime and aeronautical public corres-
pondence services and radiodetermination capabilities.'
Forty-four states have adhered to the Inmarsat Convention
and have designated signatories, typically national telecom-
munications administrations, to sign the Operating Agree-
ment. The organization is financed by contributions from its
signatories which are to be repaid with compensation set at 14
per cent.
Inmarsat provides mobile satellite communications to the
maritime and offshore industries of more than 70 countries.
(All countries are entitled to join the organization and ships
from all nations are able to use the system whether or not
their country of registry is a member.) About 5,000 ships and
other users are equipped with ship earth stations.
Currently, Inmarsat leases satellite capacity on geostation-
ary satellites positioned over the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific
Ocean regions, providing global coverage, except for the
polar regions beyond the 75 degree latitudes. These are the
Marisat satellites, the Marecs satellites and the maritime
subsystems on certain Intelsat V satellites. In April 1985, it
awarded a $150 million contract to an international consor-
tium led by British Aeorospace for construction of three
satellites, with options on up to six more, to be launched from
1988. The satellites, part of Inmarsat's second generation
system, will be needed to provide additional capacity for the
growing number of maritime and other users and to provide
new services.
Services currently provided via the Inmarsat system are:
telephone, facsimile and low/medium speed data over tele-
phone channels, telex, leased circuits for voice and high speed
data, high speed and very high speed data communications
and group calls (broadcast calls made by authorized shore-
based users to selected ships).
Currently, Inmarsat has type approved only one ship earth
station (SES) standard. The Standard A SES has a parabolic
antenna with a diameter between 85 and 125 em. About a
dozen manufacturers around the world produce Standard A
ship earth stations at competitive prices around $25,000.
Inmarsat is developing other ship earth station standards.
Standard B will be a digital version of Standard A, with 20
kHz channel 'spacing compared to the 50 kHz now used by
Standard A. It will come into use from about 1989. Standard
C will be a much smaller terminal, with an omnidirectional
antenna and 5 kHz channel spacing, to be used for low speed
data (600 bits per second) and telex services by smaller boats
such as fishing boats, yachts and lifeboats. It is expected to
cost about $4,000 to $5,000 when it comes on the market in
1988.
Inmarsat amended its Convention in October 1985 to give
it the institutional competence to provide aeronautical
services from 1988. The amendments followed discussions
with the aeronautical community and a recommendation
from the international conference held in 1975-76 that led to
the organization's establishment, that Inmarsat study the use
of multi-purpose satellites to provide both maritime and
aeronautical communications.
Trials and demonstrations of aeronautical communications
via satellite have already begun and contracts are being
awarded for further prototype equipment development.
Inmarsat is working on standards for a high gain aircraft earth
station (AES), capable of telephony and message traffic, as
well as a low gain AES, used for low speed data traffic.
Initially, lnmarsat expects to provide aeronautical satellite
service for public correspondence (passenger communica-
tions), company communications and subsequently, for air
traffic control.
Inmarsat mobile satellite services will be provided in the
following frequency bands from 1988:
Maritime mobile satellite service:
1,530-1,544 MHz (receive), 1,626.5-1,645.5 MHz
(transmit)
Mobile satellite distress and safety:
1,544-1,545 MHz (receive), 1,645.5-1,646.5 MHz
(transmit)
Aeronautical mobile satellite service- (AMSS) (R):
1,545-1,546 ,MHz (receive), 1,646.5-1,647.5 MHz
(transmit)
Inmarsat studies indicate that it will need all of the
maritime mobile satellite service spectrum - and more - by
the turn of the century. Equally, its preliminary estimates for
aeronautical public correspondence indicate a need for about
17 MHz in the same time frame. Currently the AMSS (R)
band, which stretches from 1545-1559 MHz (downlink) and
1645.5-1660.5 MHz (uplink), is restricted to safety-related
communications, such as air traffic control and some com-
pany communications. The World Administrative Radio
Conference (W ARC) for the mobile services, held in 1987, is
expected to review the allocations for mobile communica-
tions, including the AMSS (R) band.
There is some demand for reallocation or sharing of the
band in North America by those organizations hoping to
provide mobile satellite services in Canada and the US.
Studies undertaken by aeronautical agencies, including the
US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Air Trans-
port Association and Aeronautical Radio Inc., as well as the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), show that
all of the AMSS (R) band will be needed by aerO"nautical
agencies by the year 2010 and that additional spectrum for
aeronautical public correspondence will be needed.
Inmarsat has drawn to the attention of its signatories and
parties to the spectrum requirements for maritime and aero-
nautical satellite communications and is hopeful that neither
29
Satellites International
erosion nor reallocation of spectrum will occur. Inmarsat has
said that the aeronautical community, like the maritime
community, needs spectrum for global coverage, universal
standards and a common set of operating procedures.
In addition to maritime and aeronautical communications,
Inmarsat provides access to its system for certain land mobile
applications. For example, it has adopted a policy whereby it
can make access available for emergency relief operations on
land, where natural disasters such as earthquakes, droughts
or floods have disrupted existing communications or where
adequate communications do not exist. In such cases, a
mobile earth station can be used to re-establish a link with the
outside world via Inmarsat. Similarly, the Director General is
authorized to approve, on a case-by-case basis, the use of
mobile earth stations for land mobile communications where
no suitable alternative exists.
Use of the Inmarsat system is growing rapidly. As
mentioned earlier, there are 5,000 ship earth stations. This
figure will grow to about 11,000 by 1990 and to 17,000 by
1995. These numbers do not include aircraft or other mobile
earth stations, nor the impact which the Future Global
Maritime Distress and Safety System (FGMDSS) may
have.
The FGMDSS, to be introduced by the International
Maritime Organization from 1990, will replace the current
distress and safety arrangements with a new approach.
Whereas current arrangements rely essentially on ship-to-ship
assistance in the event of danger or distress, the future system
provides for vessels to alert the shore for coordination of
appropriate rescue arrangements. The FGMDSS will impact
all ships over 300 tonnes. Ships will be required to carry radio
equipment according to their area of operation. In Area A3,
which is within the Inmarsat coverage area, the ship will have
the choice of fitting either a ship earth station or high
frequency transmit-receive equipment with digital selective
calling. The FGMDSS, which will figure prominently in the
deliberations of WARC 1988, will probably lead to a
dramatic increase in the number of ship earth stations and the
amount of traffic through the Inmarsat system.
As a commercial but not-for-profit system, Inmarsat has
already earned a sufficient surplus of revenues over expendi-
tures. As a result, it was able to announce a reduction of up to
15 percent in its space segment charges for all services as ot
1 January 1986.
In addition to new standards and services, Inmarsat expects
to introduce spot beam service in the 1990s. Initially, this may
come with Inmarsat 2A, modified satellites in its second
generation system, with one or two steerable spot beams in
addition to the global beam coverage. Spot beam coverage
will enable higher power in the satellite to be delivered to
smaller, cheaper mobile terminals and may also lead to lower
communications charges. Although the Inmarsat 2 and 2A
satellites essentially use tested and proven technology, the
third generation Inmarsat satellites, scheduled for introduc-
tion in the late 1990s, will be advanced technology satellites,
delivering spot beam service around the world to a wide range
of mobile terminals, across the seas, in the air and on land.

30
 4C THE EUROPEAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE
ORGANIZATION
Andrea Caruso, Secretary General, Eutelsat
Other satellite communication systems have been established
for the purpose of providing telecommunications services
between areas where such services were non-existent or
totally insufficient. The Eutelsat system, however, was not
originally conceived to fill telecommunications gaps. In view
of the extensive European terrestrial network already in
place, the objectives of the system are to satisfy specific
European telecommunications requirements and to enable
the European aerospace industry to develop a full range of
technologies so that it may compete in the world market.
Therefore, it is essential that Eutelsat be as economically
efficient as possible in order to provide a financial advantage
over the terrestrial network.
The Eutelsat system basically provides services which are
not available via lntelsat in Europe. However, it is important
to point out that the European PTT's and their governments
sought full coordination under Article XIV of the Intelsat
Agreement, from both technical and economic points of
view, before taking any steps to establish Eutelsat. Today,
Eutelsat complements the already well-developed European
terrestrial network, but does not provide any television
circuits outside the European broadcasting zone.
Eutelsat provides the following services: 1) it channels a
significant portion of intra-European public telephone traffic,
2) it leases portions of the space segment for the distribution
of television programmes, 3) it provides multi-service trans-
missions tailored to the specific needs of the business
community, and 4) provides for the transmission of Eurovi-
sion television programmes.
Eutelsat provides reliable voice telecommunications ser-
vices to its member administrations, enabling them to make
better use of existing terrestrial facilities by allowing over-
crowded major European paths to be off-loaded and transit
problems to be overcome. With 12 television programmes
currently being transmitted to 18 countries, Eutelsat has
strengthened national cable TV policies by making a large
number of varied, high-quality European programmes avail-
able to cable operators. In addition, European business
companies can now benefit from flexible, easily implemented
digital links.
Eutelsat I-F1 has been operating at full load since the
beginning of its operational life in October 1983, while the F2
satellite, successfully launched in August 1984, is fulfilling its
mission as the main operational satellite. In response to the
demand for additional fixed satellite service in Europe,
Eutelsat has decided to add a third operational satellite.
Eutelsat's space segment is fully coordinated by the European
Space Agency, which procures spacecraft from European
manufacturers. In addition, all satellites are launched by the
European launcher, Ariane.
FUTURE PLANS
Eutelsat will continue to stimulate and serve that part of the
telecommunications business where the use of a satellite
network is of particular benefit. Eutelsat thus enables the
member PTT administrations to secure optimum economic
distribution between the various terrestrial systems and
satellite transmission capacity.
The great success of the Eutelsat I satellites has led the
way, and the study and procurement process for the second
generation of Eutelsat satellites is now well under way. Three
flight units will be involved, the first launch is scheduled for
mid-1989 and Eutelsat has an option on two additional units.
Technological improvements to this new generation will
include enhanced coverage of the service zones by means of
shaped-beam antennas, greater operational flexibility for the
transponders, and a number of improvements to the trans-
ponders' basic characteristics.
Eutelsat will also continue to serve as a catalyst. Indeed,
European interests can often be better served by following a
unified approach. With this aim, Eutelsat has started a
detailed study of the technical, operational, economic and
political aspects of a unique European direct broadcasting
system which would follow a series of separate national
initiatives. Eutelsat is also closely studying the development
of mobile communications techniques, and the evolving need
for a satellite-based land mobile service.
Eutelsat has thus fully accomplished its initial task of
providing an impetus for advanced European industry. The
days when the space industry was the monopoly of one single
country have been forgotten - and this is true of both
satellites and launchers. Eutelsat has made reliable, varied
and competitive telecommunications services available to its
member signatories while operating on a sound economic and
financial basis. This success, as well as that of Intelsat and
Inmarsat, is that of an international organization backed by
governments, where the risks are shared between dozens of
partners who, as both shareholders and users in the s-ame
venture, have a vested interest in leading that venture to
success. Consistent political cooperation throughout the
continent makes Eutelsat strategically and operationally
effective- to the benefit of everyone.
The success of these organizations serves as a clear example
of international cooperation which should not be placed at
risk by the financial interests of private investors. Inter-
governmental satellite telecommunications organizations are
showing the way forward to more extensive and more
developed international cooperation between countries at
many other levels.
31
 40 THE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION
AND SPACE COMMUNICATIONS
Richard Butler, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union
INTRODUCTION
The role of the International Telecommunication Union is
essentially to harmonize the actions of nations for the
world-wide development of telecommunications - a role in
which it has a distinguished record of over 120 years.
The Union was established in 1865 in Paris and is the doyen
of intergovernmental organizations. Known at the time of its
establishment as the International Telegraph Union, it
changed its name in 1932 when it assumed additional
responsibilities embracing telephony and radiocommunica-
tions. The new name it took is the name that it bears today-
the International Telecommunication Union.
In 1947 the Union entered into an agreement with the
United Nations through which it became the UN specialized
agency responsible for telecommunications.
Today, the Union has a membership of 162 countries and is
responsible for the regulation, standardization and promotion
of development of telecommunications of all kinds.
STRUCTURE
The Union has a multi-tiered structure which in a way
corresponds to the diversity of demands that were progres-
sively placed on it. This structure comprises Plenipotentiary
and Administrative Conferences, an Administrative Council
and four permanent organs, namely, the General Secretariat,
two International Consultative Committees, one for Radio
and the other for Telegraphy and Telephony and the
International Frequency Registration Board.
The Plenipotentiary Conference, as the supreme organ of
the ITU, meets periodically (normally once in every five
years) and reviews and updates the International Telecom-
munication Convention, the Union's basic instrument. The
Conference revised one the of the Articles of the Interna-
tional Telecommunication Convention at its meetings of
Malaga-Torremolinos (1973) and Nairobi (1982), to recog-
nize the fundamental importance of the geostationary
satellite orbit (along with the radio frequency spectrum) as a
limited national resource. The relevant text currently appear-
ing in Article 33 of the Convention reads:
In using frequency bands for space radio services Members
shall bear in mind that radio frequencies and the geosta-
tionary satellite orbit are limited natural resources and
that they must be used efficiently and economically, in
conformity with the provisions of the Radio Regulations,
so that countries or groups of countries may have
equitable access to both, taking into account the special
needs of the developing countries and the geographical
situation of particular countries.
The Convention has international treaty force and is
supplemented by the Administrative Regulations, which,
besides the Telegraph and Telephone Regulations, include
the Radio Regulations. It is the latter regulations which
particularly apply, in so far as the regulation of satellite
communications is concerned. They are reviewed and revised
by World Administrative Radio Conferences which are
convened by the Union when this is considered necessary.
The work of Administrative Conferences and the perma-
nent organs of the Union has over the years made significant
contributions in realizing one of the basic objectives of the
Union, enunciated in the Convention, namely to:
coordinate efforts with a view to harmonizing the
developement of telecommunication facilities, notably
those using space techniques, with a view to full advantage
being taken of their possibilities.
ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCES
The first World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC)
which, among other things, looked at the question of satellite
communications was the one held in 1959. It was soon
followed by an extraordinary and specialized WARC in 1963
for space radiocommunications. The latter Conference
marked the transition from regulatory provisions for research
purpose to those applicable to the everyday reality of space
telecommunications. Among other things, it made frequency
allocations, and established procedures for the co-ordination
of satellite networks with one another as well as between
space communication systems and terrestrial systems with
which some sharing of spectrum space is involved.
Progress was rapid in the following years leading to major
and specialized service reviews in 1971 by a WARC for space
telecommunications - a conference which was almost of a
general character in that it reviewed all services in the
perspective of space options and extended in a very large
measure the Radio Frequency Allocation Table. For the first
time frequency bands were allocated to the Broadcasting
Satellite Service, for use under certain specific conditions,
which included the establishment of plans. Then came the
1977 W ARC for the planning of the Broadcasting-Satellite
Service. which established a Plan for the service in the 12
GHz band for Regions 1 and 3* along with arrangements for
Region 2 pending a subsequent conference, the 1983 Region
2 Broadcasting-Satellite Service Conference. Between 1977
and 1983, there had been the major WARC 1979 with its
almost total review of the radio spectrum allocations and
co-ordination and planning arrangements, including refine-
ments to the 12 GHz band allocations which paved the way
for the practical planning of the 1983 Region 2 Conference.
In the two decades between 1959 and 1979, many technolo-
gical improvements had taken place which resulted in the
cost/benefit ratio of satellite communications becoming
favourable even for domestic communications where the
distances to be spanned were far less than those involved in
33
Satellites International

Chart of Regions as Defined in the Table of Frequency Allocations

Figure I.

Figure 2.
140" 120" 100° 40" 60" SO" 100" 120" 140° 160" ISO• 160"

20°

ISO" 1eo• 1•0• 120" 100• so• •o• 20" 20° 40" eo• so• 100" 120" 140" 1&0° ISO•

1\!'y /1) 1·~~1/J~' 2.

f,}~;;J%1 Trop•cal Zone {1)
- Trop•callone t21 In rog•on 2 the Trop•cal Zone may be OJCtended as shown subject to spec•al agreements wtth the countuos •nvolved

D European Broadcast•ng Area

European Manllme Area Bounded on the North by a line extendtng along parallel 72° North from tiS tntersectton wtth mendtan 55° East to tis mtersect•on wtth mend•an
5° West. then along mendtan 5° West to tts mtersectton wtth parallel 670 North, thence along parallel 670 North to •ts tntersecllon wtth mend tan 30° w est. on the West
by a hne extendtng along mendtan 30° West to •ts tntersect•on wtth parallel30° North. on the South by a hne extend1ng along paralle130° North to 1ts 1ntersectlon w 1th
mend1an 43° East, on the East by a hne extend1ng along mer1d1an 43° East to 1ts 1ntersect1on w1th parallel 60° North, thence along parallel 60° North to 1ts mtersectton
w1th mer1d1an 55° East and thenc e along mend•an 55° East to 1ts mters ect1on w1th parallel72° North

34

intercontinental systems. Thus satellite systems were tending
to extend their usefulness from those providing global
coverage to those with regional, sub-regional and domestic
coverage.
Because of these trends. the 1979 Conference took many
important decisions. Of these. two need to be mentioned.
Firstly. the spectrum space allocated for providing conven-
tional point-to-point telecommunication services via satellite.
or the Fixed Satellite Service as it is called. was expanded.
Secondly, while making a number of improvements in the
regulatory provisions applicable to satellite communications.
it decided that a future W ARC be convened 'to guarantee in
practice for all countries equitable access to the geostation-
ary-satellite orbit and the frequency bands allocated to space
services'. This Orbit Conference was to be held in two
sessions. Of these. the first session was held in 1985 and the
second will be held in 19S8.
The 19S5 First Session of the Orbit Conference - 0 RB (I)
- established Final Acts (providing for the incorporation of
the Region 2 Broadcasting Satellite Service Plan into the
Radio Regulations) as well as a Report to the Second Session
which includes planning principles and method as well as
procedural guidelines.
The Final Acts brought to fruition the objectives foreseen
at the Plenipotentiary Conference of Malaga-Torremolinos in
1973. namely. the establishment of a definitive World
Agreement for the Broadcasting Satellite Service in the 12
GHz band.
A critical issue and challenge facing ORB (1) was how to
find an acceptable way of guaranteeing in practice to all
countries equitable access to the geostationary-satellite orbit
and the frequency bands allocated to the space radiocommu-
nication services. whilst reconciling that objective with the
efficient and economic use of these natural resources.
The adoption for the fixed satellite service of a novel and
dual approach. with allotment planning for certain bands and
planning through improved procedures for certain other
bands, once again highlighted the pragmatic way in which the
ITU could come to grips with issues that needed to be settled
in negotiations between its Members. ORB( I) also contri-
buted, among other things. to the evolution of new technical
criteria as well as the simplification of procedures associated
with all space services.
The First Session undoubtedly took an histone step
towards satisfying objectives for equitable access to the
geostationary-satellite orbit and the appropriate planning
mechanisms for radiocommunication services utilizing it.
Currently the intersessional work is being carried out both by
the Members of the Union and by the permanent organs.
which will be brought to fruition at the Second Session of the
Conference scheduled to take place in 1988.
PERMANENT ORGANS OF THE UNION
The Consultative Committees
The ITU has two Consultative Committees : the International
Radio Consultative Committee (abbreviated CCIR from its
French title) and the International Telegraph and Telephone
Consultative Committee (abbreviated CCITT from its French
title). The CCis deal with technical and operational questions
in their respective fields of competence. All Member coun-
tries of the Union can participate in their work. as well as
recognized private operating agencies, scientific and indust-
rial organizations, and international organizations.
World Telecommunications Leaders
Each CCI holds a Plenary Assembly every four years. The
Plenary Assembly draws up a list of technical or operational
questions. the study of which would lead to improvements in
international radio communication or international telegra-
phy and telephony. These questions are appropriately distri-
buted amongst a number of Study Groups. composed of
experts from different countries. The Study Groups draw up
Recommendations which are submitted to an ensuing Plenary
Assembly for adoption. CCIR and CCITT Recommendations
though not always having the same binding force as the
Administrative Regulations are almost universally followed
as they represent the collective wisdom of operating adminis-
trations and companies. manufacturers and designers of
equipment throughout the world.
The Radio Consultative Committee
The CCIR is the permanent organ of the ITU. responsible
under the International Telecommunication Convention · ...
to study technical and operating questions relating specifically
to radiocommunications without limit of frequency range and
to issue recommendations on them ... · In this connection
the work of the CCIR includes:
• the provision of relevant technical bases for use by various
Administrative Radio Conferences as well as others
concerned with the efficient utilization of the radio-
frequency spectrum and geostationary-satellite orbit:
• the recommendation of performance standards for space
communication systems and technical arrangements that
assure their effective and compatible interworking in
international telecommunications.
In order to respond more effectively to a growing number
of various technical questions concerning space services.
including questions of sharing the radio-frequency spectrum
and geostationary orbit, the Xllth CCIR Plenary Assembly
(New Delhi. 1970) created a new structure for the Study
Groups. Indeed. among the eleven Study Groups of the
CCIR. seven are directly involved in studies of questions
related to space communications. These are:
Study Group 2 - Space research and radioastronomy
Study Group 4 - Fixed-satellite service
Study Group 5 - Propagation in non-ionized media
Study Group 7 - Standard frequencies and time signals
Study Group 8 - Mobile services
Study Group 10- Broadcasting service (sound)
Study Group 11 - Broadcasting service (television)
In the brief space of this contribution it would not be
possible even to mention all the studies of the CCIR in the
field of space communications. Nevertheless it could be
indicated that the questions studied or being studied include
the following: frequency utilization and orbit sharing aspects.
such as interference assessment and control, antenna discri-
mination. cross polarization. and frequency interleaving:
propagation factors like attenuation and depolarization by
rain; system characteristics covering a wide variety of satellite
services such as the fixed-satellite service, the broadcasting-
satellite service, the earth-exploration satellite service. the
meteorological-satellite service and the mobile-satellite ser-
VIces.
Special mention should also be made of the studies
undertaken by the CCIR in the preparation of two hand-
books: one on Satellite Broadcasting Systems and the other
on Satellite Communications.
The Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee
The duties of the CCITT are 'to study and issue recommenda-
tions on technical, operating and tariff questions relating to
telecommunication services. other than technical or operating
35
Satellites International
questions relating specifically to radiocommunication.'
Within the framework of its mandate, the CCilT studies
the use of telecommunication and where necessary, the
signalling associated with these various types of information.
A number of Study Groups are concerned with this work, in
areas such as telegraph and data services, telephone transmis-
sion, telephone switching, telephone signalling and opera-
tion, interconnection of maritime satellite communications
services with terrestrial telephone and telex networks etc. In
particular, the following Study Groups are involved:
Study Group I - Definition and operational aspects
of telegraph and telematic services
(facsimile, teletex, videotex,
etc.)
Study Group II - Telephone operation and quality
of service
Study Group XII - Telephone transmission perform-
ance and local telephone networks
Study Group XV - Transmission systems
Study Group XVIII - Digital networks
Insofar as space communications are concerned, the work
of the CCITT basically involves studies leading to the
formation of appropriate recommendations for the use and
integration of satellite circuits (with their relatively long (250
millisecond) propagation times) in telecommunication net-
works. The subjects of such studies have included, for
instance, characteristics of echo suppressors and cancellors,
digital sp~ech interpolation, effects of long propagation times
on signalling systems, the use of circuits derived from
telecommunication satellites for the provision of maritime
mobile services and measures to be adopted for the use of
satellite circuits for data transmission and telegraphy. Study
Group XVIII has a pivotal role in the process of defining the
new Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).
Joint CCI activities
Close collaboration exists between the CCis. In this regard,
mention should be made of the World Plan Committee and
the four Regional Plan Committees (Africa, Latin America,
Asia and Oceania, Europe and the Mediterranean Basin),
which are joint CCITT/CCIR Committees. They are
responsible for developing a General Plan for the Interna-
tional Telecommunication Network to facilitate the co-
ordinated development of international telecommunication
services.
There are also Special Autonomous Groups of the CCis
which work together as may be necessary on the preparation
of handbooks on subjects of particular interest, especially to
developing countries. One such subject relates to the econo-
mic and technical impact of implementing a regional satellite
network.
The International Frequency Registration Board (IFRB)
The IFRB's main task is to decide whether radio frequencies
which countries assign to their radio stations (and which they
notify to the Board) are in accordance with the Radio
Regulations and would not cause harmful interference to
other stations. If the Board's finding in a particular case is
favourable, the frequency is recorded in the Master Interna-
tional Frequency Register it maintains, thereby securing
formal international recognition for the assignment.
The essential duties of the International Frequency Reg-
istration Board (IFRB) in regard to space communications
are:
36
• to effect, in accordance with the Radio Regulations, an
orderly recording of the positions assigned by countries to
geostationary satellites, with a view to ensuring formal
international recognition thereof;
• to furnish advice to Members with a view to the equitable,
effective and economical use of the geostationary satellite
orbit, taking into account the needs of Members requiring
assistance, the specific needs of developing countries, as
well as the special geographical situation of particular
countries;
• to perform any additional duties, concerned with the
assignment and utilization of frequencies and with the
equitable utilization of the geostationary satellite orbit, in
preparation for or in pursuance of the decision of such a
conference.
In this regard, the IFRB applies the relevant co-ordination,
notification and registration procedures prescribed in the
Radio Regulations. As part of this process, the IFRB
received, in 1985 for example, information relating to more
than 70 new satellite networks which it published, under the
advance publication procedure. Similarly, in the same year,
the IFRB published the necessary information concerning the
request for co-ordination of space services assignments
relating to some 80 geostationary-satellite networks. Assist-
ance was also provided on request to certain Administrations
in the co-ordination of frequency assignments to stations in
various satellite services.
The IFRB also prepares reports for and participates in
world and regional administrative conferences on space
radiocommunications. These reports include information on:
• the application of the relevant regulatory provisions;
• any difficulties which may be reported to it by Administra-
tions in gaining access to suitable orbital locations and
frequencies;
• any difficulties encountered by the Board itself in applying
the relevant provisions along with an indication of the
solutions adopted.
Furthermore, for conferences in which planning is
involved, the IFRB undertakes the necessary preparatory
work for the computer aided development of plans based on
requirements submitted by Administrations.
Finally, mention should be made of the list of space
radiocommunication stations and radio astronomy stations
maintained by the IFRB, which is published periodically.
The General Secretariat
The main duties of the General Secretariat, of relevance to
space communications, besides providing administrative and
secretarial support to Conferences, are:
• the planning and management of technical co-operation
programmes for the development of satellite communica-
tions;
• the exchange, co-ordination and publication of general
information regarding satellite communications.
Technical Cooperation
The General Secretariat provides assistance and technical
co-operation for developing countries, in general with the
financial support of the UNDP or other similar programmes
or funds. In order to facilitate the use of satellites by these
countries for their intercontinental, regional, sub-regional
and domestic communications, the ITU provides:
• services in regard to professional training which includes
the provision of experts for courses, seminars and confer-
ences;

• support for individual satellite projects, i.e. expert assist-
ance in the analysis and appraisal of plans and specifica-
tions involving satellite communication services as well as
the evaluation of offers of supply of satellite communica-
tion equipment from manufacturers including, as may be
necessary, supervision of the installation work;
• development of general specifications, for example, of the
kind formulated for a GLObal approach to the provision of
DOMestic telecommunication service in the rural and
remote areas of the developing world (GLODOM) in
which appropriate satellite technology (integrated with low
capacity terrestrial systems in national networks) would be
a significant element.
It would not be possible in the space of this article to cover
even on an illustrative basis the various types of technical
co-operation projects undertaken or being undertaken by the
General Secretariat. Nevertheless, a brief explanation of a
current regional project may serve to give an idea of the
nature of the work involved. The project in question relates
to an African regional satellite communication system which
is based on and flows from a decision taken by African
governments to combine several projects involving satellite
communications. This decision was influenced by a pre-
feasibility study carried out on appropriate modern telecom-
munication technology for integrated rural development in
Africa.
Preliminary work leading up to the feasibility study for this
project is currently under way. In response to a Resolution
adopted by the Ministers concerned the Union is working as
the lead agency in an inter-agency Co-ordinating Committee
which includes several African regional organizations.
The Committee has adopted a strategy for financing the
study to select an optimal mix of terrestrial and satellite based
facilities which would best serve the telecommunication
requirements of the African continent. The study would
cover all possible options including common user sharing of
facilities. The conditions for implementing the project have
been laid down and efforts are being made to mobilize the
necessary funds to start the feasibility study as soon as
possible.
This project will no doubt benefit from one of the studies
that the General Secretariat had carried out some time ago in
regard to the possible new applications of satellite com-
munications.
This earlier study concerned the use of high power
satellites, or transponders of satellites, for domestic rural and
remote-area communications. The system recommended by
the study was one that would be available to developing
countries to provide intra-country connections over which
thin-route communications could be established. With a
satellite designed for high sensitivity, transfer-gain and
power, with a steerable-spot or area beams, it would be
possible to use ground stations with 3m and less antennae and
fully solid-state equipment including power supplies suitable
for operation in unelectrified rural areas.
For many developing countries a judicious blend of satellite
communication-technology with traditional terrestrial solu-
tions now appears to offer a unique opportunity for rapid
expansion of their national networks in directions they prefer
and to reach remote and rural areas sooner than would be
otherwise possible. Finally, as a result of the Maitland
Commission and its formally adopted report an independent
Center for Telecommunications Development has been
established in Geneva.
Exchange of information
The Union maintains close co-operation with UN specialized
World Telecommunications Leaders
agencies such as UNESCO, ICAO, IMO and WMO, as well
as intergovernmental regional organizations having an
interest in space communications. It also collaborates with
other international organizations like Intelsat. Intersputnik,
Inmarsat, Cos par and IAF. Such co-operation involves
participation in the examination of questions of common
concern and exchange of information of mutual interest. In
particular it participates in the work of the United Nations
Committee on the peaceful uses of outer space and its
Scientific and Technical and Legal Sub-Committees.
As a part of its information exchange activities, the Union
publishes each year an annual report on telecommunication
and the peaceful uses of outer space.
Furthermore, the Union's monthly Telecommunication
Journal carries lists of satellites launched as well as articles
and information on space communications and space techni-
ques. The June 1985 issue of the Journal was devoted to space
matters and dealt with the role of the ITU in space
communications.
Finally, mention should be made of a Table of Satellites
(successfully launched during the period 1977-1984) which
was published as a supplement to the July 1985 issue of the
Journal. This table complements the first Table of Artificial
Satellites covering the period 1957-1976 published as a
supplement to the February 1977 issue of the Journal.
CONCLUSION
It may be seen that over the years the Union has served to
provide an appropriate regulatory framework, as well as the
necessary technical standards, to promote the timely develop-
ment and use of space communications. Through its technical
co-operation and information exchange activities, the Union
has also served as a catalyst and provided all possible support
to this development process.
The ITU will, in accordance with the mandate given to it by
its 160 member countries, continue to carry forward its
regulatory, standardization, planning, development and co-
ordination work in the realm of space communications.
Only a brief overview of the salient features of the Union's
work, in this rapidly developing field, could be presented
here. Readers who wish to have more detailed information on
the Union's work are advised to consult the relevant ITU
publications, some of which have been referred to in this
contribution.
* For the purposes of Administrative Conferences, the world
is divided into three regions: Region 1 covers Europe
(including the whole of the territory of the USSR) and Africa;
Region 2 covers the Americas and Region 3 covers Asia and
Australasia.
37
 5 EARTH STATION ANTENNAS

Kunishi Nosaka, Deputy Director, Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co. (KDD), Research and Development
Laboratories; former chairman, lntelsat Committee on Technical Matters; and Matsuichi Yamada, Manager,
Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co. (KDD), Radio Transmission Laboratory

The world of satellite communications, with the advent of advanced digital communications, is
marked by innovation. Earth station technology today is far more complex than it has ever been.
To design an earth station network one must consider the right radio frequency band, whether the
satellite signal is cross or circularly polarized, whether the applications require a small, medium or
large antenna, and whether analog or digital transmission is appropriate. This chapter explains in
detail the evolution of satellite earth station technology. It also explains why, in the 1990s, the
technology is moving towards smaller antennas, higher frequencies and more digital modulation
techniques.

INTRODUCTION

A satellite communication system integrates a satellite and an
earth station. Technically, it is analogous to a terrestrial
microwave relay system. Both systems send signals from a
transmitting site to a relay station in the middle, where the
signals are then amplified and relayed to a remote receiving
site. The main feature of the satellite system is that the
terrestrial repeater in the middle is replaced by a satellite in
space which circles around the Earth at varying altitudes from
more than several hundred kilometres to several tens of
thousands of kilometres above the ground.
Typically, communications satellites are placed in geosyn-
chronous orbit, located 22,300 miles out in space. The
propagation loss between earth stations and satellites in
geosynchronous orbit is very large, of the order of 200 dB (or
1 x 10- 20 ). The performance of a satellite, measured in terms
of antenna gain and transmit power of its repeaters (or
transponders), are constrained by several factors such as the
limitations on the weight and size of the satellite. Thus, in
general, an earth station needs to transmit a high power signal
to a satellite and be able to pick up a very weak signal from a
satellite.
An earth station is composed of an antenna with a
transmitting system and receiving system. Although most
people are usually attracted by the view of a large dish-type
antenna looking up to the sky, earth station antennas now
come in different shapes and many sizes, usually ranging from
3 to 30 metres in diameter. The technical characteristics of
earth stations can primarily be classified by 1) operating
transmit/receive frequencies (eg, 6/4 GHz), 2) antenna
performance (or gain, which is explained later) and 3)
transmit power.
The first commercial use of a satellite communication
system was the transoceanic public telecommunication ser-
vice begun by lntelsat in 1964. The earth stations at that time
had antenna sizes of about 30 metres in diameter at the
operating frequency band of 6/4 GHz. These were prototypes
of the Standard A station. Since then, satellite technologies
have experienced significant advances and transponder capa-
bilities have been improved both in power and bandwidth.
Technological innovations have opened up many new
opportunities for satellite communication applications in the
areas of regional and domestic public telecommunication,
maritime communication, broadcasting, dedicated business
service, etc. Consequently, many different types of earth
stations have emerged to fit specific applications. A particu-
larly remarkable development is that of small earth stations
with dish sizes ranging from less than 3 to 10 metres in
diameter for two-way communications and even several tens
of centimetres for receiving signals. These small antennas are
exploiting the development of high power radiation from
satellites. Smaller earth stations are cheaper and have thus
stimulated the application of satellites for mobile uses and the
home reception of broadcasts, etc, which require the econo-
mical implementation of many earth stations. Today, even
private industries are capable of constructing their own
independent networks more economically in some countries.
The following sections describe the technical elements to
be taken into account in designing earth stations, and analyse
the various types of earth stations that have been developed
from the early 1960s to the present for diversified applica-
tions.
THE FIRST EARTH STATIONS IN THE EARLY
1960s
In satellite communication. radio signals propagate through
free space, the ionosphere and the atmosphere. At frequen-
cies below about 100 MHz, they suffer from attenuation
effects due to reflection or absorption by the ionosphere.
Furthermore, at frequencies below 1 GHz, cosmic noise from
the Milky Way increases along with the wavelength. At
frequencies above 10 GHz, oxygen, water vapour. "rain and
cloud in the atmosphere absorb and scatter radio waves
substantially.
Thus in the early 1960s engineers selected the frequency
bands between and 1 and 10 GHz, called the radio window.
For example, the uplink/downlink frequency bands for the

39
Satellites International
Telstar satellite launched in 1962 and the Early Bird in 1965
were 6/4 GHz , and those for Relay in 1962 and Syncom in
1963 were 2/4 GHz and 7/2 GHz respectively.
The most famous earth station in this experimental period
is the Andover earth station built by AT&T in the US in 1962.
It was used successfully for communication tests by Telstar
and later for commercial use for Early Bird. The antenna had
a horn reflector and operated at the 6/4 GHz band with an
aperture of 18 metres by 18 metres. It weighed 380 tons and
was covered by an 18-storey radome . Satellites launched in
the early 1960s were mostly non-synchronous satellites which
circled the Earth every two to four hours ; the ground antenna
thus had to be fully steerable in order to track the satellite's
movement. Since the horn reflector antennas had remarkably
low sidelobe characteristics in the off-axis from the main
beam, very little thermal noise is picked up from the ground.
This feature gives excellent low noise performance for signal
reception.
The Andover earth station was also equipped with a
MASER receiver (microwave amplifier by stimulated emis-
sion of radiation). It was cooled by liquid helium to operate as
an extremely low noise receiver. For sending signals into
space, a high power klystron transmitter of several kilowatts
was used. On the other hand , despite these technical
advantages, the horn-reflector antennas had several dis-
advantages, including its big mechanical construction and
high cost. This type of design was thus not favoured for
commercial use.
In the UK, a large parabolic antenna with a 26 metre
diameter was constructed at Goonhilly in 1962. A deep dish
was used to suppress thermal noise from the ground and a low
noise receiver (LNR) was placed near the primary horn in
front of the main dish to minimize feeder loss. But because of
its moderate performance and the inconvenient location of
the transmit/receive equipment, this type of antenna is now Figure I. Ibaraki earth station.
used only for small, low cost stations.
In Japan, an experimental 6/4 GHz earth station was built
in Ibaraki, about 100 kilometres north of Tokyo, in 1963. This earth station. This figure of merit is usually called the
earth station adopted the Cassegrain type antenna covered gain-to-noise (G/T) ratio (dB/K). Gain is expressed in
with a radome (although the radome was found to be decibels (dB) and thermal noise in degrees Kelvin (K). A
unnecessary and removed). Figure 1 shows the 22 metre larger G/T indicates a higher receive antenna gain with low
antenna of Ibaraki earth station. This earth station operated sidelobe characteristics and a lower receiver noise figure . For
with a 3 kilowatt high power klystron amplifier and a 6 degree example, the G/T of an Intelsat standard A station is 35.7
Kelvin low noise MASER receiver cooled by liquid helium . dB/K, while a small Inte\sat Business Service station such as
The Cassegrain-type antenna has the advantage of a short an E-1 has a G/T of 25 dB/K
wave guide that runs from the primary horn to the transmit/ The larger the diameter of an antenna, the higher the gain
receive equipment. This antenna design was later adapted as (G). The contribution to thermal noise (T) includes I) cosmic
the primary design of earth stations around the world. noise from the sky, 2) thermal noise in the atmosphere, 3)
ground noise picked up by the side\obes of the antenna and 4)
thermal noise originating in the receiver. The cosmic noise is
THE BASICS OF EARTH STATION DESIGN of the order of several Kelvin degrees and can be largely
neglected. The thermal noise originating from the absorption
The Gain to Noise Temperature Ratio of gases in the atmosphere becomes notable in the higher
frequency region over 10 GHz. The ground noise contribu-
The quality of the satellite link is expressed by the signal to tion can be substantial particularly at a low elevation angle
noise (S/N) power ratio at the receiving terminal. For and near urban areas. The receiver noise and the effects of
instance, if the transmit power of the satellite remains rainfall, which are the more significant elements, will be
constant, then the S/N ratio improves (i.e., gives a better addressed later. Figure 2 shows the typical characteristics of
reception quality) and the receive antenna gain is increased. total system noise temperatur_e versus elevation angle in the
The S/N ratio decreases as the noise power level at the clear sky for a 4 GHz antenna of 30 metres in diameter.
receiving earth station rises . The noise power is usually
expressed as the noise temperature. For example, a receiver Selection of Frequencies and Polarization
at temperature T (in degrees Kelvin) can be expressed in
terms of its thermal noise power hy the following: kT Table 1 shows the radio frequency allocations from the 1979
Watt/Hertz (where k is Boltzmann constant). This ratio of World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC 1979).
antenna gain (in decibels) to system noise power temperature These allocations include the fixed satellite service, the
T (in degrees Kelvin) expresses the basic performance of an mobile satellite service (maritime and aeronautical) and the

40
 Earth Station Antennas
used for domestic and business satellite communication
systems.
A mechanically despun antenna on-board the satellite
which could focus its radiation beam to the Earth regardless
of the satellite's spinning, had not yet been developed by the
early 1960s. Instead, satellite antennas like the slotted array
or biconical antenna were used in this period. These antennas
could only radiate a linearly polarized radio signal at the 6/4
GHz band. Because the polarization plane at 6/4 GHz is
afffected by Faraday rotation in the ionosphere, earth
stations must compensate for this effect by using a polariza-
tion tracking device. A mechanically despun antenna was
developed for the Intelsat III series and the use of circular
polarization became possible. The international satellite
7 10 50 70 communication systems in the 6/4 GHz band use circular
Antenna elevation angle (deg.) polarization, while many domestic satellite systems use linear
polarization.
Figure2. In the higher frequency bands over 10 GHz, the effect of
Faraday rotation in the ionosphere is very small and most
satellite communication systems in these higher frequency
Table 1 Frequency allocations for satellite communications bands use linear polarization because of its simple ground
(WARC 1979) equipment. When more channel capacity is needed in a
satellite design, a frequent technique is to use orthogonal
Space to earth (downlink) Earth to space (uplink)
polarizations (linear or circular) in order to share the same
Fixed satellite service frequency band and accommodate more transponders.
2.500MHz-2.655MHz (Region 2)
2,500MHz-2,535MHz (Region 3) Propagation effects
2,655MHz-2,690MHz (Region 2,
Region 3) Rain attenuation
3.400MHz -4.200MHz 5,725MHz-5.850MHz (Region I) When radio waves travel through rain in the vicinity of an
4,500MHz -4.800MHz 5.850MHz-7 ,075MHz earth station, the signals are attentuated by absorption and
7.250MHz -7,750MHz 7, 9(XlMHz-8.400MHz
scattering. Figure 3 shows the amount of typical rain
10.7GHz -ll.7GHz 12.75GHz-13.25GHz
12.5GHz -12.75GHz (Region I 14.0GHz -14.8GHz
attentuation in C and Ku-bands in the temperate rain zone.
Region 3) 17.3GHz -18.1Ghz At frequencies over 10 GHz, rain attenuation is more
ll.7GHz-12.3Ghz (Region 2) 27.0GHz -27.5GHz (Region 2 significant. At sites with a substantially heavy rainfall, and if
17.7GHz-2l.2GHz Region 3) the elevation angle is unfavourably low, the transmission
27.5GHz-3l.OGHz
Maritime mobile satellite
1,530MHz-1.544MHz 1,626.5MHz-1,645MHz
Aeronautical mobile satellite
1,545MHz-1.559MHz 1,646.5MHz-1,660.5MHz
Mobile satellite
1,544MHz-1.545MHz 1,645.5MHz-1,646.5MHz
19.7GHz- 2l.2GHz 29.5GHz- 3l.OGHz
Broadcasting satellite
2,500MHz-2,690MHz iD
~
11.7GHz- 12.5GHz(Region I) c:
0
12.IGHz- 12.7GHz (Region 2) 'al
ll.7GHz- 12.2GHz (Region 3) :::l
c:
22.5GHz- 23.0GHz (Region 2, Region 3)
~
c:
·a;
broadcast satellite service. For the fixed satellite service, the a:
use of the 6/4 GHz band has been very popular since the 1960s
because of the favourable conditions of rain attenuation.
However, increased traffic demands and the desire to move
antennnas into cities where lower frequencies are now in use,
has brought attention to the frequency bands over 10 GHz.
the adoption of such higher frequencies requires system
designs that compensate for the propagation effects of the
atmosphere, ionosphere and rainfall attenuation effects. Satel- 50 100
lite antennas in the Ku (14/11 GHz) and Ka (30/20 GHz
bands are typically designed to have a large gain with limited Rain rate (mm/h)
beam coverages. This helps to compensate for atmospheric (8: Elevation angle)
and rainfall attenuation and also allows the use of smaller
earth stations. These higher frequency bands are now widely Figure3.

41
Satellites International
quality at these higher frequency bands may occasionally
become very poor and unacceptable. In such situations.
spreading the earth stations over several different sites at a
distance of more than 10 to 30 kilometers can improve system
availability.
Rainfall also contributes to the increase of thermal noise
received by earth station antennas. particularly at higher
frequency bands. The G/T figure of the earth station is thus
significantly affected by precipitation.
Rain depolarization
When a satellite is not re-using its frequencies by orthogonal
polarization. the required level of cross-polarization discri-
mination for satellite antennas and earth station antennas is
less stringent. In such cases. an axial ratio of 3 dB (or
cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) of 15 dB) is very
common. However. when frequency re-use by orthogonal
polarization is adopted. the antenna's axial ratio must be
improved so that a co-polar signal can be separated from the
cross-polar signal. The axial ratio of 0.75 to 0.5 dB (XPD of
about 30 dB) is typical for earth station antennas and
satellites now in use. Heavy rainfall near the earth station
increases the interference level of cross-polarization for both
the uplink and downlink signals. particularly at earth stations
with low elevation angles.
Scintillation
When signals pass through the ionosphere. a rapid amplitude
variation is created by the ionosphere's irregularity. particu-
larly at frequencies below 10 GHz. These effects can be
Standard
Parabolic antenna Cassegrain antenna
Offset parabola
antenna
Horn
Figure 4. Side elevation of various kinds of dish antenna. The arrows show the path of a transmitting signal.
42
observed at locations near the geomagnetic equator and at
high latitudes when the level of solar activity is very high. For
example. the signal variation at 4 GHz can be as much as 6 to
8 dB.
Polarization rotation in the ionosphere
When a linearly polarized signal passes through the ionos-
phere. a rotation of the polarized plane can be observed. Its
effect is inversely proportional to the square of the frequency.
This is called the Faraday rotation and may occasionally reach
a peak value as high as 9 degrees at 4 GHz. 4 degrees at 6
GHz and 1 degree at 12 GHz. Therefore an earth station with
linearly polarized signals needs to track or periodically adjust
the polarization angle of receiving signals to compensate for
the Faraday effect.
Coordination with Other Systems
Most of the frequency bands allocated by the International
Telecommunication Union to the fixed satellite service are
shared with terrestrial radio relay systems. The ITU's CCIR
recommends that interference to satellite communications
from terrestrial radio networks should be kept within 10
percent of the total noise budget. It is also important to keep
interference from adjacent satellite communication systems
within a tolerable level. To achieve these objectives. the
ITU's Radio Regulations provide coordination procedures
for adjacent systems. Every new system must follow this
procedure. working through the appropriate administration
of each country and the ITU's International Frequency
Registration Board.
Modified Beam waveguide fed
Cassegrain antenna Cassegrain antenna
Az rotation
centre
Offset Gregorian Offset Cassegrain
antenna antenna

CONFIGURATION OF EARTH STATIONS AND
THEIR TECHNOLOGIES
There are many types of earth stations: giant earth stations
with 30 metre dishes can carry the traffic of thousands of
telephone channels, while a very small micro-terminal with a
60 centimetre dish can be used to receive low speed data
signals. The most common earth station configuration is
generally made of up 1) an antenna for the transmission and
reception of radio signals, 2) a high power amplifier for
transmission, 3) a low noise receiver for reception and 4)
communication systems which include a frequency converter,
modulator/demodulator (modem) and the baseband signal
processors. Earth stations for public telecommunication are
usually connected by mean' of terrestrial systems to central
switching centres in cities, even though direct access to
corporate PABXs (private automatic branch exchanges) are
now becoming more common even for public traffic.
Antenna subsystems
Types of antennas
Most of the current earth stations (from large Intelsat earth
stations down to the small micro-terminals) use reflective-
type antennas because they provide a good performance at a
reasonable cost. There are four types of reflector antennas
currently used for commercial applications: 1) parabolic, 2)
Cassegrain (standard or modified), 3) beam wave guide-fed
Cassegrain and 4) the new offset type, of parabolic, Casseg-
rain or Gregorian design (see Figure 4).
The parabolic antenna is simple and less expensive, but its
efficiency is not very high. In addition. the sidelobe character-
istics of this type of antenna are relatively poor because the
supporting struts for the feed-horn are in front of the main
dish. It is used mainly as an antenna for small and economical
terminals.
The standard Cassegrain antenna with dual reflectors was
developed because of its better efficiency and performance
and smaller sidelobe. It was often used to a significant degree
in the beginning of satellite communications but is now used
chiefly as an economical antenna for medium size earth
stations such as the lntelsat standard B ( 11-metre antenna).
The horn reflector Cassegrain antenna is sometimes called a
"modified Cassegrain antenna'. This type of antenna was very
popular during the early period of the Intelsat standard A
earth station because it had several advantages. One of these
was that the low noise receiver could be installed in a radio
equipment room behind the main reflector which rotates only
in the azimuth direction; the high power amplifier could then
be installed on the ground level by the use of a rotary joint to
achieve interconnection.
The beam wave guide-fed Cassegrain antenna was
developed to offer the convenience of easier maintenance and
operation. In this design the high power amplifier and low
noise receiver could be installed on the ground, eliminating
problems associated with antenna rotation. The overall
performance proved excellent and this type of antenna is now
widely used by the Intelsat standard A earth station.
The offset antennas of the parabolic, Cassegrain and
Gregorian types are the most recent developments. No
obstacles, such as a feed horn, are placed in the path of the
radio signals and thus the antenna gives an excellent sidelobe
performance. The use of such an offset antenna with low
sidelobe is especially desirable for smaller earth stations,
since they are vulnerable to interference from other systems
because of their broad beam characteristics. Such an offset
antenna may not be suitable for fully steerable systems
Earth Station Antennas
because of its asymmetrical structure, although it may be used
on a limited steerable basis. The Torus antenna is another
type of offset antenna. The Torus reflector, with the circular
shape along the direction of the equatorial arc and the
parabolic shape along the orthogonal direction, is fixed on the
ground. Its radiation beam can be steered in the limited range
by a movable feed horn. Multibeam radiation by the Torus
antenna is also possible by the use of multiple feed horns.
These antennas' performance is not as good as that of other
offset antennas but they are less expensive due to the fixed
reflector. They are therefore suitable for temporary installa-
tions or experimental purposes. Also, this design allows for a
single antenna to track more than one satellite using the one
fixed reflector and several tracking feed systems aimed at
different satellites.
Tracking
Even in the geostationary orbit a satellite moves about one or
more degrees in azimuth and elevation angles as looked at
from an earth station. This requires the provision of an
auto-tracking capability with an accuracy of less than one-
tenth of the halfpower beam width of the radiation pattern.
Tracking accuracy of less than 0.01 degrees can be achieved in
the Intelsat standard A earth station by the use of a higher
mode tracking system. When the half-power beam width of
the antenna is relatively large compared to the movement of a
satellite, a different kind of step track system is enough to
perform this task. These drive the antenna in a trial and error
manner at regular intervals to maximize the received signals.
Because of its simplicity and low cost, the step track system is
widely used in the small and medium size earth stations such
as Intelsat standard B and Inmarsat ship terminals. The third
method is the program tracking system where the antenna is
moved according to predicted data on the satellite ·s position
and movement: this method is used in Intelsat standard A
antennas.
Antenna performance
Gain: The gain of the antenna is a measure of its energy
concentration to or from a satellite and is given by the
following equation:
G =lJ
(where D is the aperture diameter of the main reflector. 'A is
the wavelength and Yl is the aperture efficiency).
Sidelobe: The unwanted spill over of radiation patterns in
off-axis angles from the main beam is called a sidelobe.
Maximum suppression of the sidelobes is essential to reduce
the antenna noise of the earth station. This is particularly
important for low elevation angle operation. In addition to
the problem of the antennas' efficiency. side lobes can be the
source of interference to and from other systems. both
satellite or terrestrial. The CCIR has determined the refer-
ence pattern of antenna sidelobes as 32-25 log dBi for any off-
axis direction greater than one degree. A further improve-
ment of 3 dB is recommended as a design objective.
Cross polarization: A good polarization purity of the order of
30 dB (XPD) is necessary at an earth station which accesses a
satellite with dual polarization.
A Cassegrain antenna typically has a symmetric reflector
configuration working with a good corrugated horn feed and
a polarizer with a 0.3 dB axial ratio. Such a configuration can
demonstrate the necessary polarization purity. This type of
43
Satellites International
antenna is now widely used in the lntelsat system.
The offset parabolic antennas normally do not have a good
polarization purity because of their asymmetric reflector
configuration. Special types of offset antenna such as Casseg-
rain or Gregorian, however, are able to provide satisfactory
performances by reflector shaping.
Low noise receiver
The low noise receiver is the front-end receiver connected to
the receiving antenna and its noise temperature is a key factor
which contributes to the value of earth station Gff. Two basic
types of LNR are available at present, the rarametric
amplifier and the solid state gallium arsenide (G,_As) field
effect transistor (FET) amplifier. The parametric amplifier is
a degenerative amplifier usually with a varactor diode. The 4
GHz LNR has a low noise temperature of about 40 degrees
Kelvin. This type of amplifier is widely used in large earth
stations. The noise temperature of parametric amplifiers used
in 11 GHz and 20 GHz are relatively high (i.e., over 100
degrees Kelvin). This is considered acceptable because of the
high sky noise temperature in these high frequency regions.
Table 2 Typical performance of LNR
Noise
Amp temperature Bandwidth Cooling Application
4 GHz PA 40°K 500 MHz Thermo- lntclsat A
electric
4 GHz PA 60°K 500 MHz None Medium station
II GHz PA 100°K 750 MHz None Intclsat C
4 GHz FET 55°K 500 MHz Thermo- lntelsat B
electric
II GHz FET l70°K 750 MHz None IBS
1.5 GHz FET 90°K 45 MHz None lnmarsat ship
terminal
The GaAs FET amplifier is a new solid state device,
developed as a simplifier and less expensive LNR with a
relatively low noise figure. Many small and medium size earth
stations have now adopted this device as an LNR, but
operation is limited to low power and low capacity operation.
The following table shows typical performances of LNRs.
High Power Amplifiers
The use of different types of high power amplifiers used for
transmitters depends on the requirement of the transmit
carriers of the earth stations. Three types of HP A are now
available with various output powers and bandwidths.
Travelling wave tubes (TWT) are wide band amplifiers that
can cover a bandwidth of about 500 MHz that is available in
the 6 and 14 GHz bands and suitable for multi-carriers that
can cover a bandwidth of about 500 MHz that is available in
the 6 and 14 GHz bands and suitable for multi-carrier
transmission. The maximum level of output power now
available in the market is about 10 kilowatts.
Klystron is an alternative amplifier with a narrow pass-
band which is usually used for a single carrier transmission.
Therefore, the power combined with multiple Klystron
amplifiers is a second choice for multiple carrier transmission.
The Klystron amplifier is more efficient and has the merit of a
longer lifetime, simpler maintenance and lower cost than a
TWT.
Solid state power amplifiers (SSPA) have a relatively small
output power but a high level of efficiency. They are
relatively small and cheap, and are becoming very popular as
an HP A for small earth stations such as required by ships for
44
the maritime system and by the single channel Vista terminals
for thin route communications in the Intelsat system.
The following table shows examples of typical electrical
performance of HPA.
Table 3 Typical performances of high power amplifiers
Type Frequency Output power Bandwidth Application
TWT 6 GHz 10 KW 500 MHz lntclsat A
Klystron 6 GHz 3 KW 40 MHz lnmarsat shore
station
TWT 14 GHz 250 w 250 MHz IBS
SSPA 1.6 GHz 60W 10 MHz lnmarsat ship
terminal
Communication equipment
Earth stations transit and receive radio signals with various
types of modulation (e.g., FM PSK), which carry telephone,
TV and data. An important feature of satellite communica-
tions is multiple access - the ability to interconnect many
earth stations directly through one satellite. There are three
multiple access methods: frequency division multiple access
(FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA) and code
division multiple access (CDMA). The choice of modulation
and access is determined by the available satellite power, and
the requirements for bandwidth and traffic.
Each earth station operator installs communication equip-
ment to fit the selected transmission method. It will consist of
baseband processors, a modem, TDMA synchronizer or
frequency converter and carrier combiner/dividers, etc. On
the transmit chain, output carriers of the communication
equipment are sent to the HPA. On the receive side, output
carriers of the communication equipment are sent to the high
power amplifier. On the receive side, output carriers from the
low noise receiver are fed to the communication equipment.
The staff of a large earth station must maintain and operate
many facilities located in separate areas. They must also
monitor the operation conditions of many carriers for
transmission and reception. To carry out these tasks, most
large earth stations have a control and monitoring console.
DIVERSIFIED EARTH STATIONS
Experiences and technical developments in the past quarter
century have generated many satellite communication sys-
tems.
In 1965, Intelsat started its service in the Atlantic Ocean
region with Early Bird, which carried only 240 telephone
circuits between five earth stations. Now, Intelsat is carrying
about 45,000 telephone circuits on anetwork of Intelsat V and
VA satellites and about 500 participating earth stations in 170
countries and territories.
Inmarsat started its maritime mobile service in 1982 and
now has a network of maritime satellites (the maritime
communications subsystems, or MCS, on the Intelsat V
satellites and the Marecs satellites) which offer a global
service with about 15 shore earth stations and some 5,000 ship
terminals.
Several regional groups of countries, united by culture,
economy or by politics, have organized regional satellite
systems. These systems include Eutelsat (Europe), Palapa
(south east Asia), Arabsat (for the Arab world) and
Intersputnik (largely for Soviet bloc countries). These sys-
tems are offering their services with many earth stations in
their respective service areas.
 Earth Station Antennas

In the US, the Federal Communications Commission Table 5 Example of performance of lntelsat standard A
adopted an 'Open Sky Policy' in 1972 and allowed the entry earth station
of private satellite systems. This decision stimulated opportu-
nities for many diversified businesses. Today, there are 30 Type of antenna Beam wave guide fed
satellites in operation for US domestic communications with Cassegrain
thousands of earth stations and over a million TV receive- Type of mount Elevation-over-azimuth,
only antennas. The deployment of satellite systems for wheel-and-track
business services has triggered the construction of many small Autotracking method Monopulse tracking using
earth stations. higher mode
Diameter (metres) 34
lntelsat Earth Stations Frequency 4GHz 6GHz
GIT (clear sky) 42.1dB
Using a combination of Intelsat V and VA satellites deployed (at EL=5 deg)
in the three ocean regions- the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific- Gain* 61.9dB 65.6dB
Intelsat offers many services. The most important function of Noise temperature* 48 K
Intelsat is that it operates the global public telecommunica- (at EL=5 deg)
tion network for voice/data and TV transmission. To facilitate High power amplifier 12 KW TWT/3KW Klystron
each country's construction of their own earth stations and Low noise receiver 50K FET with thermo-
yet maintain their compatibility with other stations, Intelsat electric cooling
has specified the technical performance characteristics of 14
different standards including a variation of earth standards 'Including feed subsystem.
A,B,C,D,E,F,G and Z. Intelsat is endeavouring to respond
to other types of service requirement and anticipate new the likelihood of less expensive space segment charges. The
market trends. The Intelsat Business Service (IBS) was guided beam fed antenna with shaped reflectors is the most
introduced in 1983 to provide integrated business services by common type of antenna for the standard A station. The
which industry can transmit voice, data and other digital following table shows an example of the standard A earth
signals such as for video conferencing, computer data station characteristics.
transfer, etc, directly from the customers' office. Intelsat has
now specified the standard E and F earth stations for this new Standard B
service and will allow these smaller dishes for public The standard B station with a medium size antenna of about
telecommunication services. Intelsat has introduced another II metres at 6/4 GHz was developed as an economical earth
new type of digital data broadcasting/collection network station with a G/T of 31.7 dB/K.
called Intelnet I and II, which uses micro-terminals with A typical antenna type for the standard B station is the
antenna diameters as small as 0.6 metres. Intelsat's Vista Cassegrain antenna with shaped reflectors and mostly driven
service will provide minimal communication facilities for by the step tracking system. Occasionally, the tracking range
rural or remote communities via the small 4.5 metre low cost of antenna is limited within a minimum drive of azimuth and
earth station known as standard D. The table below elevation angles to reduce cost.
summarizes the main data of Intelsat standard earth stations.
Standard C
Table 4 lntelsat standard earth stations The standard C earth station was introduced as an earth
station to access the 14/11 GHz spot beam transponder of the
Frequency Size of Intelsat V satellite and to carry the trunk traffic of voice
Standard (GHz) antenna (m) Services circuits. Because 14111 GHz signals are affected substantially
by rainfall, the antenna size differs very much from 13 metres
A 6/4 30 1 Public voice/
on up, depending on the rain climate and operational
data,TV
elevation angle of the station sites. To define the G/T
B 6/4 13 Public voice/
requirement for the standard C station at the II GHz region,
data,TV
the predictive rain rate in a year can be taken into account as
c 14/11 13~20 Public voice/
follows:
data,TV
D 6/4 4.5~13 Vista
14/11,12 GIT = 39 + L 1 for all but 10 % of the time,
E 3.5~8.5 IBS
4.5~ 10
GIT = 32.5 + L 2 for 0.017 % of the time,
F 6/4 IBS
1 The specifications for the Intelsat Standard A station were reduced, effective
where L 1 and L2 are the predictive rain attenuation factors
March 19X6. to bring down the cost of future earth station construction and
higher power satellites within the lntclsat system.
relative to clear sky conditions exceeded for no more than 10
percent and 0.017% of the time respectively.
The guided beam fed Cassegrain antenna with a shaped
Standard A reflector is the most common design for the standard C
The standard A earth station has been widely used since 1965. station. The other feature of standard C stations is the use of
For years it was typically known as a large antenna of about linear polarized radio signals and a polarization adjustment
30 metres in diamter with a G/T of 40.7 dB/K for the 6/4 GHz device.
operation. Today, standards have been reduced to a G/T of For the economical construction of earth stations which
35.7 dB, and a 15 to 18 diameter antenna. Though the initial have the requirement of dual frequency operation of 14111
investment is higher than that for other smaller standard GHz and 6/4 GHz, an antenna with dual feed systems in those
stations, the satellite capacity can be utilized more efficiently. two frequency bands is now available and an earth station
Therefore, for earth stations with sizeable traffic require- design which satisfies both of the standard A and C
ments, Intelsat recommends the standard A earth station and specifications has already been constructed.

45
Satellites International
Standard E and F
New digital transmission services for business applications,
that can be offered directly to users by means of small earth
stations at or near the customer's premises, have become
attractive in the last few years to large commercial users.
Intelsat has specified three types of standard E earth stations
in the 14/11 and 14/12 GHz bands to provide its Intelsat
Business Service (IBS). The standard E-1 (G/T= 25 dB/K)
has a small antenna of 3.5 metres and is suitable for roof top
installations. The standard E-2 has the figure of GT=29
dB/K. The standard E-3 (G/T=34 dB/K) has a medium size
antenna of about 8 metres and is intended as an urban
gateway" station to serve a group of IBS users. All these
standard E stations transmit and receive integrated digital
signals of 64 kbit/s to 6.3 Mbit/s. Since IBS earth stations have
small antennas, and are mostly installed in densely populated
areas close to business districts, it is important to protect the
signals against interference from adjacent terrestrial networks
sharing the same frequency bands. The offset antenna with
low sidelobe characteristics is most suitable as a rooftop
antenna in this kind of environment. The New York Teleport
site was selected in a suburban area to provide many antennas
for international and domestic business services, so that the
site is protected from any radio interference.
The standard F earth stations with antenna diameters of 5
metres (F-1), 7 metres (F-2) and 9 metres (F-3) in the 6/4 GHz
band were also specified to provide IBS service. Perhaps
more significantly Intelsat has also specified for intermediate
data rate carriers that the F-2, F-3 as well as the E-2 and E-3
earth stations can now be used for public switched service.
Standard 0
The stand?rd D earth station is appropriate for rural and
remote communities presently having inadequate or no
services.
The basic network is provided by a link between the
standard D-1 station with a small antenna of 4.5 metres in
diameter and the standard D-2 station with about a 10 metre
antenna. The standard D-1 carries only one or more voice
circuits. To be more economical it has less stringent charac-
teristics for cross polarization purity and sidelobe characteris-
tics.
EARTH STATIONS FOR DOMESTIC SATELLITE
COMMUNICATIONS
There are many domestic satellite systems such as Satcom,
Galaxy, Westar and SBS (USA), Anik (Canada), Telecom
(France), Insat (India), Palapa (Indonesia), CS (Japan). The
basic configuration of their earth stations does not differ
greatly from the Intelsat earth station standards. But domes-
tic systems generally have rather small service areas and
consequently a high satellite radiated power; they also
anticipate access by a much larger number of earth stations.
Consequently the earth stations are smaller. Sometimes a
dish the size of an Intelsat standard B station is adapted, but
the tendency is to move towards smaller antennas in the range
of 3 to 8 metres particularly for business uses and remote area
services.
Most domestic systems use the 6/4 GHz band, especially in
developing countries. This is exclusively the case in the 21
developing countries which purchase or lease capacity from
Intelsat for domestic services. The 14/11 GHz band is
generally used for business services applications. The use of
30/20 GHz is now observed only in Japan and the US. The
difficulty of frequency coordination with terrestrial networks
46
at 6/4 and 14111 GHz is currently the prime motivation to use
these higher frequencies. Earth stations for domestic systems
usually have a high elevation angle, the main reflector can be
placed in nearly horizontal plane, an offset Cassegrain
antenna with a 11.5 metre antenna could be installed on a
rooftop and even under strong winds would not be adversely
affected.
A limited steerable antenna is attractive because of its low
cost, and a beam steerable antenna such as Torus is also used
occasionally in domestic satellite applications.
Transportable earth stations which can be conveyed by a
helicopter or a truck, are also very popular to set up satellite
communication links on a temporary basis, for example, in
disaster situations.
Recently, data collection and distribution services have
attracted attention. The basic network structure for this type
is the communication link between a medium size 'hub'
station and many micro terminals. often over several
thousand. The micro terminal is a very small and economical
earth station with an antenna as small as 60 centimetres. For
example, Equatorial Communication Inc. provides a data
distribution service from the central hub earth staion with an
11 metre antenna to thousands ofreceive only microterminals
located at customers' sites in the US. Financial and news
services are the largest users of this data distribution service.
This very small antenna is susceptible to interference from
other systems because of its broad beam. The selection of a
special transmission method, to compensate for these
interfering conditions (or high noise levels) is necessary.
Spread spectrum techniques is the main approach which has
been successfully used for this purpose.
Ship Terminals for the Maritime Mobile Satellite
System
The maritime satellite system provides a communication link
between shore earth stations and the ship terminals in oceans.
The basic configuration of a shore station is almost the same
as an Intelsat standard B station, except that its frequency
bands cover both the 6/4 GHz and 1.6/1.5 GHz bands. The
remarkable features of the ship terminals are that the
terminal must be small and light enough to be installed on
ships and, even more demanding, the antenna must be
steered to access a satellite under rolling and pitching
conditions of a ship at sea.
Inmarsat has specified the technical characteristics of the
1.6/1.5 GHz ship earth stations as having a G/T of -4 dB/K.
This terminal consists of two separate systems, one above
deck and one below. The above deck unit has an antenna of
about 1 metre in diameter, integrated with a solid state high
power amplifier of about 50 W and a field effect transistor/
low noise receiver antenna, usually designed as a simple
parabola with a cross-dipole feed. Its mounting deck is
stabilized regardless of the ships' course and movement by
means of an x-y axis controlling device. The above deck
system is covered by a hard radome to protect it against wind,
rain and snow. The below deck system consists of the
communication equipment. This includes the frequency
selection equipment for the transmit/receive carriers, the
modem and the telephone/telex. Today, about 5,000 ship
terminals are offering voice, telex and data services to ships at
sea. Some terminals are also installed on oil rig platforms,
although Intelsat provides such offshore service as well.
Receive-only terminals for DBS
Many high power satellite systems for direct broadcasting by
 Earth Station Antennas
satellite (DBS) are now being deployed, such as TV-Sat in
Germany, TDFl in France, and the lower powered Aussat in
Australia. In Japan the BS-2 system started its DBS service in
1984. To provide an effective and economical service, DBS
receiving terminals must be very cheap and easy to operate.
The ITU's 1977 WARC on the Broadcasting Service adopted
a standard DBS receiving terminal for six 12 GHz circularly
polarized beams with antenna of 0. 7 to 1.6 metres in diameter
and a low noise receiver of no more than a 3 dB noise figure
(G/T = 6 dB).
Many DBS receiving terminals (consisting of an antenna
and adapter for connection with a home TV set) are available
in the market for $500 to $1,000. The most popular types of
antenna are front-fed or offset parabola. The latter has a
higher efficiency and is more effectively protected against
snow on the dish because of its mechanical configuration. To
reduce cost, the reflectors are usually made in fibre rein-
forced plastic or pressed aluminium. The signals are then
processed in the adapter for frequency selection, and con-
verted from the frequency modulation of DBS to the
amplitude modulation of terrestrial broadcasting systems.

EARTH STATIONS OF THE FUTURE

Figure 5. Suitcase-size earth station.
There are now many and sundry earth stations in cities. on
top of mountains and on oceans - virtually everywhere in the
world. Many countries, developed or developing, as well as
many private industries, big or small, and even individuals at
home, enjoy the benefits of satellite communications.
This trend will accelerate in the future. The widespread use
of optical fibre cables will allow satellites to be more cost
efficient, especially in mobile communications. The evolution
of satellites with multiple spot beams will permit the use of
smaller and more cost effective earth terminals. In maritime
communications, a very small terminal with a 40 centimetre
dish and digital communication equipment has already been
developed to be installed in small fishing boats, providing a
full voice service.
Applications for aeronautical mobile communication will
also become very attractive. The only communication
medium now available for airliners fl ying over the ocean is
high frequency (HF). with qualities far below that of satellite
SHF signals. Array type antennas are under developme nt for
future use. The array antenna consists of a group of individual
radiators which are distrubuted in a spatial configuration to
be either planar or conformal in shape like the wing of an
aeroplane, the roof of a car or even a house. The beam of the
phased array antenna can be controlled not mechanically but
electronically by adjusting the phase of the individual
elements. This antenna will find many applications in mobile
systems in aeroplanes, cars, ships, etc.
The final dream of satellite communication is an earth
terminal of wrist watch size so that people can communicate
anytime, anywhere, with anybody. As a step toward this
dream, an earth station in a suitcase as is shown in Figure 5
was developed. It has a very small handy antenna and users
can have an access to the world wide telephone network .
The proliferation of satellite communications will naturally
incur the congestion of radio waves sharing the common
frequency bands. There are several ways to mitigate this
problem. The adoption of modulation techniques less vulner-
able to the interference is one method. The reduction of
sidelobes for the antenna is also desirable, and the ITU is
considering more stringent requirements for earth stations in
this matter.

47
 6 THE ECONOMICS OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

Marcellus Snow, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa

The economics of satellite communications have many unusual aspects. It costs no more to
transmit via satellite a television signal to one. one hundred. one thousand or even a million
receivers. Satellites are also able to interconnect locations thousands of kilometres apart on a
distance insensitive basis; in other words. satellite telecommunications links in general cost the
same over short and very long-range distances. As a result, they are particularly well
suited for certain applications which terrestrial telecommunications, like microwave relay, coaxial
and optical fibre cable are not.
The applications where costs of service and technological advantage go to communications
satellites include: direct broadcast television or large scale television/radio distribution: long
distance overseas telecommunications services where large numbers of countries need to be
interconnected; mobile communications for aircraft. ships and land vehicles on long distance
journeys (i.e., non intraurban communications); data distribution services (e.g., news, electromc
publishing, etc); and rural and remote communications services.
The economics of satellite communications are also affected by rapid technological innovations
and by economies of scale in their operation. All of these factors are explored in this chapter by a
leading economic expert. Dr Marcellus Snow. who has published five books on the economics of
satellite communications.

In 1965. Intelsat began commercial service with a single
Atlantic satellite having a capacity of 240 voice circuits -
enough to accommodate 240 telephone conversations. or one
television transmission. simultaneously. It charged $32.000
for a one year lease for one-half of the capacity required for a
two-way telephone conversation. Twenty years later, the
same capacity could be leased for $4.680. In 1987, Intelsat
was using fifth generation satellites capable of carrying 15.000
telephone conversations, and was preparing for the 1989
launch of Intelsat VI spacecraft capable of accommodating
30,000 such conversations and three television transmissions
at the same time. A similar record of more recent vintage has
been achieved by other commercial applications of satellite
technology. notably in the domestic communications and
remote sensing systems of the US and certain other countries
and regions.
This chapter will examine the economic aspects of the
dramatic. technology-induced decrease in satellite com-
munications costs over the past two decades. Since Intelsat is
the premier supplier of international commercial satellite
facilities, Intelsat's costs, tariff policies and regulatory acti-
vites will figure prominently in this discussion of satellite
economics. Reference will also be made to economic charac-
teristics of other satellites and satellite systems.
ECONOMICALLY RELEVANT TECHNICAL
PROPERTIES OF SA TEL LITES
The most important difference between space-based com-
munications systems and terrestrial ones concerns the rela-
tionship of cost with transmission distance. For all terrestrial
systems. total cost varies directly with distance, although
various fixed costs make this relationship proportional. Cost
is particularly sensitive to distance in wire-based transmission
systems that do not use the radio frequency spectrum. Such
systems must provide wires. cables or other physical conduits
between all terminal points. These conduits must be installed.
whether on poles. underground or on the sea bed. Repeaters
are also necessary over longer routes.
Even line-of-sight radio frequency transmission is not
independent of distance. although it is less distance-sensitive
than wire technologies. Microwave systems. for example.
require periodic repeater towers because of the Earth's
curvature. Only high frequency radio, an obsolescent tech-
nology with highly unreliable transmission properties, is
relatively distance-insensitive among terrestrial communica-
tions technologies.
Another cost component of technologies such as cables is
the expensive hierarchical switching required to achieve
interconnectivity. This is particularly so with the advent of
digital switching and other switching innovations that require
very large investments in research and development. pri-
marily because of the software necessary for each new
generation.
Besides distance, the cost of terrestrial modes of com-
munication also increases with difficulties imposed by terrain
and climate that intervene between sending and receiving
points. A country characterized by lofty mountain ranges.
numerous islands or an inhospitable and inaccessible hinter-
land. for example. would find any terrestrial system costly
even for shorter distances. although distance would add its
own independent contribution to costs as well.
Satellite technology. by contrast. is inherently insensitive to
the distance of transmission. at least within the coverage zone
of a satellite. For a global beam from geosynchronous orbit,
this is roughly one-third of the Earth's surface excluding the
polar regions. The satellite itself is the only 'repeater' apart
from the earth stations with which it operates.
These cost properties imply that the economic advantage of
satellites over terrestrial transmission modes is most pro-
nounced when long distances. difficult terrain, severe climate

49
Satellites International
and sparse population are involved. Terrestrial technologic'
may have a co~t edge in compact areas where flat terrain and
equable climates favour dense settlement and heavy traffic
flows. The configuration of actual national and international
telecommunications networh. however. is usually a complex
mixture of both technologies. and the isolation of one or the
other in a comparative cost study i' not particularly realistic
or insightful.
In addition to the quantitative advantage that satellites can
provide because of their insensitivity to distance. they also
exhibit qualitative properties that are superior to terrestrial
modes. Over two decades, for example. until the recent
advent of optical fibre technology. satellites were the only
means of transmitting televi,ion signals acros~ oceans because
of the large capacity required. In addition. various broadcast
and mobile radio services have requirements and properties
that lend themselves uniquely to satellites. Finally, for
various technical reasons satellites are superior for both
communications and navigational purposes with aeroplanes
and ships at sea. Inmarsat. the global maritime satellite
organization. was created to provide world wide communica-
tions and navigation services for ocean vessels. Although
analogous satellite-based technology for aircraft has existed
for many years, a number of economic and political factors
have prevented the establishment of a global navigation and
communications service for civil aviation.
COSTS
Table 1 gives a rough idea of the evolution of Intelsat's traffic.
net investment. and revenues during its first two decades of
operation. Because Intelsat's Operating Agreement struc-
tures it as an economic cooperative of owners and users. total
revenues in any year are a dependable proxy for total costs,
including capital depreciation, interest, and operation and
maintenance.
Table 1 furnishes ample evidence of the rapid and sustained
decrease in Intelsat's per-circuit costs since 1965. By any
measure, such costs have fallen by a full order of magnitude
or more during the past 20 years of operation, even when
measured in nominal dollar~. The real rate of decline, taking
into account the considerable rate of international inflation
since the mid-1960s, would of course be considerably greater,
perhaps by seven or eight percent annually.
Three points bear particular mention with respect to these
costs. First. they are essentially independent of route or
distance within the coverage zone of a given satellite,
typically that of an ocean region- Atlantic, Pacific or Indian.
Second. Intelsat's costs are only those of the space segment.
These consist of the most of the satellites themselves,
including their design. development, launch, insurance and
in-orbit station keeping. Overall system optimization and cost
Table I lntelsat's revenues, traffic and net investment
Full-time Television
Revenues satellite half-channel
Year ($000,000) circuits hours
1965 8.0 75 80
1970 75.4 2,129 2,428
1975 118.0 6,684 7,894
1980 216.0 20,308 28,393
1984 411.0 36,231 49,141
Source: lntel.\at. /985.
50
minimization would 'uggest. of cour-.e. that Intelsat own and
operate the earth segment a~ well. consisting primarily of
earth stations and terrestrial links to the national telecom-
munications networks of it~ member countries. Due to the
widely varying ways in which each Intelsat member organizes,
operates and regulate~ its domestic and international tele-
communications services. however. the earth segment is not
part of Intelsat. Over the years. space segment cosh have
fallen much more rapidly than earth segment cosh, making
Intelsat's charges a decreasing and on occas10n almost
insignificant part of total system costs.
Most other commercial satellite systems combine both the
space and earth segments. This facilitates system optimization
from an engineering standpoint and has certain implications
for costs and cost recovery by me am. of a pricing structure.
Another fundamental distinction with important economic
implications is that between geosynchronous and non-
geosynchronous satellites. A stationary orbit is ideal for
telecommunications and minimizes the cost of earth stations.
Remote sensing satellites. of course. are of greatest value
close to the earth but must be tracked and monitored by more
expensive gear. Finally. scientific satellites have a wide
variety of special requirement~. such as polar orbits.
A final overall aspect of satellite costs is the pervasive
economic distinction between static and dynamic effects. In
the static time frame, technology is frozen. Cost savings then
come from two main sources: average costs that decline as the
level of output increases (economies of scale), and cost
advantages accruing to multi-product firms that enjoy the cost
complementarities of joint production (economics of scope).
Economies of scale are the best-known static source of cost
savings in large communications and other public utility
entities. Economies of scope have been identified in much
more recent research that will be dealt with later in this
chapter.
PRICING STRATEGIES AND ECONOMIC REGULATION
While the relationship of cost to output combines economic
with physical variables, the relationship of cost to prices is a
purely economic one, involving no engineering or production
data.
The simplest market model. that of perfect competition,
involves abstractions from reality that are not yet even
approximately correct for most communications firms,
including satellite providers. In perfect competition, there are
a large number of small firms, none of which has the power to
set prices. The interaction of supply and demand determines
price and output levels simultaneously and autonomously. All
firms are assumed to have the same technology and informa-
tion base, meaning that they have the same cost and
production functions.
SPADE Net investment
hours in space segment
(000) ($000,000)
/91.5
5,712 335.0
28,0/1 672.5
46,056 1,534.5

To minimize the costs of production, each firm produces
output at the level of minimum average cost, i.e. that point at
which the benefits of economies of scale are greatest. At that
output leveL average cost is also equal to marginal cost,
which is the cost of producing the last or most recent unit.
Economic theory has demonstrated that under a wide variety
of conditions. the welfare of society is maximized if produc-
tion occurs at the output level for which price equals marginal
cost. Price then exactly covers the costs of production.
including what in an accounting sense would be considered
profit, namely a return to invested capital at the market rate.
'Excess' profits above this return. such as are often earned by
unregulated monopolists. are not available.
There are two primary reasons why the assumptions of
perfect competition are seldom applicable to the setting of
most public utility enterprises. including those in the com-
munications industry. First, there is usually one large.
dominant firm rather than a number of small ones. A second
and not unrelated factor is that the dominant firm generally
enjoys economies of scale that extend well into and beyond
the levels of market demand that would be generated by
conceivable pricing structures. For ease of exposition we
simplify this model to that of a single monopoly firm enjoying
economies of scale - that is. average costs that decline as
output increases - for a single output and for indefinitely
large levels of that output.
Such a firm obviously has the market power to set prices at
whatever level it wants. while consumers will buy output in
amounts predicted by a demand function relating aggregate
demand to price. Economic theory shows that excess profit-
that above and bevond a market rate of return in invested
capital- can be ge~erated by such a monopolist, and that it is
maximized when the monopolist charges a price that is equal
to marginal revenue, i.e., the revenue generated by the sale
of the most recent unit of output. In doing so the monpolist
harms the interests of consumers by creating a contrived
scarcity of output: less is produced than would be optimally
desirable, and a higher price is charged than is needed to
cover production costs. This abuse of market power is the
basis of the received theory of economic regulation. It is
particularly applicable to the type of oversight of privately
owned public utilities exercized in the US by regulatory
bodies such as the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC).
Such boards are charged with preventing the abuses of
market power that would ensue from unregulated monopoly.
In its most straightforward version, the economic theorv of
regulation holds~ that monopolies would be constrained to
produce output at a level for which more would be produced
at a lower price, such that total costs are just covered. This
can be accomplished in a number of ways, including direct
price regulation: rate-of-return regulation positing and
admissible rate base on which return may be earned;
restriction of entry by competitors: and requirements for
universal or subsidized categories of service.
Regulatory theory, and the regulatory practices that it
informs, have been common in the US and Canada for
decades. where most public utilities, including communica-
tions systems, are privately owned and operated but publicly
regulated. Other countries. particularly those of continental
Europe, have a stronger tradition of state-owned monopolies
that provide basic services such as communications. energy
and transportation. In such countries, the complex and often
adversarial model of regulation is replaced by ministerial
oversight. ownership and operation based on more openly
political criteria, such as the perceived distributional effects
and equity implications of various pricing alternatives. It is
The Economics of Satellite Communications
fair to say that the public utility approach, at least in theory,
has stressed efficiency while the main emphasis of the PTTs
has been on distributional considerations.
The technological advances of the past two decades.
particularly in telecommunications and satellites, have intro-
duced strains in both regulatory approaches. The public
utility tradition has been criticized for regulatory 'lag·,
meaning that delays in legislative and administrative decisions
and in their implementation have retarded the desired effects
of regulation. typically in favour of the service providers. In
addition. the theoretical case has been made by Harvey
Averch and Leland Johnson for the point of view that rate of
return regulation induces public utilities to engage in a mode
of production that is inappropriately capital intensive. Like-
wise, PTT operation of communications systems and other
public utilities has, it is argued, been insufficiently swift in
accommodating user demands. particularly those from the
business community. for introduction of a broad variety of
new telecommunication services. The PTTs have also been
criticized for neglecting criteria of production and tariff
efficiency in favour of politically dictated production. innova-
tion, and pricing practices that many regard as contrary to the
best interests of society as a whole.
Since the early 1970s, two refinements in the theory of
economic regulation and pricing have emerged that are
particularly relevant to communications satellites systems and
to telecommunications generally. These are: 1) the theory of
pricing based on ability to pay (elasticity of demand): and 2)
advances in industrial organization theory under the rubric of
sustainability of monopoly and contestability theory, which
make use of cost and production functions that allow for the
more realistic case of multiple outputs. Each will now be
briefly summarized and applied to cases involving satellite
communications.
Although models of price discrimination have long been
familiar in micro economic theory, the reintroduction by
William Baumol and David Bradford of seminal work by
Frank Ramsey and Marcel Boiteux was instrumental in
focusing attention on the potential of elasticity-based tariffs
to optimize pricing policy under the regulatory and technolo-
gical constraints usually encountered by public utilities.
Specifically. a public utility with economies of scale faces the
following problem: although economic welfare suggests that
it is optimal for price to equal marginal cost, marginal cost
pricing in the presence of economies of scale cannot generate
enough revenue to cover total costs, since the cost of the last
unit produced- marginal cost- is lower, given economies of
scale, than the cost of each of the previous units produced.
So-called 'Ramsey pricing' addresses this problem by propos-
ing a 'second best' solution: one separates users into
subgroups on the basis of varying price elasticities of demand
(ability to pay). and each subgroup then pays a price equal to
marginal cost plus a premium inversely proportional to its
price elasticity of demand, where the factor of proportionality
is set at a value just sufficient to capture total operating costs.
In this manner, user groups with higher ability to pay (lower
price elasticity of demand) pay more, while those with a lower
ability to pay (higher price elasticity of demand) pay less. 1
What are the uses of Ramsey-like pricing mechanisms for
satellite communications and for telecommunications gener-
ally?
By Article V( d) of its intergovernmental agreement,
Intelsat is obliged to charge for its services on the basis of
average cost. This would appear to preclude it from any overt
or conscious form of elasticity-based pricing, such as charging
differential rates for the same type of service in its three
ocean regions. By contrast, pricing in the US domestic
51
Satellites International
satellite market is now almost completely deregulated, and
excess capacity is providing incentives for demand-based
pricing favourable to most users. Similar pressures can be
expected to arise in other regional and domestic systems to
the extent that excess demand encounters an environment of
deregulation.
Since 1973, Intelsat has practiced a type of pricing that can
be construed as being based on ability to pay, although it has
certainly not involved explicit application of the Ramsey
inverse-elasticity rule. This tariff policy is Intelsat's leasing of
whole, half and quarter transponders for domestic use to its
member countries. The origin of this policy is instructive with
respect to the conflict between pricing policy based on
average costs and that based on ability to pay.
Excess capacity over and above the need for system
redundancy posed a problem for Intelsat in the early 1970s.
Addressing the problem of 'marketing' these spare channels
while not violating lntelsat's statutory commitment to aver-
age-cost pricing, its Finance Subcommittee stated:
'Circumstances [might] arise ... in which an incremental
cost approach might be thought justified in the interests of
earning revenue from otherwise idle capacity. But it would
be very important to avoid creating serious anomalies by
comparison with other Intelsat tariff offerings. If, for
example, transponders were made available to meet
special requests it would be unreasonable to deny signator-
ies already using the space segment the opportunity to
make similar application, and if the rate were a favourable
one it would enable signatories with large voice circuit
requirements to economize, at the expense of Intelsat
revenues, in their space segment charges.'
In 1973, at the instance of a request by Algeria to lease a
transponder for domestic use, the Finance Subcommittee
stated that 'most' of its representatives:
· ... agreed that it would be in the interest of Intelsat to
establish ... a new type of space segment utilization for
domestic services, using spare capacity at a reduced
cnarge. lt seemed reasonable ... to expect that by this
means traffic could be attracted to, or retained by, the
Intelsat system on a scale which would improve the
financial position of Intelsat as a whole and effect a
reduction in the space segment cost for each user in the
whole system.'
Intelsat's Board of Governors decided in 1973 to establish
leasing of transponders for domestic traffic (subject to
interruption of service to accommodate emergency needs of
regular international traffic) as a separate tariff category, with
the price set at $1 million per year per transponder (now
reduced to $800,000). Since then approximately 35 different
countries have availed themselves of domestic transponder
service.
There are two senses in which Intelsars transponder
leasing can be interpreted as a kind of inverse elasticity
pricing, i.e., a policy based on price sensitivity or ability to pay.
First, the majority of users (though by no means all) are
developing countries that can be considered more price
sensitive than wealthier users, other things equal. Second and
perhaps more important, Intelsat's intergovernmental agree-
ment discourages the establishment of separate public inter-
national satellite systems that would cause 'significant econo-
mic harm' to Intelsat, whereas no such stricture is applied to
domestic systems. Thus, the alternative of establishing a
separate domestic system could be expected to make each
52
potential domestic transponder leasee - whether a developed
or a developing country - more price sensitive than interna-
tional users, other things being equal.
SATELLITE ECONOMICS AND
TELECOMMUNJCA TIONS DEREGULP.. TION
Readers need no rehearsal here of the widespread deregula-
tion of telecommunications, national and international, since
the early 1970s. The confines of this chapter make it
impossible to treat these developments with any generality;
on the other hand, it is difficult to discuss examples of
communications without dealing with the broader deregula-
tory matrix in which they are embedded. Two topics appear
suited for review here as case studies: the deregulation of the
American domestic satellite market in the 1970s and the
issues of separate systems in competition with Intelsat which
is more current and still partially unresolved.
As early as the mid-1960s, when Intelsat had just com-
menced operation, the FCC began to receive applications
from firms and non-profit entities to design, launch, own and
operate communications satellite systems for domestic use.
As these requests accumulated, various policy options were
considered. The President's Task Force on Communications
Policy (1968) reviewed alternative market structures for
domestic satellites and concluded, in its final report, that a
single provider of domestic satellite service should be
authorized by Congress in lieu of competition. This was
congruent with the intent of the Communications Satellite
Act of 1962, which had chartered the Communications
Satellite Corporation as the single provider of international
satellite communications (via its membership in Intelsat) for
the US. A year later, however, a new administration was in
the White House, and the recommendations of the Presi-
dent's Task Force were not heeded. Instead, the White
House issued a pro-competitive statement in 1970 that in
many ways is a prescient anticipation of policy issues and
terminology that would arise later in the decade. 2
Translated into policy initiatives as the FCC's Open Skies
Programme this pro-competitive stance has guided and
shaped the market structure of domestic satellite service in
the US since the early 1970s. Few would argue, in retrospect,
that this incremental, market-based, competition-driven
approach has not been in the overall interests of American
industry and consumers alike. Other countries, notably
Japan, Australia and the UK, have also relied significantly on
market forces for the gradual introduction of domestic
satellite services. Some countries, to be sure, decided early on
that satellite communications were to be based primarily on
government initiative outside of the influence of market
forces. These include Canada, which preceded the US by
several years in offering domestic satellite service; Indonesia,
whose Palapa system is now leasing transponders to neigh-
bouring countries as well; and France and the Federal
Republic of Germany. The fact that several domestic
communications satellite systems can co-exist and earn
money in the US market is a rather conclusive affirmation of
the lack of natural monopoly conditions in that market
asserted as long ago as 1970 by the White House and the
FCC.
We now turn to the issue of separate systems in potential
competition with Intelsat. The Reagan administration has
expressed conditional approval of some forms of competition
for separate systems established by American entrepreneurs,
and the FCC followed suit in August 1985, by approving the
applications of three private operators subject to the restric-

tion that their services not interconnect with the national
telephone systems of Intelsat member countries. What are
the economic principles that underlie this ongoing conflict
regarding competing international satellite systems?
The basic public policy issue in terms of the cost and pricing
concepts already established is whether Intelsat is a natural
monopoly and, if it is. whether its monopoly is sustainable or
unsustainable. Natural monopoly is a property of the cost
function (technology) and thereby amenable to econometric
detection when the cost function is estimated. Despite the
war of words on both sides of the issue, empirical research
into this area is still in its infancy. 4 Three logical possibilities
present themselves. First, Intelsat might not possess natural
monopoly - in words, it might be unable to offer a given
combination of services as cheaply as two or more firms in
concert (Intelsat presumably being one of those firms). In
that case. competition should be allowed so as to provide
users with the lower-cost option of multi-firm output. Second,
Intelsat might have a natural monopoly that is sustainable,
namely invulnerable to profitable entry by separate systems.
In that case. entry would not pose a threat to Intelsat, since
any competitors would lose money and presumably exist. To
be sure. accounting and legal safeguards would be necessary
here to prevent below-cost (predatory) pricing on the part of
potential entrants with the means of sustaining short-term
losses to establish a long-term market foothold. Third,
Intelsat might have a natural monopoly that is unsustainable,
meaning that competitors could profitably enter and remain,
even though the combination of their output and that of
Intelsat against entry in the interest of users' welfare, and the
clearest description of the 'significant economic harm' to
Intelsat referred to in Article XIV( d) of the inteigovernmen-
tal agreement.'
As noted earlier, a natural monopoly using strict Ramsey
pricing is sustainable against entry under a broad range of
conditions. This implies that any change in the direction of
elasticity-sensitive pricing from average-cost pricing would,
other things being equal, improve the chances of 'sustaining'
natural monopoly against competition. Intelsat, however,
appears to have this option available to it because of its
obligation in Article V(d) of the intergovernmental agree-
ment, previously noted, to use globally averged pricing. 6 One
problem posed by globally averaged pricing is that some
services are priced below cost and others are priced above
cost. This in turn provides 'cream' to 'skim' and is the basis of
Intelsat's complaints of cream-skimming by potential entrants
on the North Atlantic and other high-traffic routes on which
Intelsat presumably recoups profits that finance thinner
traffic routes. including most of those to, from and between
developing countries.
The concept of economics of scope. or cost complementar-
ities in the production process, is also illustrated by the
separate systems issue. Natural monopolies are not generally
met head-on by competitors offering the same approximate
product mix, but rather by those specializing in particular
services. 7
We now turn to contestability of market structure, namely
the ability. noted above, of latent competition in an environ-
ment of low sunk costs and low-cost market entry and exist to
induce certain types of socially desirable behaviour on the
part of the incumbent firm. Some have argued that the threat
of entry by separate systems has encouraged Intelsat to
provide more specialized services under more convenient
terms and conditions. Specialized offerings recently intro-
duced by Intelsat include the Vista service for developing
countries and the Intelsat Business System (IBS) for business-
oriented users. In addition, there has been a progressively
The Economics of Satellite Communications
more encouraging policy toward the use of small, inexpen-
sive, low power earth stations with the Intelsat space
segment. It is difficult, however. to establish a cause and
effect relationship between the presence of latent competition
and the behaviour of the incumbent firm and thereby to
corroborate the contestability hypothesis.
One final note deserves mention before we leave the
separate systems example. The tacit assumption until now has
been that competition would consist of the construction of
entirely separate satellite systems and networks - that new
physical facilities would be emplaced in orbit and on the
ground. A less severe type of competition, and one toward
which lntelsat has shown itself somewhat amenable, is what
has been called service competition, namely the resale or
wholesaling for third party use of circuits provided by Intelsat
through a separate entrepreneur or retailer. This certainly has
its precedent in the leased-line and value added services of
telecommunications firms using terrestrial or domestic satel-
lite facilities. Once again, however. a satisfactorily rigorous
comparison of service competition with facilities competition
would require econometric cost estimation on a scale not yet
undertaken by the parties involved.
Conclusion: a systems setting
Let us synthesize our observations to this point within a
systems framework. To emphasize the need for such a
perspective. consider the 'chicken and egg' problem- that of
bi-directional or circular causality in the satellite facilities
planning process. To estimate the need for facilities, one must
know demand. To estimate demand, one must know price.
To estimate price, one must know cost. And to estimate cost,
one must know the need for facilities. Certainly it is
suboptimal to concentrate on some of these relationships to
the exclusion of others. For example, demand for facilities is
often assumed to grow autonomously at a certain annual rate,
with no sensitivity to alternative pricing structures.
Figure 1 indicates these relationships. Where one enters
this circle is immaterial from the standpoint of modern
econometric techniques involving the estimation of systems of
simultaneous equations. Let us begin with capacity, the most
'physical' of the variables enumerated. Costs are determined
by capacity via the cost function, and we have noted that a
multi-product cost function is appropriate and presently
within the state of the art of economic science. In addition,
r
several econometric and accounting based cost reconstruc-
Demand
function
Prio~
_L:
Costs Facilities
-------------
Cost
function
Figure 1.
53
Satellites International
tions of Intelsat have been reviewed. Costs are recovered by
means of a tariff policy or pricing structure. Pricing policies
that we have noted include elasticity sensitive pricing,
globally averaged pricing. and marginal cost pricing. Prices,
in turn, determine demand by means of the demand function.
Price elasticity of demand. which must be known if elasticity
sensitive pricing is to be used, emerges from this relationship.
Finally. demand is related to capacity in the facilities planning
process. which is perhaps the most information and indeter-
minate of the four relationships illustrated. Nevertheless. a
rigorous cost-minimizing model of facilities planning relating
demand, capacity, costs. depreciation. price and the discount
rate was summarized earlier in this chapter.
The relationships in Figure 1 are certainly not all-inclusive.
Reciprocal effects with the economy at large. among other
phenomena, have been distracted from. Demand, for exam-
ple, will certainly be affected by the overall levels of income
and employment, and the cost function will be sensitive to the
prices of production inputs. Nonetheless. Figure I. as does
this chapter in general. gives an idea of the perspective and
possibilities of economic science in discussing satellite com-
munications. It seems fair to conclude that the state of the art
has not yet been widely applied. Such an application appears
quite desirable to illuminate the types of policy questions that
have emerged in the past and that are likely to arise in the
future.
References
1. In its cruder versions, price discrimination based on
ability to pay has been institutionalized into many aspects of
economic life; for example, lower prices for children and
senior citizens on public transportation and for theatre
admissions; college scholarships based on a need criterion;
and sliding scale fee schedules of physicians, lawyers and
other professionals.
2. Marcellus Snow, International Commercial Satellite
Communications: Economic and Political Issues of the First
Decade of Intelsat, Praeger, 1976, pp 65-68.
3. US President's Task Force on communications Policy,
Final Report. US Government Printing Office, Washington,
DC, 1968. The memorandum asserted that 'no natural
monopoly conditions appear to exist in the provision of
specialized communications via satellite' and proposed to
allow 'competition to act within well-defined limits necessary
to preclude anti-competitive practices and to assure that the
competition works toward the public interest' (Snow (1976).
pp. 103-05).
4. For research underway see Marcellus Snow, 'Statistical
Tests for Natural Monopoly Properties in International
Satellite Communications'. For presentation at Symposium
on Explorations in Space Policy: Emerging Economic and
Technical Issues, Washington DC, June 1986. Sponsored
jointly by resources for the Future and the National Academy
of Engineering, mimeo, forthcoming 1986.
5. A problem of detection arises, however. If competing
systems are allowed to enter and are observed to attract
traffic away from Intelsat, does this mean that Intelsat does
not have a natural monopoly, or that is has a natural
monopoly that is unsustainable? Neither theory nor empirical
experience to date would appear adequate to answer this
important question.
6. Marcellus Snow, 'Some Effects of Cost De-averaging by
Intelsat', Consultant's report to the National Telecom-
munications and Information Administration, US Depart-
ment of Commerce, mimeo, 1979.
54
7. Suppose that Intelsat produces x units of voice traffic y
units of data traffic and z units of video traffic at a cost
C(x,y,z). a firm with the same cost function producing only
x units of voice traffic would sustain cost C(x,O,O,); likewise,
firms specializing in data and video alone would sustain costs
C(O,y,O) and C(O,O,z) respectively. If Intelsat has sufficiently
strong economies of scope (synergy, complementarity of
production), then it can produce output combination (x,y,z)
more cheaply than can its three specialized competitors in
concert:
C(x,y,z) < C(x,O.O) + C(O,y.O) + C(O.O.z).
Of course. if Intelsat has natural monopoly properties for this
output combination. then this cost relationship afforded by
economies of scope follows as a special case. The most
common type of entry against a monopolist is often that of a
small, specialized firm hoping that its advantages from
economies of scale in individual product lines will overcome
whatever economies of scope are enjoyed by the incumbent.
FURTHER READING
Harvey Averch and Leland L. Johnson, 'Behaviour of the
Firm under Regulatory Constraint'. in American Economic
Review, Volume 52. no. 5, December 1962. pp. 1,052-69.
Elizabeth E. Bailey and Ann Friedlander, 'Market Structure
and Multi-product Industries', in Journal of Economic
Literature, Volume 20. no. 3, September 1982, pp. 1,024-48.
William J. Baumol. 'Contestable Markets: An Uprising in the
Theory of Industry Structure'. in American Economic
Review, Volume 72, no. 1, March 1982, pp. 1-15.
William J. Baumol and David F. Bradford, 'Optimal Depar-
tures from Marginal Cost Pricing', in American Economic
Review, Volume 60. no. 3, June 1970, pp. 265-85.
William J. Baumol, John C. Panzar and Robert D. Willig,
Contestable Markets and the Theory of Industry Structure,
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York. 1982.
Marcel Boiteux, 'On the Management of Public Monopolies
Subject to Budgetary Constraints'. in Journal of Economic
Theory, Volume 3, no. 3, September 1971, pp. 219-40.
Don Coursey, R. Mark Isaac and Vernon L. Smith, 'Natural
Monopoly and Contested Markets: Some Experimental
Results', in Journal of Law and Economics, Volume 27.
no. 1, April 1984, pp. 91-114.
David S. Evans and James J. Heckman, 'Multi-product Cost
Function Estimated and Natural Monopoly tests for the Bell
System,' in Breaking Up Bell: Essays on Industrial Organiza-
tion and Regulation, edited by David S. Evans, North
Holland, New York, 1983, pp. 127-56.
David S. Evans and James J. Heckman, 'A Test for
Subadditivity of the Cost Function with an Application to the
Bell system', in American Economic Review, Volume 74,
no. 4, September 1984, pp. 615-23.
Intelsat: Report I984-1985, Intelsat, Washington DC. 1985.
Marcel Perras, 'The Development of New Intelsat Services',
 The Economics of Satellite Communications

in The lntelsat Global System, edited by Joel L. Alper and

Joseph N. Pelton, American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, New York, 191'4, pp. 255-61'.

Frank Ramsey, 'A Contribution to the Theory of Taxation',

in Economic Journal, Volume 37. no. I, March 1927,
pp. 47-61.

William W. Sharkey, The Theory of Natural Monopoly,

Cambridge University Press, New York, 191'2.

William G. Shepherd, "'Contestability" vs. Competition', in

American Economic Review, Volume 74, no. 4, September
1984, pp. 572-87.

Marcellus S. Snow, 'Investment Cost Minimization for Com-

munications Satellite Capacity: Refinement and Application
of the Chenery-Manne-Srinivasan Model', in Bell Journal of
Economics, Volume 6. no. 2, Autumn 1975, pp. 621-43.

Marcellus S. Snow, 'Price discrimination and Economies of

Scale in International Satellite Communications', in Econo-
mic and Policy Prohlems in Satellite Communications, edited
by Joseph N. Pelton and Marcellus S. Snow, Praeger, New
York, 1977, pp. 5-30.

55
 7 PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES IN SATELLITE
COMMUNICATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING

Thomas L. McPhail, Director and Professor, Department of Communications Studies, University of Calgary;
author of Electronic Colonialism

As space applications have grown in number and sophistication over the last 20 years, the legal.
regulatory and public policy issues have grown and multiplied. Who owns the geosynchronous
orbital arc and how should access be regulated? Is remote sensing of other countries' resources
legal, and what ethical use should be made of such information once acquired? To what extent
does national sovereignty allow a country to control broadcasting within its own territory and thus
allow it to forbid direct broadcast satellite transmissions considered objectionable by the
government? These are some of the important policy issues that Canadian scholar Thomas L.
McPhail addresses in this chapter.

In the latter half of the twentieth century, after the start of the
space age, the international community recognized that the
existing body of international laws and treaties dealing with
earthly authority could not adequately address the problems
posed by space activities.
In order to develop a new international order, the United
Nations created the Committee On Peaceful Uses of Outer
Space (COPUOS) to develop and codify the law of outer
space. Since that time, several treaties have been formulated.
The first agreement was the Treaty on Principles Gov-
erning the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of
Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies
(Outer Space Treaty). This instrument, signed in 1967,
created a general framework for all future activities in outer
space. It declared space as the common province of
mankind, 1 that outer space is not subject to appropriation by
any state, that the exploration of space should be for the
benefit of all of mankind, and that space activities should be
conducted in accordance with international law. The agree-
ment also provides that nations should not interfere with the
space activity of other nations; that operations that could
interfere with the activity of other states should be peacefully
resolved through international consultations; and that laun-
ching states should notify the UN and the international
scientific community of the nature, location and results of
space activity to the extent possible.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty set forth general provisions
for international activities in outer space. Subsequently
drafted treaties enunciated new principles for activities in
outer space and refined the broad guidelines set forth in the
Outer Space Treaty.
Despite the protection afforded by these treaties, there are
still gaps in the law of outer space, particularly with regard to
international use of the geostationary satellite orbit, remote
sensing of Earth resources by satellites and direct satellite
broadcasting of television signals. This chapter will analyse
the legal questions raised by these three issues, discuss recent
proposals under consideration in the international community
and recommend solutions that may foster beneficial use of
these outer space resources.
ACCESS TO THE GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT
The less developed countries (LDCs) of the world are
particularly concerned about the allocation of the Fixed
Satellite Service 'parking spots' in the geostationary orbit.
(The Fixed Satellite Service is distinct from the Broadcasting
Satellite Service in that the former is non-broadcasting. FSS
involves two-way transmission of radio signals between
satellites and fixed ground stations. Its signals are not
intended for general reception by the public.)
Some planning of the geostationary orbit is necessary
because present technology cannot accommodate an unli-
mited number of satellites. Approximately 3,000 satellites can
be put into all of the bands allocated to the Fixed Satellite
Service at the present time. Only 200 to 300 satellites can be
put into the 6/4 GHz band (the C-band) which is considered
to be the most effective one for LDCs.
A few LDCs, most notably Brazil, Indonesia and India,
have already launched satellites. However, most LDCs do
not yet have the technology to launch satellites of their own.
These countries are concerned that by the time they do have
the technological capacity, all of the orbital slots in the
geostationary orbit may be gone. (Or, that if there are some
remaining, it will be more costly for an LDC to launch a
satellite since new satellites must not interfere with satellites
that are already in the geostationary orbit; avoiding this can
be expensive.)
As a result, the LDCs could like to have orbital slots in the
GSO allotted to them on an 'a priori' basis (also known as
'planning' or 'rationing'). The LDC's position is in sharp
contrast to the ITU's current 'first come, first served' (or
engineering) policy favoured by the developed countries. The
developed countries consider a priori planning to be_wasteful
since it would tie up some parking spots that might never be
used.
The 'first come, first served' policy of the ITU came under
attack in the 1970s. At the Malaga-Torremolinos Plenipo-
tentiary Conference in 1973, the ITU adopted Article 33,
which recognized the spectral/orbit resource as a limited
natural resource that all nations were entitled to share

57
Satellites International
equitably and use efficiently. Though this article recognized
the right of all nations to use the geostationary orbit, the 'first
come, first served' policy was left in effect because the only
nations that could efficiently use the orbit were the ones that
possessed the financial and technical capability to launch and
maintain communications satellites.
In 1977, a World Administrative Radio Conference was
convened by the ITU to draw up regulations for direct
broadcasting satellites. The conference adopted an allotment
plan for two of the ITU's three regions based on an a priori
planning principle whereby orbital positions were assigned to
nations in those regions regardless of need. Since these
changes only applied to the broadcast satellites using the 12114
GHz band and not to the overwhelming number of com-
munications satellites using the 4/6 GHz band, the first come,
first served policy was largely still in effect.
In the US, the FCC established for domestic satellite users
a 'multiple entry policy' in 1972 which was intended to make
efficient use of the spectral/orbital resource while fostering
the rapid development of a competitive market. This 'open
skies' policy imposed virtually no restraint on applicants. As a
result, the demand for service has outstripped the capacity of
the orbital arc serving the US. Consequently, the commis-
sion's policy was attacked by both existing carriers and new
entrants. However, the FCC has not changed is policy, and is
relying on technological improvements to meet future needs.
THE UN AND SPACE LAW
It is necessary to examine the treaties and laws on outer space
approved by the UN because any regulation adopted by
national or international communications authorities should
conform with existing laws on outer space.
Unlike the ITU or the FCC, the UN has not been able to
formulate any concrete proposals regarding the use of the
spectral/orbital resource. When the geostationary orbit was
placed on the agenda of the COPUOS in the late 1970s, it was
included as part of the delimitation of space issue. Because
COPUOS has been hopelessly mired in its attempt to define
exactly where space begins, the geostationary orbit issue has
not been adequately addressed. Efforts to isolate the issue of
the geostationary orbit from the delimitation of outer space
have been unsuccessful.
The UN must be the institution to resolve the many
conflicts surrounding the use of the spectral/orbital resource.
The General Assembly should act promptly to resolve this
question by authorizing COPUOS to isolate the geostationary
orbit issue from those concerning the delimitation of outer
space so that the committee could then set up a working
group to deal with the use of the geostationary orbit.
Issues
Sovereignty
In 1976, eight equatorial countries met in Columbia to discuss
the issue of sovereignty. Following their meeting they issued
the Bogota Declaration in which they claimed sovereignty
over the geostationary orbit. Their claim was based on the
fact that: the geostationary orbit depends on the Earth's
gravity; the geostationary orbit has been defined as a 'scarce
natural resource' and UN resolutions have given states
sovereignty over their own natural resources; and, since there
is no definition of outer space, the GSO might be considered
to be in the states' airspace over which they have sovereignty.
Since the Bogota Declaration, the equatorial countries
have continued to raise this issue at meetings of the ITU.
58
Until a definition of outer space is developed. or until
allocation of the GSO occurs. this issue is likely to continue to
arise.
The issue that must be addressed is the question of
sovereignty over the geostationary orbit. The geostationary
orbit does not depend on Earth's gravity. Natural forces
constantly perturb the flight of geostationary satellites and
without their on-board station keeping mechanisms these
satellites would drift off into space. Furthermore, any linking
of these satllites to the Earth results from the gravitational
field of the entire planet, not the gravity within the borders of
a single country.
The UN's resolutions recognizing state sovereignty over
natural resourcces were intended to protect depletable raw
materials that, historically, have been exploited. However.
the developing nations have attempted to link the concept of
permanent sovereignty over limited natural resources to the
geostationary orbit through Article 33 of the ITU. Though
the spectral/orbital resource is limited. its limitation is based
upon how well technology permits efficient use of the
resource. It cannot be completely consumed as can Earth-
based natural resources. International custom also seems to
strike down the argument that the geostationary orbit is not a
part of outer space on the grounds the outer space begins at
the perigee of any satellite orbiting the Earth. The claim of
sovereignty over the geostationary orbit also violates the
non-appropriation provision of the Outer Space Treaty.
A priori allocation
The allocation scheme appears to be the trend of the future,
and the ITU has already taken steps in this direction.
Developed nations argue that reserving orbital slots for
countries, regardless of their ability to use the assignments. is
a wasteful use of a limited resource that must be conserved
and intelligently managed. Also. the technological develop-
ment of the orbit would be hindered because with fewer
systems operating there will be less opportunity to introduce
advanced systems. Furthermore. with an artificially reduced
market, there will be less incentive to make the investments
necessary to develop such advanced systems and, thus. less
competitive pressure to introduce such systems.
A modified allocation plan by which nations could 'rent"
the orbital slots assigned to them until they possessed theu
own launching facilities is one alternative. The debate over
this issue will be fuelled by the interests in the lucrative profits
generated by the orbital slots.
Another approach to this issue is to express equitable
access to the GSO in terms of equal opportunity to channel
capacity rather than equal opportunity to launch satellites
into orbit. Under this concept. nations with the facilities to
launch satellites should be free to place them in orbit so long
as they do not interfere with existing systems. In exchange for
this right to the orbit, the developing nations would be
guaranteed a predetermined number of satellite transponders
depending on their needs. This plan would promote the full
and efficient use of the GSO, while at the same time allowing
the developing nations to participate in the benefits following
from the orbits' use. The developing nations could then lease
the channel capacity to domestic users, or use the channel to
participate directly in international communications and
information exchanges.
Politicization of the ITU
A rna jor concern of the US and other developed nations is the
increasing politicization of the ITU. Many developing nations
have acquired independence since World War II and now
constitute a majority in the ITU. They have been able to

force a gradual redistribution of the advantages of GSO orbits
from developed to developing nations. Barring any major
change in their voting pattern. this redistributuion will
continue to influence the future legal trend of ITU policy
formulation.
REMOTE SENSING
Remote sensing is 'the acquisition of information about the
Earth's surface by the use of sensors placed on orbiting
spacecraft'. Currently. remote sensing is done only by the
developed countries. primarily the US. Although it can yield
great benefits, many developing nations are concerned that
the information collected may be used to their detriment.
They also feel that the existing international law cannot
adequately protect them from misuse of this technology.
Much of the discomfort over the sufficiency of international
law stems from the fact the the Outer Space Treaty does not
contain any specific references to remote sensing. The treaty
can be viewed as imposing some limitations on remote
sensing because it is an activity carried out in space. Thus,
remote sensing should be conducted for the benefit and in the
interest of all countries and in accordance with international
law. The treaty also requires nations operating in space to
inform the Secretary General of the ITU of the results of such
activity to the greatest extent feasible. However. the extent
and provisions of this treaty are too vague to act as legal
directives binding nations that operate remote sensing satel-
lites. As a result of the concern over remote sensing satellites,
the UN General Assembly, in 1971, authorized COPUOS to
establish a working group on remote sensing to formulate a
set of rules governing operation of remote sensing systems. 2
This legal subcommittee has drafted a set of 17 principles that
would act as voluntary guidelines.-' Although the subcommit-
tee reached a consensus on many of the principles in the
draft, the provisions are largely mere reiterations of the ideas
set forth in the Outer Space Treaty. A wide division remains
on principles related to the right of countries to gather and
disseminate information obtained by remote sensing tech-
nology.
Issues
When remote sensing is conducted in outer space. the activity
is beyond the territorial sovereignty of the sensed state and is
governed by international law. Apparently, there is no rule or
principle of international law that prohibits a nation from
observing activity within another nation from beyond that
country's territory. Because there is no rule prohibiting the
activity. remote sensing is presently considered legal and the
sensed countries have no say as to whether or not their
territory will be subject to remote sensing by another country.
The LDCs are also concerned about the possibility of
companies or countries profiting from information about
them which they themselves do not have (as a result of the
information being too costly or not being made available to
the LDC governments at all). They are worried that decisions
concerning their country's development will be made outside
of their country.
A substantial number of nations perceive the existing legal
regime as inadequate, and they have attempted to establish a
restrictive framework based on prior consent and strict
controls over dissemination. The main foundation for this
proposal has been that the concept of permanent sovereignty
over natural resources, as embodied in several General
Assembly resolutions, gives a state control not only over its
Public Policy Issues and Satellites
resources but also over information about those resources.
These resolutions are not binding, however, and even if they
were, it does not appear that the concept of sovereignty over
natural resources extends to information about those
resources.
Aside from legal objections, there are also practical
considerations against adoption of a priori consent regime.
The proposal is unenforceable and would seriously jeopardize
remote sensing technology. because the satellites cannot be
turned on and off and their 'footprints' cannot be shaped to
the contours of political boundaries.
The proposal for strict controls over the disposition of
information is based on the same questionable extension of
the concept of sovereignty over information as a natural
resource. Strict controls would also seem to have enforceabil-
ity problems and would seem to violate the provision of the
Outer Space Treaty calling for wide disclosure of the results
of space activity.
The concern of most nations is that they will be placed at a
disadvantage if they do not have access to the information.
Another approach would be to guarantee priority access to all
sensed states along with an unrestricted right to technical
assistance for analysis of the data. By placing fewer restric-
tions on the activity. the technology could be fully developed
to assure the optimum flow of benefits. Furthermore, a policy
of wide dissemination would promote international coopera-
tion and would be consistent with the spirit and letter of the
Outer Space Treaty.
In the Remote Sensing Text, 4 remote sensing includes
observation of the 'natural resources of the Earth and its
environment'. The word ·environment' is interpreted to
include human activity. Those nations concerned about
protecting military information have raised a debate over the
present definition. They prefer to drop the word ·environ-
ment' from the definition and restrict remote sensing activi-
ties to natural resources.
DIRECT BROADCAST SATELLITES
Direct broadcast satellites (DBS) operate within the Broad-
casting Satellite Service. They are called DBS because they
broadcast directly to homes. DBS can only operate efficiently
in the geostationary orbit. However, unlike the problem of
allocating space in the GSO for Fixed Satellite Service (for
non-broadcast purposes), there has been no such problem in
allocating GSO space for DBS. The 1977 WARC on
Broadcast Satellites adopted assigned positions in the GSO
for Region 1 (Europe, Africa, the USSR and Mongolia) and
Region 3 (Australasia). A Region 2 (the Americas) confer-
ence was held in the summer of 1983 and it also adopted a
priori assignments of the GSO over the western hemisphere,
albeit on a more extensive and flexible basis.
What is at issue with DBS is that broadcasts of information
are made without deference to national borders. The dispute
arising from this fact has been summarized as follows: 'While
there is no consensus that transmissions broadcast from the
satellites of one country to ground stations located in another
country violate any of the various telecommunication agree-
ments, a specific provision of the Radio Regulations provides
that "[in] devising the characteristics of a [broadcasting
satellite], all technical means available shall be used to
reduce, to the maximum extent practicable, the radiation
over the territory of other countries." The US maintains that
this is merely a technical requirement, but many countries
view it as a prohibition against the use of the BSS to broadcast
to a foreign country without that country's consent.'
59
Satellites International

Many nations fear that DBS could be used to transmit
propaganda or culturally offensive programming into their
territory, and that they will be unable to intercept because
DBS will be able to bypass that country's retransmission
stations. As a result, the UN General Assembly authorized
the COPUOS to establish a working group to study DBS. The
committee has drafted a set of principles on the use of DBS,
but delegates have reached agreement on only six of the
provisions. For the past ten years, the DBS working group
has been unable to forge a consensus on the key issues of
prior consent of the receiving state and programming content.
It does not appear that any progress will occur in the near
future because the debate has split along ideological lines.
Issues
Individual rights vs. state rights
The US and others believe that all individuals should have the
right to receive any information they want to receive
including broadcasts from other countries. The USSR and
many other developing countries argue that the interests of
the state are paramount and that individuals should not be
permitted to receive broadcasts if it is not in the interest of the
state for them to do so. The disagreement is based on
fundamental ideological differences that exist between
societies, and the major space powers are at opposite ends in
this argument.
Concern over content
The LDCs are worried that broadcasts from other countries
will contain propaganda, may arouse political tensions, and
would promote a culture and lifestyle inconsistent with their
own.
A compromise solution appeared in 1973 when the
UNESCO issued its Declaration of Guiding Principles on the
Use of Satellite Broadcasting for the Free Flow of Informa-
tion, the Spread of Education and Greater Cultural
Exchange. The declaration listed four types of programming
that would require varying degrees of prior consent. The four
categories were news, cultural, educational and commercial
advertising. The negotiating text that emerged from the DBS
legal committee also addressed programming content. 5
claimed right to receive that transmission. This is not to say
that prior consent is itself a principle of international law. The
UNESCO Declaration did not establish prior consent as a
principle of international law because that document did not
have the binding effect of a treaty. Although there is some
authority that ITU Paragraph 428A imposes some limits on
transmissions between countries, the effect of the regulation
is at best uncertain.
Conflict resolution
Once DBS becomes widespread there are bound to be
conflicts on these matters. How can these conflicts be
resolved? The Principles Governing Direct Satellite Broad-
casting, a draft treaty adopted as a United Nations General
Assembly Resolution in 1982, states that any conflict should
be resolved via consultation between the parties and, failing
that, via 'established procedures'. However, these procedures
may prove inadequate. If so, new conflict resolution proce-
dures will have to be developed to deal with these issues in
the future.
REFERENCES
1. Since this treaty was ratified, the concept of the Common
Heritage of Mankind has emerged.
2. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
(COPUOS), 'Text of Draft Principles on Remote Sens-
ing', reprinted in Report on the Twenty-First Session,
Annex/, 1981.
3. Ibid.
4. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, 'Princi-
ples Governing the Use by States of Artificial Earth
Satellites for International Direct Television Broadcast-
ing, reprinted in Report on the Twentieth Session, Annex
11, 1981.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.

Free flow vs prior consent

Following the ideological dispute between individuual rights
and state rights is the practical question of whether or not
prior consent should be required. 'Prior consent' means that a
receiving country must give its permission before a satellite
can broadcast a programme to that country.
Documents emerging from the COPUOS seem to indicate
that a majority of states support the prior consent rule. In the
draft principles submitted to the COPUOS at the end of the
legal subcommittee's nineteenth session, the prior consent
concept was embodied in the section entitled 'consultation
and agreements between states'. This section required any
state proposing to establish a DBS service directed at a
foreign state notify that foreign state of its intentions and
promptly enter into consultations with that state. 6 Any DBS
system would have to be consistent with the agreements
between the transmitting and receiving states and with the
relevant instruments of the ITU. At the twenty-fourth session
of the legal subcommittee, the prior consent section remained
essentially unchanged. Because a majority of states have
asserted that prior consent is a valid exercise of their
sovereign power, it would appear that international law
supports a government's power to prevent the transmission of
unwanted signals into its territory over an individual's

60
 8 THE ITU AND SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

George A. Codding, Jr, Professor, Political Science, University of Colorado, Boulder

The International Telecommunications Union is the most important specialized agency of the
United Nations to address the field of telecommunications, including satellite communications.
Other UN agencies play some role, such as UNESCO, the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of
Outer Space, the International Maritime Organization, the International Civil Aviation
Organization, the UN Development Programme, the World Bank, the Intergovernmental Bureau
of Informatics, plus several others. But the ITU is considered to be the 'lead' agency. The ITU's
main constituent parts, the CCIR, CCITT and IFRB, are responsible for setting basic standards,
creating a framework for new digital services, authorizing orbital locations and frequency use for
satellites and providing technical cooperation and assistance for developing countries. Since
communications is so universal, it is not surprising that the ITU is the largest intergovernmental
organization, in terms of membership, in the world. In this chapter, George Codding, who has
studied the ITU for over 30 years, writes about how this organization works to regulate the
provision of communications satellites on a global basis. He explores in detail the general points
that Thomas McPhail analyzed in the preceding chapter.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the
principal international organization involved in establishing
technical rules and regulations for the proper use of satellites
for communication purposes. 1 As we will see, this task has
devolved on the ITU as a result of the ITU's overall
responsibility for the efficient operation of the world's
international telecommunication network and more specifi-
cally, its responsibilities for the proper utilization of the radio
frequency spectrum. An understanding of the nature and the
extent of this involvement is essential for all who are using
communication satellites and who plan to use them in the
future.
After a quick look at the structure and functions of this
unique organization, this chapter will investigate the rights
vesting mechanism for terrestrial radio communications, on
which the satellite communications rights vesting mechanism
is based. It will also trace the history of ITU involvement in
satellite communications from the 1959 Geneva ITU Admi-
nistrative Radio Conference up to and including the recently
concluded 1985 Space W ARC for the planning of the
geostationary satellite fixed services. A focus will be on some
of the more contentious problems that face the ITU in this
arena, including the advantages and disadvantages of formal
'a priori' planning as compared to the older 'first come, first
served' method of obtaining rights to the use of certain
geostationary orbits and related radio frequency bands. 2
Before proceeding, it might be helpful to note that
telecommunication, according to the ITU definition,
includes:
'any transmission, emission or reception of signs, signals,
writing, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by
wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems . .J
BACKGROUND
There are three major dates in the life of the ITU, the oldest
of the world's international organizations: 1865, 1936 and
1947. In 1865, the ITU's predecessor, the International
Telegraph Union, was founded in Paris in order to help bring
about an efficient European telegraph system. In 1936, the
International Telegraph Union, which by that time had
become almost universal in membership and had expanded its
mandate to include communication by telephone, merged
with a group of administrations involved in the regulation of
radio communications to become the International Telecom-
munication Union. The third date, 1947, is the year that the
Atlantic City ITU conferences thoroughly reorganized both
the ITU's structure and functions and brought it into
relationship with the United Nations. 4
The present-day structure of the ITU is made up of eight
major components: the plenipotentiary conference, world
administrative conferences, regional administrative confer-
ences, the Administrative Council and the four permanent
organs. The plenipotentiary conference is the supreme organ
of the ITU with power to amend the International Telecom-
munication Convention, the ITU's basic treaty. The plenipo-
tentiary meets in principle every five years, and all members
of the ITU have the right to be represented. As is the case in
all ITU conferences, each member countr<' has one vote and
decisions are made by a simple majority.· The plenipotenti-
ary conference also determines the general policies of the
union, establishes the basis for its budget, elects the ITU's
principal officials, and designates the states that are to send
representatives on the Administrative Council. 6
World administrative conferences have the authority to
revise the ITU's radio, telegraph and telephone regulations
and to consider 'any other question of a worldwide character
within the competence of the conference'. Regional adminis-
trative conferences are supposed to deal only with specific
telecommunication questions of a regional nature'. 7
The Administrative Council meets annually at the head-
quarters of the ITU in Geneva, Switzerland, and is made up
of the representatives of 41 countries selected by the
plenipotentiary conference 'with due regard to the need for
equitable distribution of the seats on the Council among all
the regions of the world'. The ITU Convention gives the

61
Satellites International
council four major duties: I) ensure the efficient coordination
of the work of the union and exercise effective financial
control over its permanent organs; 2) facilitate the imple-
mentation by member countries of the provisions of the
convention, the radio, telegraph and telephone regulations
and the decisions of ITU conferences; 3) determine the
union's policy of technical assistance; 4) promote interna-
tional cooperation for the provision of technical cooperation
to the developing countries by every means at its disposal. .. x
and also to carry out any other duties assigned to it by a
plenipotentiary conference. The Administrative Council may
also resolve questions not covered by the convention that
cannot wait to be settled at the next conference if it can obtain
the agreement of a majority of members.
The first of the ITU's permanent organs is the General
Secretariat under the direction of a Secretary General and a
Deputy Secretary General elected by the plenipotentiary
conference. The Secretary General is required to ensure
economic use of the union's resources and 'is responsible to
the Administrative Council for all administrative and finan-
cial aspects of the Union's activities.'~ The General Secretar-
iat, which has about 500 employees, is responsible for the
preparation of conferences, publishing research and admi-
nistering the ITU's technical assistance programme.
The ITU also has an International Frequency Registration
Board (IFRB), an International Radio Consultative Commit-
tee (CCIR), and an International Telegraph and Telephone
Consultative Committee (CCITT), each of which has its own
specialized secretariat. 111
The IFRB is made up of five individuals elected by the
plenipotentiary conference. It is responsible for the orderly
recording and registration of radio frequency assignments and
positions assigned by registration of radio frequency assign-
ments and positions assigned by countries to geostationary
satellites, providing advice to member countries as to the
most efficient use of radio frequencies and the geostationary
satellite orbit, and assisting in the preparation for conferences
dealing with radio matters.
The CCIR studies technical and operating questions
relating to radio communications and issues recommenda-
tions concerning them. Any member of the ITU has the right
to be a member of the CCIR and be involved in its activities
as do private operating agencies that have obtained the
sponsorship of an appropriate administration. The CCIR is
made up of a Plenary Assembly which meets every four years.
The CCITT is similar to the CCIR, except that it also studies
tariff questions and has a small laboratory at its disposal. 11
THE TERRESTRIAL RIGHTS VESTING
MECHANISM
There are basically two different types of satellite com-
munication rights vesting mechanisms. The first one is based
on prior usage and has become known as the 'first come, first
served' approach; and the second, based on one or more
specific allotments to ITU member administrations contained
in a formal treaty, has become known as the a priori method.
Both systems are, with certain variations, derived directly
from the rights vesting mechanisms developed by the ITU for
certain types of terrestrial radio communication. This section
will be devoted to an account of the terrestrial system. Its
application to satellite communication, with certain modifica-
tions, will be the subject of the following sections.
The first come, first served approach
The concept that a user of a radio frequency could be
62
protected from harmful interference from other users is
almost as old as radiocommunication itself. The first interna-
tional conference on radio held in Berlin in 1903 addressed
the obligation not to interfere and the requirement to give
notice of the frequencies being used. The Final Protocol of
that conference, which was signed by six of the eight
participating states, contained a provision which provided
that :
'Wireless telegraph stations should operate, as far as
possible, in such a manner as not to interfere with the
working of other stations.' 12 .
The problem of determining which station should yield to
another in cases of harmful interference was solved for the
ITU in an almost offhand manner. The same conference, in
an attempt to encourage intercommunication in the new
maritime radio service, also included a provision in the Final
Protocol which provided that:
'The Contracting Parties shall publish all technical in-
formation of a nature to facilitate and accelerate com-
munications between coast stations and ships at sea.' 13
Another component was addressed three years later when the
second Berlin Radiotelegraph Conference included a provi-
sion in the Radio Regulations calling on the Berne Bureau of
the International Telegraph Union to draw up a list of radio
stations, including the frequencies used by those stations. The
'Frequency List of Radioelectricity Stations', which became
known as the Berne List, was made available to all interested
parties.
Administrations quickly began to use the Berne List as a
guide to selecting frequencies for new radio stations; and it
soon became accepted practice that newer stations would not
interfere with those already registered. In cases of disputes,
harmful interference-free operation was the right of the radio
station which was the first to be registered on the list.
The only major change in the first come, first served
procedure occurred when the ITU created the IFRB and gave
it the task of overseeing the ITU's list of frequencies, the
name of which was changed to the Master International
Frequency Register, and the registration in that list of
frequencies notified to it by admi,,istrations.
As it now stands, the first come, first served approach
obliges administrations to notify the IFRB of any frequency
assignment in the specified radio services if: 1) it is capable of
causing harmful interference to any service of another
administration; 2) if the frequency is to be used for
international communication; or 3) if the administration
desired 'to obtain international recognition of the use of the
frequency'. 14 It should be noted that administrations are free
to use any other frequency in any manner that they desire.
The IFRB examines each notification for its conformity with
the ITU convention and the Radio Regulations and decides
whether it will cause harmful interference to the service
rendered by a station whose frequency has already been
recorded in the Master International Frequency Register. If
the findings of the board ar~ satisfactory, it will enter the
frequency in the Master Register. The date of that registra-
tion determines the rights of that station against any other
station. 15
The 'a priori' approach
The increased use of radio communication over the years and
the resulting crowding of certain portions of the radio

frequency spectrum led some to explore a more structured
approach to rights vesting. At a series of meetings shortly
after World War L for instance, the US put forward a series
of proposals to its wartime allies to take all usable frequencies
and redistribute them to all of the countries of the world on
an equitable basis. The recipients would have the right to use
their allotment in any way they desired without harmful
interference from the stations of other administrations. 16 The
political climate changed, however, and nothing became of
the US initiative.
The situation finally became acute in Europe in the 1920s.
The reception of broadcasting signals throughout Europe had
become increasingly diffficult due to interference between the
stations of different countries. At the suggestion of the BBC,
an International Broadcasting Union (UIR) was created and
given the task of finding a solution to the interference
problem. The UIR's solution was to make an inventory of
existing and projected usage and allot the available frequen-
cies to each participating country according to a pre-arranged
formula. 17 In the beginning, the allotment plans that were
produced were informal and non-binding, although they were
accepted and applied by most of the European broadcasting
administrations. However, the third such plan, the Prague
Plan, was incorporated by reference into the frequency
management provisions of the 1927 International Radiotele-
graph Convention and thus became binding on the parties to
it.
With the creation of the ITU in 1934, The European
broadcasting allotment plans for the European braodcasting
service became part of the ITU's Radio Regulations. From
1936 on, therefore, two different rights vesting schemes
existed under the auspices of the ITU, the first come, first
served formula, whereby the right to use a frequency free
from harmful interference was based on the date of its
recording in the Master International Frequency Register;
and the a priori formula whereby the right to use a radio
frequency free from harmful interference was based on the
existence of an allotment of that frequency contained in a
formal, binding treaty. 1x
THE ITU BECOMES INVOLVED IN SPACE
The ITU became involved in satellite communications only a
few years after it was demonstrated that messages could be
sent to satellites and retransmitted to a predetermined
location on the Earth. At first this involvement was of a
superficial nature owing to the newness of satellite com-
munication and the ITU's heavy responsibilities in other
areas of radio communication. Soon, however, the regulation
of space communication was to become a major preoccupa-
tion of the ITU and its member administrations.
Preliminary steps
The Ordinary Administrative Radio Conference of 1959, the
first general ITU radio conference to be held after the
launching of Sputnik 1, took due note of the claims that were
being made about this exciting new method of communica-
tion. Although delegates to the 1959 conference did not feel
that they had the expertise necessary to take any substantive
action, they did make two important decisions that would
substantially affect the future of satellite communication.
The first was the designation of a few frequency bands
between 136 MHz and 31.8 GHz to be used for space-related
research activities on a shared basis with other radio users.
The second was to recommend that the ITU hold a special
The ITU and Satellite Communications
conference during the latter part of 1963 to examine the
technical progress that had occurred in the use of radio
communication for space research and, in the light of this
examination, decide whether to allocate frequency bands for
that purpose and consider new provisions for the Radio
Regulations concerning the identification and control of radio
emission from space vehicles. IY
In response to the recommendation of the 1959 conference,
the ITU held an Extraordinary Administrative Radio Confer-
ence in Geneva in 1963 to investigate the frequency needs for
satellite communications Without too much difficulty, the
conference designated an additional portion of the Frequency
Allocation Table for the use of satellite communications on
an exclusive as well as a shared basis.
Of special importance was the decision of the conference
that these frequencies would be subject to the same notifica-
tion and recording process employed by the ITU for most
types of terrestrial radio communication, thus extending the
first come, first served principle to satellite communications.
While the decision itself was made without any great
opposition, a general discussion did occur over its possible
future implications. Several delegations expressed the opin-
ion that if something additional were not done, satellite
communication might well become the monopoly of the
richer nations. 20 Nothing was done directly to alleviate these
concerns, but when considering a separate but related matter,
the conference did adopt a recommendation to the effect that
all members of the ITU had a 'right to an equitable and
rational use of frequency bands allocated for space com-
munications' and that the use of the frequency spectrum for
space communication should 'be subject to international
agreements based on principles of justice and equity permit-
ting the use and sharing of allocated frequency bands in the
mutual interest of all nations'. 21
The New Regulatory Regime
The 1971 Space WARC 22 was an important conference for
satellite communication in that it extended the scope of the
ITU's regulatory regime to include the geostationary satellite
orbit in addition to the frequencies used, and it made a frontal
attack on the concept that adminstrations should obtain any
permanent rights to any particular geostationary orbital
positions or associated radio frequencies.
After expanding the portions of the Frequency Allocation
Table devoted to satellite communication and identifying
several different space communications services on the basis
of recent development, the conference entered into a
discussion of the frequency notification and registration
procedures for space communication. The delegates con-
cluded that the procedures that had been used by the ITU in
the past for terrestrial radio communication and adapted to
the early satellite communication systems would not be
adequate for systems involving geostationary satellites. As a
result, the 1971 conference introduced a new modified
procedure for geostationary satellite communication systems.
The new procedure consists of an advanced publication
process, a final coordination procedure and the recording of
the system in the Master Frequency RegisterY
The advanced publication process requires that any admi-
nistration planning a satellite communication system notify
the IFRB of that fact, along with information concerning the
system's principal characteristics- including orbital position
in the case of geostationary satellite communications systems
- between five and two years in advance of bringing that
service into operation. This information is then made
available by the IFRB to the other members of the ITU. If
63
Satellites International
another administration ascertains that the new system might
cause unacceptable interference with one of its existing or
planned satellite systems, it sends all pertinent information to
the notifying administration with a copy to the IFRB, within
four months of receiving the information about the new
system. All of the adminstrations involved are requested to
attempt to work out any differences they might have,
including, if necessary, making changes in orbital positions
and the frequencies to be used. The board keeps members of
the ITU informed of the progress of the negotiations and
provides assistance to the parties if so requested.
The Radio Regulations also provide a coordination proce-
dure to take place just prior to notifying the board of the
requirements of a new system for recording in the Master
Register. Under this procedure, the administration that
intends to start a new geostationary satellite communication
system is required to coordinate with any other administra-
tion concerned that their system might be affected. Detailed
information is exchanged with the help of the IFRB, and the
administrations are requested to work out their differences. If
the administrations are not successful, the IFRB automati-
cally becomes involved in the process. This may include a
request from the board to the administration to resolve their
differences, or, an assessment by the board itself of the actual
amount of interference, if any, that the new system might
cause. As in the case of the advanced notification procedure,
however, the resolution of the conflict rests entirely on the
good will of the administrations involved.
The final phase is the notification of the new system to the
board for registration in the Master International Frequency
Register. As in the case of terrestrial radio services, the
notices are examined by the IFRB for conformity with the
ITU Convention, the Radio Regulations, and the probability
of causing harmful interference to the satellite communica-
tion services of other administrations. If the notification
receives a favourable finding from the board, it is entered into
the Master Register as of the date of notification. Once
registered, it receives 'international recognition' and is
protected from interference from satellite systems that are
notified to the board at a later date.
A number of the delegations to the conference expressed
concern that this system would also work to the disadvantage
of latecomers because there was no obligation on the part of
an administration that has registered a system to make any
changes that might be necessary to permit another adminis-
tration to have its own interference-free system. Further,
there was even the possibility that all of the desirable
frequencies and geostationary orbital positions might be
occupied by the time that some administrations could
introduce their own systems. Some of the same delegations
felt that the only way the rights of all could be protected
would be to adopt an a priori plan.
In an attempt to meet some of the concerns of these
delegations, the conference adopted a non-binding resolution
and recommendation which announced that 'all countries
have equal rights in the use of both the radio frequencies
allocated to various space radiocommunication services and
the geostationary satellite orbit for these services' and that
'registration with the ITU of frequency assignments for space
radiocommunication services and their use should not create
an obstacle to the establishment of space systems by other
countries'. 24
Different concerns were expressed by the developing
countries in a separate but related discussion. By 1971 it had
become clear that the technology would soon permit televi-
sion programmes to be broadcast directly to a home equipped
with the appropriate receiver. As had occurred during prior
64
discussions in the UN and UNESCO on the same subject,
there was widespread concern that many countries would be
deprived of this valuable new service. Even under the
amended notification and registration procedures, the
developing countries feared that the more technically adv-
anced countries might broadcast television programmes
directly into the homes of the people of these countries
without their permission. This situation could occur deliberatly
or as a result of spillover from a legitimate broadcast.
The 1971 conference was no more successful than the UN
and UNESCO had been concerning the overall problem of
the limits that should be established to direct broadcasting of
television programmes to other countries by satellite. It did,
however, defer to those who argued in favour of prior consent
when it added a provision to the Radio Regulations requiring
administrations implementing a new domestic service to use
all technical means available 'to reduce, to the maximum
extent practicable, the radiation over the territory of other
countries unless an a~reement has been previously reached
with such countries'.L
The most important action of the conference for the future
of direct broadcasting by satellite was the decision to request
the next ITU plenipotentiary to schedule a conference
expressly for the purpose of creating a comprehensive plan
for the broadcasting service at 12 GHz. A resolution to this
effect, which was primarily the work of the French and British
delegations, was passed over the objection of the US by one
hundred votes to one. Although the resolution did not specify
that an a priori allotment plan was required, with the
probable exception of the US, the feeling in 1971 was that an
a priori plan would be the logical end result of that
conference. As explained by DuCharme and others:
The highly political overtones and the social and cultural
impact of direct broadcasting satellites (DBS) together
with the question of radiation spillover (intentional or
otherwise) in the territory of other countries, were factors
which prompted the planning of DBS. It was believed that
the a priori planning and assignment of radio channels,
orbit positions and associated coverage areas to individual
countries would significantly alleviate the spillover prob-
lems. Moreover, a priori planning would ensure that
orbit/spectrum resources would be available to meet the
needs of all countries'. 26
The Debate Continues
The 1973 ITU Plenipotentiary conference went over much of
the same ground that had been covered in1971, but in the end
decided to hold the conference that had been requested and
set the date for 1977. In the end, the 1973 plenipotentiary
came down on the side of those who found serious flaws in the
older first come, first served system when it added a new
paragraph to the lead article of the Special Provisions for
Radio contained in the ITU's International Telecommunica-
tion Convention. This article, as partially modified by the
following ITU plenipotentiary reads:
'In using frequency bands for space radio services Mem-
bers shall bear in mind that radio frequencies and the
geostationary satellite orbit are limited natural resources
and that they must be used efficiently and economically, in
conformity with the provisions of the Radio Regulations,
so that countries or groups of countries may have
equitable access to both, taking into account the special
needs of developing countries and the geographical
situation of particular countries . .n

A long and sometimes acrimonious debate also took place
at the World Administrative Radio Conference held in
Geneva in 1979 to revise the ITU's Radio Regulations over
the relative merits of two approaches to rights vesting.
Delegates from the developing countries argued that the first
come, first served arrangement was unfair to the vast
majority because of the necessity of late entrants into satellite
communication to adapt their systems to those already in
existence. The delegate of India indicated that his country
had already encountered considerable difficulty in obtaining
the necessary space resources for an Indian domestic satellite
system under the rules adopted by the 1971 space conference.
The proponents of the status quo, especially the US, argued
that the a priori approach was wasteful because it would
unduly restrict the development of satellite technology, and
new uses of satellite technology that would have the effect of
providing more rather than less space resources for the use of
newcomers. 2H
The 1979 W ARC did not resolve the dispute, but did pass a
resolution recognizing that the geostationary satellite orbit
and the radio frequency spectrum ar(' 'limited natural
resources' and calling for the convening of a two-part world
space conference 'to guarantee in practice for all countries
equitable access to the geostationary satellite orbit and the
frequency bands allocated to space services ... ,zy
ORGANIZING THE SA TEL LITE BROADCASTING
SERVICE
The broadcasting satellite service in the 12 GHz band was
organized by means of a formal a priori allotment plan at the
World Broadcasting Satellite Administrative Radio Confer-
ence held in Geneva in 1977 and the Regional Administrative
Radio Conference for the Planning of the Broadcasting
Satellite Service in Region 2 held in Geneva in 1983. This was
the first major step away from the traditional rights vesting
system for satellite communications.
The 1977 Broadcasting Satellite WARC
Almost all of the delegations that arrived in Geneva in 1977
for the World Broadcasting Satellite Administrative Radio
Conference, the conference convened by the 1973 ITU
Plenipotentiary on the recommendation of the 1971 Space
WARC, were prepared from the outset to plan the future of
the broadcasting satellite service by means of a formal a priori
allotment plan, with the notable exception of the US. The US
argued, as it had before, against a formal a priori allotment
plan because such a plan would tend to inhibit the develop-
ment of satellite broadcasting technologies and procedures.
The US favoured a more flexible plan that would allow other
delegates to share in the development of satellite communica-
tion in a manner that could make enough additional space
resources available for all countries that would need them.
When its arguments fell on deaf ears, the American delega-
tion changed tactics and succeeded at least in convincing its
delegates from countries in Region 2 to postpone the drafting
of any allotment plan for that region until 1983. 30
After this decision was made, the remaining delegations
had little difficulty in drawing up an a priori allotment plan
for Regions 1 and 3. Thirty-four geostationary orbital
positions were identified in the arc between 37 degrees west
and 170 degrees east in which each administration was
allotted geostationary orbital positions and frequency bands
(11.7 to 12.5 GHz for Region 3 and 11.7 to 12.2 GHz for
The ITU and Satellite Communications
Region 1). The plans for Regions 1 and 3 include a large
number of technical parameters dealing with link design
earth station and space station hardware and deployment;
any major modifications to these parameters must be with the
agreement of all affected administrations. According to
Article 16, the plan is intended to meet the requirements of
the broadcasting satellite service in the two regions for 15
years from the date of its entry into force (1 January 1979),
and is significant because it marks the first time that rights to
the use of the geostationary orbit and related frequencies
depend not on the date of notification of a system or even the
use of a system, but also on whether the system conforms to
the plan. The plan can be revised only by an ITU administra-
tive radio conference called for that purpose.-' 1
The 1983 Satellite Broadcasting Conference
The countries of Region 2 met in Geneva in 1983 to draw up
their own a priori allotment plan for the frequency bands 11.7
to 12.2 GHz. Delegations from 25 countries were in attend-
ance and the conference lasted from 13 June to 17 July. With
the wisdom gained from technology changes in the ensuing six
years and the help of computer modelling techniques, the
technical parameters for satellite broadcasting in the plan
produced for Region 2 are a great deal more refined than
those of the 1977 plan. The space in the orbital arc between
broadcast satellites was considerably narrowed for instance.
The final plan allotted 48 geostationary orbital positions and
2,114 frequency channels to the countries in Region 2, the
largest single share of eight orbital slots and 256 frequency
channels going to the US.
The plan was also generally more flexible than the Region 1
and 3 plans. Under certain circumstances, for instance, a
system which does not adversely affect another administra-
tion maybe initiated even if it varies from the characteristics
established in the plan. Further, in certain cases a system that
does adversely affect the operation of another administra-
tion's system may be used on an interim basis. If it does cause
increased interference, however, the consent of the other
administration is required. 32
In addition to its flexibility, the Region 2 plan is notable for
the fact that it attempts to meet the space requirements of
administration on a regional basis for the first time. If
successful, this could provide an additional method for
overcoming controversies in future satellite communication
conferences.
All of the countries that participated in the 1983 Region 2
conference seem to have been satisfied with the results. Even
the US, which had fought hard but unsuccessfully against a
priori planning for the satellite broadcasting service, reacted
favourably. In his report to the Secretary of State, the head of
the US delegation stated his opinion that the plan would take
care of all of the 'reasonable' requirements of the countries in
the Americas 'well into the next century'. Further:
'The US objectives - to come home with adequate
orbital/spectrum resource and procedural flexibility to
meet the existing and future requirements of the broad-
casting satellite service - were fully achieved at RARC 83
(Geneva). The eight orbital positions obtained- each with
500 MHz providing 32 channels - and the built-in
flexibility of the regulatory procedures give US operators
assurance that they may go forward with confidence to
provide direct broadcasting satellite service to the Amer-
ican public. oJJ
65
Satellites International
This, then, was the situation just prior to calling the
two-phase conference for 1985 and 1988 to plan all other
satellite communication that had been recommended by the
1979 WARC and approved by the 1982 ITU Plenipotentiary.
ORGANIZING THE FIXED SA TEL LITE SERVICE
Since it was left to the satellite communication conference
recommended by the 1979 W ARC to decide which space
services and frequency bands should be planned, there were,
in principle, practically no limits on what it could propose. As
it turned out, the first session of the conference in 1985
restricted its a priori planning to the fixed satellite service.
The 1979 WARC decided that the scope of the new
conference was so vast, and the implication for the develop-
ment of satellite communication so important, that it should
be held in two parts. The first session would carry out all of
the preliminary work and the second session would make the
final decisions. The specific mandate of the first session was
to:
'1 decide which space services should be planned;
2 establish the principles, technical parameters and criteria
for the planning, including those for orbit and frequency
assignments of the space services and frequency bands
identified ... taking into account the relevant technical
aspects concerning the special geographical situation of
particular countries, and provide guidelines for associated
regulatory procedures;
3 establish guidelines for regulatory procedures in respect
of services and frequency bands ... ; and
4 consider other possible approaches that could meet the
objectives of (guaranteeing equitable access).'-' 4
The 1979 Resolution also invited the CCIR to carry out
preparatory studies to provide the first session 'with technical
information concerning principles, criteria and technical
parameters including those required for planning space
services'. 35
The Conference Preparatory Meeting
The CCIR called a preparatory meeting of the CCIR Study
Groups involved in space communications and interested
parties to meet in Geneva in the summer of 1984 to discuss
the issues involved and to produce some preliminary observa-
tions for the use of the first session. The meeting was
attended by 61 delegations, about evenly divided between
developed and developing countries, 20 recognized private
operating agencies and ten international organizations. 36
The meeting first identified 12 space services that were
using the geostationary satellite orbit or that would be doing
so in the foreseeable future:
1. The fixed satellite service (FSS)
2. The broadcasting satellite service (BSS)
3. The mobile satellite service (MSS)
4. The radio-determination satellite service
5. The space operation satellite service
6. The space research satellite service
7. The Earth exploration satellite service
8. The meteorological satellite service
66
9. The intersatellite service
10. The amateur satellite service
11. The radio-astronomy satellite service
12. The standard frequency and time-signal satellite service.
The meeting then examined the various services for actual
and potential use and came to the conclusion that the only
place where there was a relatively high utilization intensity
was in the 6/4 GHz band of the fixed satellite service. The
only other bands where a similar intensity could be predicted,
and that would take place only gradually, was at 14111 to 12
GHz. The level of use of the geostationary satellite orbit by
other services was found to be so low that the need for
planning those services was questionable. (The needs of the
broadcasting satellite service had already been taken care of
by the 1977 and 1983 space conferences.)
Without coming to a precise conclusion about what should
be planned, the meeting went on to discuss methods that the
following conference should use in planning the space
services. Seven possible methods were identified, five of
which involved variations on the a priori planning method,
and two variations on the first come, first served method. Of
the non-a priori methods, one would rely on the CCIR to find
solutions to any overcrowding that might occur and the other
involved calling periodic conferences to establish procedures
to guarantee access to the necessary space resources. If these
procedures did not work, there was a provision for modifying
assignments to operating and previously notified satellite
systems.
The meeting then went on to specify 1 I characteristics that
should be taken into account in the application of any
planning methods, including equitable access, accommoda-
tion of existing networks, access for multi-administration
satellite networks, efficient use of the orbit/spectrum, and
administrative costs.
All seven methods and the II characteristics were included
in the Final Report despite the objection of several delega-
tions, mostly from developing countries, to specific aspects of
both methods and characteristics and to the short time that
had been devoted to their discussion in plenary meeting. The
Final Report, mostly composed of technical and operational
information that the conference would need in its efforts,
amounted to more than 500 pages published in three
volumes.
The 1985 Space WARC
The First Session of the World Administrative Radio Confer-
ence on the Use of the Geostationary Satellite Orbit and the
Planning of the Space Services Utilizing It met in Geneva
from 8 August 1985 to 16 September 1985, to address the
issue of the best methods to attain 'equitable access' to
resources necessary for satellite communication.-'7 A secon-
dary but nevertheless important task was to approve the
results of the 1983 Region 2 Satellite Broadcasting Confer-
ence for insertion in the ITU Radio Regulations. (Being a
regional conference, the Region 2 satellite broadcasting
conference did not have the power to give final approval of
the results of its work for inclusion in the Radio Regulations.)
Delegations from 110 member states were present along with
observers from 20 international organizations.
Despite some early problems, Committee 6 of the 1985
Space W ARC was able to iron out several issues that arose
over the compatibility of the Region 2 and Regions 1 and 3
broadcasting satellite allotment plans and approve a state-
ment for inclusion in the Radio Regulations. This statement

was given the title Final Acts and was approved by the
conference as a whole without any major oppm,ition.'K
The other, more important conference objectives proved to
be more difficult to achieve. Even before the conference
there had been indications that a conflict might occur
between the partisans of the two major approaches to
planning. Many of the developing countries had made it clear
at the 1979 W ARC that they would fight for an a priori plan
in those portions of the radio frequency spectrum where there
was any possibility of a shortage.
On the other side. some pre-conference statements gave
the impression that they might be taking a 'hard line'
approach to the subject and refuse to be associated with any a
priori plan whatsoever. 'Y That impression was softened
somewhat when the same countries submitted proposals to
the conference which accepted the possibility that a plan
might be acceptable if it were confined to the most intensively
used bands, if it were not too detailed. and if it was not a part
of a formal treaty instrument.~ 11
The conference officials were so worried about the possibil-
ity of an outright cla~h between the two factions that they
decided to attack the crucial issue of exactly what services
should be planned and what planning method should be
adopted immediately. but to first review and discuss, one by
one, each of the planning approaches and planning principles
that had been forwarded to the conference by the CPM. It
was hoped that in the meantime the two sides could come to
terms on some sort of a common approach. As it turned out.
after more than four weeks the conference was still discussing
planning approaches and planning principles; and it took the
creation of a special Chairman's Task Force, numerous
plenary assembly meetings. and many late nights before a
solution to the major issues could be reached. Some of the
more important decisions were, in fact. taken after the
scheduled end of the conference when so many delegations
had already left Geneva that it was no longer possible to find
a quorum necessary for a valid vote.
In the end, the 1985 Space WARC decided that the fixed
service should be planned and that this planning should
include an allotment plan, limited to geostationary satellite
systems providing domestic services 'that would permit each
administration to satisfy requirements for national services
from at least one orbital position, within a predetermined arc
and predetermined bands·. The plan is to be established in
the band 4.500 to 4,800 MHz and in a 300 MHz segment to be
selected from the 6,425 to 7,075 MHz band. It is also to be
established in the bands 10.70 to 10.95 GHz. 11.20 to 11.45
GHz and 12.75 to 13.25 GHz. The plan is to last for a period
of at least ten years. The conference also agreed that the next
session should adopt "improved procedures' in ten additional
fixed satellite service bands to J;rovide for any additional
requirements that might surface. 1
A great deal of discussion also occurred at the conference
over the status in any future plans of the common user
organizations such as lntelsat. Some delegations argued that
since these organizations already provided domestic satellite
communication services for a number of countries and might
be the only way that the communication needs of many
additional developing countries could be met, they should be
accorded a preferential status in any plan that was adopted. A
number of other delegations, led by the US. argued that since
only administrations can have a legal status in an allotment
plan, the multi-user organizations would have to depend on
member administrations for their space resource needs. A
compromise was finally reached whereby the common user
organizations would have an 'equal status' with administra-
tions as concerns access to the necessary space resources. 42
The ITU and Satellite Communications
The 1985 Space W ARC also directed the ITU to carry out a
number of studies in the intersessional period to help the 1988
session attain its goal of creating an allotment plan for the
fixed satellite services. The IFRB, for instance, was given the
awesome task of developing a software package for the use of
the second session in the preparation of the final fixed service
geostationary satellite allotment plan and of carrying out
appropriate planning exercises with that software in advance
of the second session. In addition, the IFRB is asked to
review the procedures for converting an allotment from
notification to assignment in the proposed plan and to
develop guidelines for improved regulatory procedures for
the parts of the fixed satellite bands which will not be covered
by the allotment plan. The CCIR was asked to carry out more
than a dozen highly technical studies. including one on the
development of new criteria for the sharing of frequency
bands by the fixed satellite service with other satellite
services. In addition. the CCIR was instructed to make a
study of the technical character of the fixed satellite service in
the frequency band 20/30 GHz and to make a report to the
next session to enable it to decide whether it should
recommend that a future conference establish a plan.
Intersessional activities also involve the General Secretariat
and the Administrative Council. The conference adopted a
budget of 900,000 Swiss francs (approximately $500.000) to
cover these activities during the calendar year 1986. ~ 3
The 1988 Space WARC
It should be kept well in mind that the decisions of the 1985
Space W ARC are not absolutely binding on the second
session which has been scheduled to take place in Geneva in
1988. Theoretically, that conference could ignore everything
that the 1985 conference did and strike out completely on its
own. It is extremely doubtful, however, that this will be the
case. The momentum that has been established by the CPM
and the first session will, in all probability. establish limits
beyond which the 1988 session will not go. It seems doubtful.
for example, that the second session would decide that it wa~
not appropriate to draw up an a priori allotment plan for the
fixed satellite service and thus incur the wrath of the
developing countries, which are the vast majority of the
members of the ITU. It also seems clear that the 1988
conference would not dare decide to create rigid a priori
allotment plans for other geostationary satellite communica-
tion systems and thus drive the US and other like-minded
countries out of the conference.
It is possible. however, that the results of the intersessional
studies and the results of the evaluations of the decisions of
the 1985 conference by individual countries or groups of
countries may lead to requests for a revision of some of those
decisions or for new approaches to certain of the problems
that arose at that conference.-~~ It would be unfortunate if
these requests should result in a reopening of the fruitless
debates over the proper method of rights vesting or a wasteful
repetition of the work of the first session and of the CPM
before it. Consequently any proposals to change the technical
parameters or the planning principles adopted in 1985 that
may, and perhaps should, be advocated will have to be
couched in terms that are understandable and which make the
benefits clear to all concerned. To do otherwise could result
in consequences that will not be good for any of the members
of the ITU.
Because of the seriousness of the issues involved, and
because it can make decisions that will be binding on
administrations, it is obvious that the results of this confer-
67
Satellites International
ence will have a tremendous impact on the future of
communication by means of geostationary satellites and
telecommunication in general. The results, if approved by a
majority of the delegations, will become a part of the ITU's
Radio Regulations after ratification by the countries
involved. Perhaps just as importantly, it could have a
profound impact on the future validity of the ITU itself to
continue to provide a forum for the countries of the world to
work out their telecommunication problems.
CONCLUSION
The International Telecommunication Union has been
closely linked to artificial satellites almost from the begin-
ning. This link was initially forged because radio was
necessary for their proper utilization, sending commands to
them from Earth. It became even stronger when administra-
tions began using satellites to relay radio traffic from one point
on Earth to another. Effective use of radio communication,
whether by satellite or by terrestrial means, demands
cooperative efforts. The ITU was the logical choice as the
locus for this effort because of its long history of successful
involvement in the effective regulation of terrestrial radio
communications, its longevity, and the fact that it had
virtually all of the countries of the world as its members.
When the use of satellite communication systems were still
the province of a few countries, it was possible for the ITU to
treat them in a manner similar to the way it treated terrestrial
communication systems. Space was found for them in the
frequency .. allocation table and the rights vesting system that
had been employed for many years for terrestrial communica-
tions when these were extended to include satellite com-
munication systems. Geostationary orbital positions were
added to that system when geostationary satellite com-
munication came into being.
The rapid expansion of the use of geostationary satellite
radio communication by developed countries combined with
an increased appreciation on the part of the developing
countries of possible benefits and dangers, leading to the
decision to treat satellite communications separately from
terrestrial communications and to approach problems from a
different perspective. The fear of possible shortages in both
frequency bands and orbital positions then led to the decision
of the 1977 Satellite Broadcasting Conference to abandon
almost all of the traditional first come, first served rights
vesting system and provide for an a priori allotment plan for
Regions 1 and 3 and the 1983 regional space conference did
the same for Region 2. It seems likely that because of what
happened in Geneva in 1985, the 1988 Space WARC will do
the same for at least some of the key frequency bands of the
geostationary satellite fixed service, the other major geosta-
tionary satellite service which a large number of countries will
be using in the forseeable future. What will be done at other
future ITU conferences, however, will depend on a number
of factors such as advances in satellite communications,
applications of other telecommunications technologies, and
the international political climate.
So far the ITU has been able to meet the needs of the users,
and future users, of satellite communication as it did in the
past for the users of terrestrial radio communication. As we
have seen, however, it has not been an easy task. It has
demanded a great deal of goodwill on the part of all
concerned and the expenditure of a great deal of time and
money. And if the delegates to future conferences can do as
well, the connection between the International Telecom-
munication Union and satellite communications will have a
68
long and useful future.
REFERENCES
I. While the ITU is mainly concerned with maintaining the
efficiency of satellite communications, both the United
Nations and UNESCO are involved to a certain extent with
the content of the information that is carried by communica-
tion satellites. (The UN is also involved in issues dealing with
the placement of objects in space.)
2. Portions of this chapter are an adaptation of the author's
contribution to Donna A. Demac, George A. Codding Jr,
Heather E. Hudson and Ram S. Jakhu, Equity in Orbit: The
I985 Space WARC, International Institute of Communica-
tions (IIC), London, I985.
3. See International Telecommunication Convention,
Nairobi, I982, ITU, Geneva, I983, Annex 2, paragraph 2015.
4. See George A. Codding Jr and Anthony M. Rutkowski,
The International Telecommunication Union in a Changing
World, Artech House, Dedham, MA, 1982, Chapter One.
For additional information on the older history of the ITU see
the author's International Telecommunication Union, E.J.
Brill, Leiden, 1952 (reprinted in 1972 by Arno Press).
5. The only exception to the simple majority vote involves
the admittance of new members to the ITU. If the applicant is
not already a member of the United Nations it must receive
the approval of two-thirds of the ITU's membership.
6. For the details of the ITU's structure, see the Interna-
tional Telecommunication Convention, Nairobi, 1982, Arti-
cles 5 through 12.
7. Ibid., Article 7.
8. Ibid., Article 8, 4. (4).
9. Ibid., Article 9, I. (3).
10. In 1984, the IFRB had 137 in its secretariat, the CCITT
43, and the CCIR 26. See ITU, Report on the activities of the
International Telecommunication Union in I984, Geneva,
1985, p.125.
11. The work of the ITU is financed mainly by contribu-
tions from the member countries. The amount that each
member contributes depends on the contributory class that it
chooses, ranging from a high of 40 units down to a minimum
of 118 unit.
12. As quoted in Codding The International Telecom-
munication Union, p. 86.
13. Ibid.
14. See Radio Regulations, Edition of 1982, ITU, Geneva,
1982, Article I2, paragraph I, (1) c.
15. In the case of an unfavourable finding, there are a
number of provisional and appellate procedures which could
result in an eventual entry of that notification in the Master
Register with full or secondary rights.
16. See Codding and Rutkowski, pp. 262-265.
17. The first plan, the Geneva Plan, allotted frequencies to
European broadcasting stations on the basis of : I) existing
services; 2) size of country; 3) population density; and 4)
economic development. See Codding and Rutkowski, pp.
267-68.
18. Other regions followed the lead of the Europeans and
allotment plans were created for a number of additional
terrestrial radio services, including both aeronautical and
maritime mobile, but an attempt to do the same for all other
frequencies that make them likely to cause international
harmful interference was unsuccessful. Such a plan was
suggested by the United States at the ITU's first post-war
conference held in Atlantic City in 1947, but for a number of
reasons, inlcuding international politics, it did not become a
 The ITU and Satellite Communications
reality. See Codding and Rutkowski, pp. 31-35. 1985).
19. See Radio Regulations, ITU, Geneva, 1959, Article 5 41. It should be noted that a quorum was not present when
and Recommendation No. 36. the conference accepted the provisions setting the duration of
20. See E.D. Ducharme. R.R. Bowen and M.J.R Irwin, the plan at ten years, requiring existing systems to make
'The Genesis of the 198511987 ITU World Administrative adjustments to accommodate new systems, and describing the
Radio Conference on the Use of the Geostationary Satellite meaning of the principle of 'guarantee of access'. See
Orbit and the Planning of Space Services Utilizing It', in Addendum to Report to the Second Session of the Confer-
Annals of Space Law, Volume VII, 1982, p. 265. ence, Document 324 (Rev. 1), 15 September 1985 and
21. As quoted in Milton S. Smith III, 'Space WARC 1985- Corrigendum 1.
Legal Issues and Implications', LL.M. thesis submitted to the 42. Ibid.
Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at the Institute of 43. See Report to the Second Session of the Conference.
Air and Space Law, McGill University, 1984. For an account of the accomplishments of the 1985 Space
22. The official title being the World Administrative Radio WARC, see R.E. Butler, ·opening Statement', a speech
Conference for Space Communications, Geneva, 1971. delivered at the Annen berg School Program, 25 October 1985
23. For details of the procedure, see Radio Regulations, and D. Withers, 'Equitable Access to Satellite Communica-
Edition of 1982, Articles 11 and 13. tion', in Electronics and Wireless World, December 1985, pp.
24. See Final Acts of the World Administrative Radio 65, 66, 75.
Conference for Space Communications, ITU. Geneva, 1971, 44. The US delegation made a declaration to the effect
Resolution Spa 2-1 and Recommendation Spa 2-1. that the US did not feel it was appropriate to use as much
25. See Radio Regulations, Edition of 1982, Article 30, space for the allotment plan as was proposed. Nevertheless,
Section II. after the conference the head of the US delegation was willing
26. DuCharme, Bowen and Irwin, p. 267. to say that under the circumstances the US came out of the
27. International Telecommunication Convention, conference 'very well'. See 'Briefing by Dean Burch, US
Nairobi, 1982, ITU, Geneva, 1982, Article 33 (2). Representative to the World Administrative Radio Confer-
28. See Anthony M. Rutkowski's account of the discus- ence (WARC) on Space Communications at the State
sions in 'Six Ad-Hoc Two: The Third World Speaks its Mind', Department', a mimeograph distributed at the Second Circle
in Satellite Communications, Volume 4, March 1981, p.23. Congressional Study Group, Center for Strategic and Inter-
29. See Radio Regulations, Edition of 1982, Resolution national Studies, Georgetown University, 4 October 1985.
No.3.
30. For frequency management purposes, the ITU divides
the world into three regions: Region I includes Europe,
Africa and the USSR; Region 2, the Western hemisphere;
and Region 3, Asia and Australasia.
31. See Final Acts of the World Administrative Radio
Conference for the Planning of the Broadcasting Satellite
Service in Frequency Bands 11.7 to 12.2 GHz (in Regions 2
and 3) and 11.7 to 12.5 (in Region 1), ITU, Geneva, 1977.
32. See Milton S. Smith III. pp. 128-29.
33. See Report of the United States Delegation to the ITU
Region 2 Administrative Radio Conference on the Broad-
casting Satellite Service, Geneva, Switzerland, 13 June to 17
July 1983, US Department of State, Washington, DC, 1983,
p. 2 (mimeo). Nevertheless, the US did make reservations to
the plan concerning polarization in its downlink and feeder-
link channel assignment and the coverage area power flux
density, p. 67.
34. See Radio Regulations, Edition of 1982, Resolution
No.3.
35. Ibid.
36. See Report of the CCIR Conference Preparatory
Meeting (CPM) for the WARC ORB (1) Joint Meeting,
Study Groups 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, Geneva, 25 June to
20 July 1984, Part III, ITU, CCIR, Administrative Supple-
ment, Document B/180-F/E/S, 19 July 1984, pp. 1-26.
37. The ITU has used various acronyms for this conference
including ORB WARC (1), WARC-ORB (1), or WARC
ORB-85. In this discussion we will use the term '1985 Space
WARC'.
38. See World Administrative Radio Conference on the
Use of the Geostationary-Satellite Orbit and the Planning of
Space Services Utilizing It, First Session, Geneva, 1985, Final
Acts, WARC ORB-85, ITU, Geneva, 1985.
39. See, for instance, Third Notice of Inquiry [in General
Document No. 80-741], US Federal Communication Com-
mission, FCC 83-452 (adopted 6 October 1983), p. 15.
40. See 1985 Space WARC Document 18-E (13 June 1985),
Document 30-E (27 June 1985) and Document 31-E (1 July

69
 9 SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT

Heather E. Hudson, Associate Professor, College of Communications, University of Texas at Austin;

Visiting Professor, Mclaren College of Business, University of San Francisco; and Meheroo Jussawalla,
Research Associate/Economist, Institute of Culture and Communication, East-West Center, Honolulu,
Hawaii

The last few years have been critical ones in terms of satellite communications and development.
Highlights include the launch and initial operation of Brazilsat, the More los Satellite System of
Mexico and the Arabsat System. There has also been the effective use of Inmarsat terminals for
certain rural and remote telecommunications services. Another landmark has been the completion
of the Maitland Commission report on communications development. This report, called The
Missing Link, led to the establishment of the new Centre for Telecommunications Development,
and a call for billions more dollars to be invested in rural telecommunications.
As of December 1985 Intelsat has offered domestic services capacity for sale or by protected lease
on a planned basis. Equally important has been the offer of Vista and Intel net thin route service.
purchase plan for low cost rural earth stations, the establishment of the Intelsat Development
Fund, and especially Project SHARE (Satellites for Health and Rural Education) under which
much has been done. For instance, under Project SHARE, a national Chinese tele-education
course was established for a half million students- and a Canada/ Africa telemedicine link is now
saving lives in Kenya and Uganda. In all, 70 countries have now participated in dozens of Project
SHARE activities.
This chapter outlines how communications can be effectively applied in rural and remote areas for
development. Taking up this task are two of the world's leading professors in communications
development, Heather Hudson and Meheroo Jussawalla. who will provide an overview of what is
happening around the world and explain why communications development is important.

INFORMATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT

PROCESS

We are entering a new era often called the 'post-industrial' or

'information' society. This era is marked by dramatic tech-
nological developments in computers, electronic media,
telecommunications and the growing importance of informa-
tion in all aspects of human life. Access to information. and to
the facilities to reproduce, store and transmit information, is
now considered vital to development.
In the past, the wealth of countries depended upon land,
labour and capital. Today it depends on information and
knowledge as well as natural resources and human skills. In
the control of information resides a new form of power which
helps to create, process, organize and communicate know-
ledge. National power has come to be measured in terms of
information competence.
Telecommunications is a tool for the conveyance of
information and thus can be critical to the development
process. By providing information links between urban and
rural areas and among rural residents, telecommunication can
overcome distance barriers which hamper rural development.
Several studies sponsored by agencies including the ITU and
the World Bank have shown that telecommunication can
facilitate many development activities including agriculture,
industry, shipping, education, health and social services.
The importance of information in social, cultural and
economic development was recognized by UNESCO's Mac-
Bride Commission in 1980, which stated:
'There can be no genuine, effective independence without
the communication resources needed to safeguard it.·
The ability to communicate instantaneously can facilitate the
development process by increasing: efficiency (the ratio of
output to cost); effectiveness (the extent to which develop-
ment goals are achieved); and equity (the distribution of
development benefits throughout society).
Among the benefits of telecommunications for improving
efficiency and productivity are the following:
• price information: suppliers such as farmers and fishermen
can compare prices in various markets, allowing them to
get the highest prices for their produce, to eliminate
dependency on local middlemen, and/or to modify their
products (types of crops raised or fish caught, etc.) to
respond to market demand;
• reduction of downtime: timely ordering of spare parts can
reduce time lost due to broken pumps, tractors. etc;
• reduction of inventory: businesses can reduce inventories if
replacements can be ordered and delivered as needed;
• timely delivery of products to market: contact between

71
Satellites International
producers and shippers can result in reduced spoilage and
higher prices for produce;
• reduction of travel costs: in some cases, telecommunica-
tions can be substituted for travel, resulting in savings in
personnel time and travel costs;
• energy savings: telecommunications can be used to
increase the efficiency of shipping so that trips are not
wasted and fuel consumption is minimized;
• decentralization: the availability of telecommunication can
help to attract industries to rural areas and allow decentra-
lization of economic activities away from major urban
areas.
ADVANTAGES OF SATELLITES
We tend to think of new communication and information
technologies as tools for the industrialized world. The growth
in demand for specialized communications services in indus-
trialized countries for data communications, broadcasting and
teleconferencing; the deregulation of long distance telecom-
munications in the US; and the growth of the satellite
industry in Europe and Japan have resulted in a proliferation
of satellites serving industrialized countries. In addition,
there have been innovations in satellite and earth station
design intended to reduce costs, increase capacity, or increase
efficiency of satellite use.
Yet these advances can benefit the developing world as
well. Satellites overcome the barriers of distance that isolate
the people of the developing world from the rest of the world,
and, most importantly, from each other. Satellite technology
offers the opportunity to provide reliable communications -
both interactive telecommunications and broadcasting - to
virtually every human community. Small earth stations (4.5
metres or less in diameter) may be installed in towns and
villages to provide telephone and telex services, radio and
television reception. Subscriber radio systems can be used to
link surrounding villages to the earth staion, and low power
transmitters can redistribute the broadcast signals to the
surrounding area.
Satellite technology is particularly appropriate for many
developing regions because of its reliability and flexibility in
locations served, channel capacity and services.
Satellite systems are likely to be more reliable, more robust
and easier to maintain than terrestrial systems, an important
consideration in rural areas, especially in mountainous,
jungle or desert terrain. Earth stations, which can be located
in or near the settlements they serve, are more accessible for
maintenance than the remote repeater sites necessary for
many terrestrial links. Reliable communication between sites
depends solely on the two stations involved, in contrast to
terrestrial systems that depend on sequential links, the failure
of any of which can disrupt the connection.
Satellites are also more flexible in capacity than terrestrial
systems. Earth stations can be installed with as little as one or
two voice channels using single channel per carrier (SCPC)
equipment. Additional capacity can be added in those
locations where it is required, as demand develops. Other
services, including data transmission and radio and television
reception, can also be added incrementally - and only at
locations to provide the maximum end-to-end capacity
projected for the network.
Teleconferencing by satellite can be easily arranged by
72
allowing all sites to share a common circuit or channel, a
feature particularly useful for administration and teaching.
CURRENT STATUS
Most developing countries now use the Intelsat system for
international communications, primarily for telephone and
telex services. In addition, some developing countries also
use the Intersputnik system for international traffic.
For domestic voice, data, and/or broadcasting services by
satellite, developing countries at present have three alterna-
tives: lease or purchase capacity from Intelsat; use a regional
satellite system; or operate a domestic satellite system.
Middle income countries have benefitted most from
increased access to satellites for domestic and regional
communications. Over 30 middle income countries are
participants in domestic or regional satellite systems or have
obtained domestic capacity from Intelsat. Only seven of the
34 countries classified as low income by the World Bank are
participants in such systems.
At present, there are 26 developing countries obtaining
capacity from Inteslat for domestic use, primarily to provide
communications to provincial or state capitals and major
regional centres. Of these, seven are oil exporters and only
three are among the least developed countries.
Regional satellite services are now available in the Middle
East and Southeast Asia. The Arabsat system, launched in
February 1985, is designed to provide domestic and regional
services for its 20 members in the Middle East and North
Africa. Palapa B, the second generation of Indonesia's
domestic satellite system, provides domestic and regional
services throughout southeast Asia.
Other developing countries with their own domestic
satellites include: India's Insat, operational since 1983;
Brazil's Brasilsat, launched in 1985; and Mexico's Morelos,
launched in 1985.
Other countries planning domestic systems include: Argen-
tina, China, Colombia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New
Guinea, South Korea and Thailand. Regional systems have
also been proposed for the Andean nations and for sub-
Saharan Africa.
TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Many of the technologies originally designed for use in
industrialized countries may now be transferred with only
minor modificatons to serve the needs of the developing
world - such as electronic P ABX's and rural digital
exchanges, digital radio links, cellular radio and photovol·
taics.
Small satellite earth stations can also be used for thin route
voice and data services. Intelsat's Vista terminals for voice
services and Intelnet microterminals for one-way and two-
way low speed data (e.g., weather and price data, telex
services) appear particularly appropriate for developing
regions. Similar equipment can be used with domestic and
regional satellites.
Increased economics of establishment and use are other
externalities of satellite networks resulting from the inversion
of costs that is taking place between space and ground
stations. Satellites are now being designed with greater
on-board power and higher sensitivity which permit concom-
itant reductions in earth station size and complexity. There
has been a ten-fold decrease in the cost of receive-only
terminals in the 6/4 GHz bands over the last ten years.

Systems optimized for large numbers of small users would
be particularly attractive for the South Pacific and sub-
Saharan Africa. Pacstar, a joint venture of Papua New
Guinea and US commercial interests, is a proposed system
which will include C-band coverage of the South Pacific and
Ku-band coverage of major Pacific rim centres. Aussat 3 will
provide Ku-band coverage of the South Pacific and New
Zealand. The ITU is currently carrying out a feasibility study
for a regional satellite system for sub-Saharan Africa under
the name Rascom.
An inexpensive communication satellite is being developed
to transmit technical information in the form of computer
data to scattered groups and individuals throughout the Third
World. Called Pacsat, the satellite will be based in low Earth
orbit and will communicate digitally with ground stations.
Pacsat is a joint effort of two non-profit organizations:
Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) based in Arling-
ton, Virginia and the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation in
Silver Springs, Maryland. Pacsat will be deployed in a polar
orbit which puts it within range of any spot on Earth once
every 24 hours. The earth stations will serve as nodes in a low
cost global electronic mail system. The purpose of the system
is to provide agricultural and other developmental informa-
tion. A Swedish project called Mailstat uses a similar
approach to Pascat.
SA TEL LITE USE BY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Communications technology has so revolutionized global
interdependence that it is now possible for developing
countries to examine the options offered to them by off the
shelf equipment, calculate its opportunity costs, and weigh
them against tangible and intangible benefits to their societies
before making any investment. Technological choice has
become rationalized in an environment of access to informa-
tion.
Once a country has determined its telecommunications
requirements, based on its development goals and plans, it
must consider which technology or mix of technologies is
most appropriate for meeting these goals. Countries with
limited rural infrastructure, significant land area, and/or
difficult terrain - mountains, jungle or scattered islands, etc.
- may find satellite technology particularly appropriate.
Smaller countries and those with more extensive infrastruc-
ture may find that satellite technology is attractive only for
sharing of service with other countries in the region.
Regardless of geographical size, poorer countries may find
satellites an attractive solution to their communication
problems only if the capital cost of the system can be shared
among a number of nations- for example, through a regional
system or through lease or purchase of capacity on an
international system such as Intelsat.
Capital costs include the satellite and spare (to be launched
in case of failure of the in-orbit satellite), launch, insurance
and terrestrial facilities (for tracking, telemetry and control
and for telecommunicatons). Recent catastrophic failures of
launches and satellites have dramatically increased insurance
costs from premiums representing 7% of the programme
costs to a sum of over 20%. It remains to be seen whether
these are short-term phenomena. Planners must recognize
that the total cost ot the terrestrial facilities is likely to exceed
the cost of the satellite if the system is to be fully utilized.
Failure to invest in earth stations and local infrastructure such
as local telephone plan, exchanges and rebroadcasting trans-
mitters will result in under utilization of the space segment
investment.
Satellite Communications and Development
Despite the tangible and intangible benefits of satellite
communications, actual investment in telecommunications
infrastructure has remained small. Approximately 0.3 percent
of GOP is expended on telecommunications by non-OPEC
developing countries. This is no indication, however, of the
demand for telecommunications in urban and rural areas.
Even where services are available, they are generally clus-
tered in metropolitan centres emphasizing the dichotomy in
the development investments of LDCs.
One of the major reasons is that telecommunication
infrastructures face major financial constraints and are not
planned as primary investments. While technological deter-
minism is part of the process of growth, the costs must be
affordable for low income countries either to generate from
domestic revenues or to borrow from international organiza-
tions and banks. The need for greater investment in Third
World telecommunications has been emphasized by the
ITU's Maitland Commission report (1985) which highlights
the disparities in access to telecommunications infrastructure.
THREE ERAS OF DEVELOPMENT
In 1945, Arthur Clarke envisioned delivery of television
across oceans and continents via satellite. By the 1960s,
satellites had caught the fancy of educators who were
captivated by the potential of the technology as the ultimate
magic multiplier, able to transmit television to receiving sites
throughout a nation or continent. They overlooked the
institutional environment into which the technology would be
introduced - an environment that seemed to offer little
incentive for an application that threatened teachers and the
autonomy of educational institutions. The educators and
communicators paid little attention to the interactive capabili-
ties of satellites, namely for telephone services, data transmis-
sion and teleconferencing.
Although satellites went into international commercial
service in the mid-1960s, for our purposes this first phase of
developmental applicatons or the 'Era of Conjecture' can be
said to extend from Arthur Clarke's article in 1945 until the
early 1970s.
The 'Era of Experiments' may be considered to extend
from about 1971 to 1977. During this period, there were
numerous experiments and demonstrations of satellite
applications for education and training, health services,
community development and cultural exchanges. These
projects were conducted on the US Applications Technology
Satellite series (ATS 1 and ATS 6, and to a lesser extent ATS
3), and the joint US-Canadian Communications Technology
Satellite (CTS or Hermes). These experiments took place
primarily in the US and Canada, but also included the Indian
Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) which
used A TS 6 in India in 1975 and demonstrations in Africa and
Asia on the French-German experimental Symphonie satel-
lites.
The 'Era of Services' may be said to have commenced in
the latter 1970s. The late 1970s and the early 1980s can be
characterized by several developments which have pushed
satellite applications out of the realm of experiments and
demonstrations, and into the early phases of operational
service. The developments include:
- the launching of the first domestic satellite owned by a
developing country (Indonesia, in 1976);
- the installation of the first rural satellite networks. In
Alaska, beginning in 1976, more than one hundred small
73
Satellites International
earth stations were installed in villages for telephone and later
broadcasting; similar facilities were installed in northern
Canada;
-the use of Intelsat satellites for domestic communications by
many developing countries (20 developing countries by the
end of 1985);
-procurement by several developing countries of domestic or
regional satellite systems, e.g., Indonesia's regional Palapa B,
India's Insat, Arabsat, Brasilsat and Morelos (Mexico).
DEVELOPMENT APPLICA T/ONS OF SA TEL LITES
Alaska
Many of the above benefits of telecommunications have
resulted from applications of communication satellites.
Several innovative uses of satellites for delivery of health
services and education and for community development were
pioneered in the remote areas of North America, i.e., Alaska
and the Canadian north. In 1971, 26 sites in Alaska were
chosen to participate in medical experiments using NASA's
A TS 1 satellite. Doctors at a regional hospital communicated
daily via satellite with village health workers. The result was
not only that the system was far more reliable than HF radio
communications which had been plagued with ionospheric
interference, but also that the number of patients in the
villages who were treated with a doctor's advice tripled in the
first year.
In 1975, the Alaska legislature funded the purchase of 120
small earth stations to provide telephone service to all
communities with a permanent population of 25 or more,
using the RCA Satcom satellite. (Alaska is now served by a
dedicated satellite named Aurora.) Small viable earth sta-
tions (with 4.5 metre antennas) were equipped initially with
two voice circuits; most have added several additional circuits
as small telephone exchanges have been installed in the
villages. Television reception capability was later added.
The daily 'doctor call' begun on ATS I has expanded
statewide, with eight clusters of villages reporting to four
regional hospitals. The satellite network is also used to enable
villagers to participate in governmental activities by means of
a teleconferencing network. Legislative offices throughout
the state are equipped with audio conferencing equipment, a
computer terminal for access to state databases and electronic
mail and a telecopier. Villagers may use the system to check
on the status of legislation, request documents from state
offices and libraries, and testify remotely in public hearings.
The Learn/ Alaska network has been established to use the
satellite system to bring educational opportunities to all
Alaskans. The Learn/ Alaska network includes audio, freeze-
frame video and computer communications. Students may
participate in seminars and receive tutorials from their home
communities. The system is used for staff development and
professional meetings. Learn/ Alaska also distributes educa-
tional television programmes to the villages to supplement
local instruction and to reach people in their homes.
Canada
In northern Canada, native people have developed many
strategies to use satellite communications for education,
community development and cultural preservation. The Inuit
Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) produces television prog-
74
rammes in the Eskimo language (Inuktitut) which are
distributed over the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's
Northern Television Service on the Anik D satellite. The
programmes are produced by the native people themselves in
several northern production centres, and up linked from
Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island.
Indian people in northern Canada have created a satellite
radio network to provide information to remote villagers in
their own languages. The Wawatay Native Communications
Society produces ten hours of news and public affairs
programming per week in the Cree and Ojibway languages.
The programmes are fed to community radio stations in the
villages using an audio sub-carrier of a transponder on Anik C
used by TV Ontario for educational television. Several
similar projects are being implemented by native communica-
tions organizations across the Canadian north with funding
support from the federal government.
South Pacific
In the South Pacific, educators have m·ore than a decade of
experience in using satellite communications for educational
extensions. The University of the South Pacific (USP) serves
the island nations of the South Pacific, which are scattered
over an area as large as Australia or the continental USA. but
have a total population of only 1.5 million. These nations
include the three major cultural regions of the South Pacific,
namely Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia. The University
of the South Pacific has used NASA's A TS 1 and A TS 3
satellites to link its main campus in Fiji with its extension
centres throughout the region for tutorials with students
taking correspondence courses, for in-service training, and
for administration of the extension services programme.
Each site is equipped for audio conferencing via the
satellite. Sites are also equipped with audio cassette recorders
and microcomputers for transmission of hardcopy messages
as a form of electronic mail.
Transmission time has been made available free by NASA.
Assuming that capital costs are amortized over seven years,
the cost of the system including capital and operation is
approximately $112 per hour.
The administrative use of the satellite network has been the
mainstay of the system. The only practical alternative is air
travel to the central campus in Fiji, which is extremely costly
and time-consuming; bringing one participant from each of
the USP's 12 sites to Fiji costs about $8,000 (of which $6,400
is for travel). An eight-hour satellite meeting would cost only
about $900, for a benefit-to-cost ratio of about 10 to I. In
practice, the length of such communications is much shorter,
so that the actual benefit to cost ratios are likely to be higher.
In addition to its administrative and educational functions,
USP's satellite system is also used for outreach programmes,
i.e., consultations, seminars and specially designed short
courses aimed at meeting general development problems of
the region. Although no attempt has yet been made to
measure the benefits of these activities, circumstantial evi-
dence suggests that they are considerable. For example,
medical consultation by satellite can avoid an emergency
evacuation of a patient to Australia or New Zealand. and the
dissemination of important information to local agricultural
courses, supplemented with satellite tutorials could enable
agricultural students to take part of their degree programme
in their home countries, thus saving USP at least $3,000 per
student per year. For other developmental applications, the
satellite network provides communication that would other-
wise simply not be possible. given the vast distances and
expense of transportation in the region.

ATS 1 finally failed in 1985, 19 years after it was launched.
Some sites were able to switch to ATS 3. USP in 1986, under
Intelsat's Project SHARE, was able to switch to a free
semi-operational service. Nearly every South Pacific country
and territory now has an Intelsat 8 earth station which USP
will convert to a fully operational service in 1988. The South
Pacific may also implement thin route communications using
Intelnet service and Aussat 3 may offer operational facilities.
India
India was the first developing country to experiment with
domestic applications of a satellite for development. In 1975,
India carried out the Satellite Instructional Satellite Experi-
ment. The SITE project used NASA's A TS 6 satellite to
deliver educational programming to more than 2,500 villages.
SITE proved that India could manufacture its own technol-
ogy, including televison sets and small earth stations with
chicken wire antennas, and that it could manage the
installation and operation of equipment and production of
daily instructional programming. The project evaluation also
provided valuable insights into the relevance of the content,
viewer reactions and the potential impact of educational
television programmes on village development. This led to
follow-on experiments in 1981 when India's own Apple
satellite was launched by the European Space Agency.
India began operational domestic satellite services in 1983
with the In sat I 8 satellite. In sat distributes television to
towns and villages throughout the country. It is also used for
trunk telephony, and plans to provide thin route telephone
and telex service to remote and hilly areas. The experience
gained from SITE will be used to produce rural development
programming that will be distributed to villages via Insat.
Indonesia
Indonesia was the first developing country to procure its own
domestic communication satellite system. Operated by
Perumtel, the Palapa system went into operation in 1976,
providing television, telephone and telex services. At pre-
sent, the system is being used by other Asian countries, first
by Thailand and now by Singapore, Malaysia and the
Philippines. The second generation Palapa 8 I was launched
in 1983. More than 40 small earth stations (less than five
metres in diameter) now constitute the domestic system.
The Agency for International Development (AID) laun-
ched the Rural Satellite Programme (RSP) to assess whether
satellite communication can contribute cost effectively to
rural development and to transfer a broad range of com-
munications technologies to developing nations. The prog-
ramme encouraged the use of existing satellites to provide
thin route communications, telephone, audio teleconferenc-
ing and graphics. to support rural development activities.
In Indonesia, the RSP uses the Palapa satellite to link 11
agriculturally-oriented campuses known as the Eastern
Islands University Group (known by its Indonesian initials,
BKS); the campuses were linked with one another and with
locations in Jakarta and Bogor, further to the west. The
project, known by its Indonesian acronym, Sisdiksat, includes
interactive audio teleconferencing, facsimile and audiog-
raphic capabilities.
The BKS campuses are located on islands spread over
1,600 miles of ocean. The main project office is at Hasanud-
din University in Ujung Pandang on the island of Sulawesi.
The 11 BKS campuses include eight universities (one with
two campuses) and two teacher training institutions. One of
the former and one of the latter shared a distance teaching
Satellite Communications and Development
classroom, so that there were ten BKS classrooms. In
addition, the Bogor Agricultural Institute is connected to the
system, so that faculty from this agricultural graduate
research institution can teach over the satellite system to the
BKS institutions.
The project's goal is to use satellite communications to
improve educational quality by fostering distance teaching,
curriculum development, faculty upgrading and exchange of
administrative and research information. Because of their
location, hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the
centres of excellence near Jakarta, the Eastern Island
University campuses tend to be cut off from the mainstream
of agricultural development and education. These distances
also make travel inconvenient and expensive for faculty and
administrators. As a result. faculty members, or ·dosen', with
special expertise frequently travelled to various campuses to
present concentrated short courses in their subject matter.
This arrangement was disruptive not only to the professor's
normal class schedule, but also to the class schedules of
students who would drop their regular classes to attend the
'flying dosen's' course. Also, because of poor communica-
tions, the administrators on the BKS campuses felt it
necessary to meet in person with their counterparts to
coordinate the administrative matters.
Thus, Sisdiksat aims to expand educational opportunity to
students in the Eastern Islands by fostering closer com-
munication and interchange among the 11 BKS universities
and teacher training institutions; to upgrade their course
offerings by capitalizing on faculty strength (regardless of
where the faculty are located); to upgrade existing faculty and
provide additional training to tutors; to exchange information
among university faculty and staff; and access the resources of
the Jakarta area. An innovation that developed during the
project was the use of the satellite network by the new Open
University of Indonesia. This 'university without walls' has
used the satellite facilities to train more than one hundred
tutors.
The West Indies
Another AID sponsored project under the Rural Satellite
Programme is the University of the West Indies Distance
Teaching Experiment (UWIDITE). The participating sites
are part of the University of the West Indies, a regional
university in the Caribbean. The main office of UWIDITE is
located on the Mona campus of the University of the West
Indies in Kingston, Jamaica.
Teleconferencing enables the university to use the special-
ized faculties at each of its three main campuses to fullest
advantage. All three main campuses have strengths in some
areas, although each offers different courses. The UWIDITE
system allows teaching to emanate from locations with
particularly strong faculty, and it increases cost -effectiveness
by enabling a course to be taught once to many students
rather than repeated several times.
One of the major purposes of the satellite linkage in the
UWIDITE proejct is to assist students in their home
countries to obtain a univer~ity education. The university has
a system of 'Challenge Examinations' through which high
school graduates on islands away from the main campuses
(located in Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad) can qualify for
university matriculation. Challenge students can prepare for
the examination by using study materials at extramural
extension centres on their home islands. Participating
extramural centres are located in Dominica, St Lucia and
Antigua. Many non-Challenge courses have also been offered
through UWIDITE. These courses tend to be aimed at more
75
Satellites International
advanced students, including some graduate students and
in-service training students such as nurses and teachers. In
1986 the UWIDITE network was interlinked under Project
SHARE with the Memorial Hospital Nova Scotia for medical
training and diagnosis. This test proved successful for
Telemedicine applications.
Peru
In Peru, an AID sponsored project began operation in
November 1983, in San Martin, a department on the eastern
side of the Andes with very limited infrastructure. Thin route
satellite earth stations link three communities, using domestic
capacity leased from Intelsat. Four additional villages are
served via VHF links from one earth station. The system
provides an audio conferencing network and community
telephones.
The project is being carried out by Entel Peru, which has
established planning and evaluation groups to work with
communities and agencies on how to utilize the capacity. The
goal is to use telecommunications as a catalyst for rural
development to extend expertise, improve administration and
provide linkages among businesses, farmers, markets and
suppliers.
Early evaluation results indicate that, despite technical
problems, both the audio conferencing service and the public
telephones had heavy use. However, integrating these uses
into ongoing rural development activities has required con-
siderable time and effort now that expansion of this network
is underway.
CRITICAL FACTORS
As more countries introduce developmental applications of
their own domestic and regional satellites, and as the costs of
domestic use of Intelsat decline, we may expect to see many
more developmental benefits from satellite communications.
India, for example, is adapting its experience with SITE in
the mid 1970s to operational educational services using its
Insat system. Brazil and Mexico both have extensive experi-
ence in using radio and television for education, which could
be valuable in designing educational services to be delivered
by their domestic satellites. However, the availability of the
technology does not guarantee that it will be used effectively
for developmental purposes. In order to project the impact of
satellite services on development, it is necessary to consider a
number of factors.
Economic Status
The status of economic development as measured in GNP per
capita, the types and diversity of economic activities, and the
distribution of these activities throughout the country or
region may affect the extent to which telecommunications
technology can be applied effectively for development pur-
poses. For example, while investment in telecommunications
may contribute to economic growth, there is likely to be
minimal impact in an area which supports only subsistence
agriculture as compared with an area which produces
marketable food or goods.
Financial Status of the Development Sector
The ministry or agency which is to carry out the project must
have sufficient resources in funds and personnel to develop
and implement the activity. A health ministry that cannot
76
supply its clinics or an education ministry that cannot pay its
teachers is not going to be able to take full advantage of
satellite facilities.
Essential Complementary Infrastructure
Satellite communications cannot foster development in isola-
tion. There must be adequate infrastructure in the form of
transportation to move goods to market and to deliver the
supplies ordered by telephone or telex. There must be a
power source to run the communications equipment. And
even more basic essentials such as clean water and adequate
shelter must be available for developmental improvements to
be sustained.
Project Design
To be effective, the project itself must be well-designed and
planned. It must build on experience already gained in the
sector, and must have adequate resources for implementa-
tion. The goals of the satellite project must relate to the goals
and priorities of the ministry or agency. Even a very
successful pilot project may not be continued or supported if
it does not contribute to meeting the goals of the ministry, or
if it is perceived to be draining resources from other priority
activities.
Too often, software planning starts long after hardware
plans for the satellite have been finalized and the satellite is
already under construction. Applications are then delayed
due to insufficient lead time before the satellite launch, or are
rushed so that the results are unsatisfactory. Applications of
communications technology require sufficient time to assess
the needs, develop software, train personnel and carry out
field trials before final implementation.
The degree of heterogeneity of the target population will
influence the project design and the design of the communica-
tions delivery system. For example, to serve several language
groups, multiple audio tracks may be required for television
programmes. A decentralized approach using several chan-
nels for different regions of the country may be required.
Although users will not have experience with satellites,
they may have relevant experience with other technologies
that will help them prepare for satellite services. For
example, teachers who have used radio and television in the
classroom will be able to plan for satellite-delivered broad-
casting. Health workers and administrators who have used
two-way radio will adapt easily to satellite teleconferencing.
Portable video can be used both to produce television
programmes and to explain the new services that will be
available by satellite.
Tariff Policies
Is the satellite subsidized by other telecommunications
services or expected to cover its own costs? If costs are to be
recovered, is there flexibility in developing tariffs for a variety
of services? Some potential users have found that they could
not afford to pay the charges for access to the satellite, or to
make the transition from a pilot project with free or low cost
satellite service to paying commercial rates.
THE GREAT EXPERIMENT
More and more developing countries are investing in satellite
technology. Indonesia has been joined by India, Brazil and
Mexico as owners of their own domestic satellites. The
 Satellite Communications and Develpment

Arabsat system covers southeast Asia. Many developing

countries now lease or have purchased capacity from Intelsat
for domestic communications. And several other countries
are studying the possibility of investing in domestic or
regional satellite systems.
Thus, as outlined above, we are now in the "Era of Services'
for satellite communications, in developing as well as
industrialized countries. We are not likely to have the luxury
of experimentation in the future, as more countries invest in
satellite technology to meet their domestic needs, either by
obtaining Intelsat capacity, participating in regional systems
or procuring their own domestic satellite systems. Yet, in a
sense, the result is that the experiment continues, but the
stakes are much higher. The investment in satellites will only
be justified in terms of national development if it contributes
to the developmental goals of the country. It is only through
using satellites to maximize the indirect benefits of telecom-
munications that the full potential of this technology for
development will be realized.

77
 10 FUTURE REGIONAL SATELLITE SYSTEMS: THE CASE
OF THE CARIBBEAN

Donna Demac, Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University; and Aggrey Brown,
Director, Caribbean Institute of Mass Communication

Several regional satellite systems have now come into existence: Entelsat, Arabsat, and Palapa.
These have been discussed in other chapters and documented in the reference section that follows.
There are, however, various plans for new regional satellite projects that deserve attention. The
major initiatives at this point involve the Caribbean (Carisat), the Andean countries of South
America (Project Candar, which will start on Intelsat capacity~. and Africa which has already gone
through several studies involving the ITU Glodon project or Afrosat, the French/UK AFSAT
study and most recently the new ITU RASCOM study. New regional systems will, of course, be
reported upon as they come into being in future editions of Satellites International. The following
section reports on the planning process being followed in the Caribbean. In many ways it is parallel
to ongoing planning in the Andean countries and in sub-Sahara Africa.

In 1987, Caribbean nations are planning a feasibility study for
the establishment of a regional satellite system that will be
carried out in cooperation with the ITU's Centre for
Telecommunications Development. Though interest in a
regional satellite has existed for nearly a decade, the rapid
expansion of foreign-owned telecommunications systems in
the 1980s has increased interest in the satellite option as a
means of strengthening regional integration.
The utili;;:ation of space is now driven by international
competition and joint ventures which are responding to a
variety of economic challenges and opportunities. Many years
of research and experimentation in space have led to growing
appreciation of the value of satellite communication for other
sectors, including agriculture. transportation. trade and
education.
In the Caribbean. plans for the expanded use of satellite
technology. by ownership or leasing. stem from current
efforts to establish policies for the future in such areas as
intraregional transportation. commerce and rural develop-
ment. Improvement in telecommunications facilities and
training is also a necessary step towards creating a business
climate that will address the serious problems of unemploy-
ment which exist in most Caribbean countries.
THE CARIBBEAN REGION
The Caribbean is a complex region consisting of 14 scattered
islands and continental countries varying in size. language.
resources, forms of government and culture. Each country
has its own social, religious and political history. Relevant to
efforts to create regional media. five major languages are
spoken in the Caribbean and a variety of dialects.
There are also dramatic differences in terms of geographic
size and population density. Jamaica. which is just a little
smaller in size than Connecticut. is 25.5 times the size of
Barbados; Guyana is 19.5 times the size of Jamaica, which
makes it almost 500 times the size of Barbados. In terms of
population, Jamaica has more people (2.5 million) than all
the other English speaking countries of the Caribbean
combined. The average population of the remammg 11
Caricom countries is 175,000. the size of a small town in the
us.
CARIBBEAN MEDIA
Typical of ex-colonial regimes, Caribbean governments have
only recently begun to address systematically their needs in
the fields of broadcasting and telecommunications. Most
Caricom countries achieved political independence less than
25 years ago. In most places, the structures relevant to
communications that were inherited from colonial masters
continue to confuse rather than clarify the government's
role.'
For example. though private ownership of broadcasting
and cable television stations exists in a number of countries,
virtually all of the eastern Caribbean countries follow the
British tradition of public ownership of broadcasting facili-
ties. But government ownership does not confer the same
control over programme content and advertising as exists in
more industrialized countries.
National media objectives in the region are severely
constrained by very practical market considerations. It is
generally far less expensive to import a dozen hours of foreign
programming than to produce a single programme with local
talent. With the advent of satellite broadcasting. there is
today even greater concern for the cultural integrity of the
region. Already, in most countries, over 70 percent of all
televised material originates from outside the region.
A quote from the August 1986 issue of South magazine
underscores the point:
'The percentages of foreign programming.
mainly from the US. tell their own story. In the
Bahamas there is now 100 per cent foreign
domination of television. In Antigua and Bar-
buda. the state-owned ABS TV station shows 60
per cent US programming. with the other 40 per
cent mainly made up of government information

79
Satellites International
programmes. In Trinidad and Tobago, 76 per
cent is foreign dominated. In Dominica, to
counter the heavy bias, the government insisted
on one hour a day of local programming on all
eight TV channels received but lack of funds and
staff have prevented full utilization of the daily
slot.
And it is not only the disproportionate amount
of foreign TV which is damaging. The violence
which forms part of so many US programmes is
regularly dug up to offer explanation for
increased local crime and violence. The swamp-
ing of the Caribbean by alien US values and
lifestyles has shaken the foundations of local
culture and identity.'
The Caribbean is said to have privileged access to foreign
media and telecommunications due to its proximity to North
America. Yet as this quote indicates, such bounty also
endangers steps being taken towards national and regional
sovereignty. Satellites, in particular, may render a country
mute by overwhelming local messages with foreign informa-
tion. This conundrum has been described by William Demas,
President of the Caribbean Development Bank as 'independ-
ence begetting dependence'. 2 Concern regarding the over-
whelming impact of foreign-owned media is a primary factor
in consideration of a regional satellite.
However, it should be noted that though the Caribbean
satellite option best symbolizes the drive for regional coop-
eration, there are other near-term proposals of more immedi-
ate significance.
The head of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union has
recommended an expansion of ground station capability
across the region. Wider reception would benefit telephone
service, distance teaching and provide incentives for more
regional programming for radio and television. 3
With regard to ways to obtain additional funds for local
media, proposals have been discussed involving license fees
for cable television, pay-per-view schemes, as well as various
economic incentives for foreign companies willing to contri-
bute to national or regional production ventures.
In some instances, governments have been challenged to
develop policies in response to the introduction of media
systems by private entrepreneurs. In Belize, for example,
which until recently had no television system of its own,
entrepreneurs installed 20-foot diameter satellite dishes and
are delivering programmes to cable subscribers. Not able to
stop such activity, short of extreme measures, the govern-
ment has instead brought the new media owners within the
state's purview by requiring private operators to obtain a
license for a modest fee. 4
Another subject of very keen interest involves efforts by
the US to make its copyright law applicable to Caribbean
countries. Provisions in the Caribbean Basin Recovery Act of
1983 conditioned certain economic benefits on compliance.
This has led to continuing debate over the appropriateness of
such conditions and the best way for Caribbean countries to
address the legal issues raised by the spillover of satellite
signals emanating from the US. 5
CARIBBEAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS
As travellers to the region quickly realize, the absence or
unpredictability of basic telephone communication places the
Caribbean squarely in the developing world. The upgrade of
international phone circuits in the 1980s makes even more
80
apparent the inferiority of telephone serv1ce within the
region.
The average penetration rate of telephones in the region is
9.8 per 100 persons.
Table 1: Caribbean telephone penetration
Member State Number of telephones per 100 persons
Antigua and Barbuda 7.2
Barbados 25.0
Belize 4.4
Bahamas 29.0
Dominica 3.7
Grenada 5.4
Jamaica 5.4
St Christopher (Kitts)/Nevis 5.3
St Lucia 6.4
Montserrat 15.4
St Vincent 5.3
Trinidad and Tobago 9.0
Guyana 3.4
Estimated total population 5 million
Estimated total number of telephones 490,416
Estimated penetration rate 9.8 per 100 persons
Source: ITU Yearbook of Statistics, 1972, 1981; UNDP
Statistical Yearbook.
At a 1986 meeting of Caribbean transportation ministers,
this low rate of penetration was largely attributed to two
factors. First, the dependence of most governments on
foreign owners to expand and manage telecommunications
facilities was seen as an obstacle to improved regional
interconnection and the acquisition of indigenous manage-
ment expertise. Following independence, several ofthe larger
Caribbean countries either acquired interest in or became full
owners of their telecommunication entities. In the majority of
these countries, however, all telecommunication services,
including telephone, telex, facsimile and computer data, are
controlled by Cable and Wireless or other foreign companies.
Additionally, antiquated and nonexistent telephone ser-
vices were seen as an unfortunate consequence of the
separate ownership of internal and external facilities. In many
Caribbean countries, the government owns the telephone
company that provides national service but only has a
minority share in the external carrier company. At a time
when export strategies are driving innovation in the telecom-
munications sector, this separation prevents much of a
country's population from benefiting from improvements in
the external network.
Various options exist for strengthening regional telecom-
munications. Each one presents more complex challenges
related to the size of the capital expenditures involved and
institutional reform. A Caribbean satellite offers the most
dramatic prospects for improving services for entire popula-
tions and for expanding service between countries in the
region. Yet this option cannot be achieved economically in
the near-term and, for that reason alone, must be considered
alongside other less expensive and ambitious alternatives.
One way to improve basic telecommunications would be to
increase use of the Intelsat Atlantic Ocean satellites. Stan-
dard earth stations in nine Caribbean countries already access
these satellites. Intelsat presently has plans to put additional
satellites and earth stations into service. However, as of late

1986, only 10 percent of Intelsat circuits linked Caribbean
countries; the rest carried traffic between countries in the
region and nations in the Western hemisphere and Europe.
The new Intelsat Caribnet service is intended to respond to
this need.
Foreign-Owned Systems
The proximity of Caribbean countries to the US and the
dominance of English as a common language, make the
region a prime choice for investment by US telecommunica-
tions and data corporations. At the time of writing, plans by
outside companies (most of whom own portions of interna-
tional cables) to build sophisticated telecommunications
systems in the Caribbean, are moving forward at a rapid pace.
As of 1987, the Federal Communications Commission has
authorized over 100 domestic satellites to provide trans border
services to the Caribbean. The majority of these provide
broadcasting and data transmission. In addition, AT&T has
received authorization to install a TransCaribbean fibre optic
cable that will extend from the US to the Dominican
Republic, Jamaica and Colombia. This cable is expected to be
in service by 1990.
The list of pending telecommunications networks also
includes plans by several British and European firms. Most of
these projects will create private networks- some viewing the
Caribbean as only a small piece of a global network- leaving
unresolved the problems relating to intraregional com-
munication. This is likely to increase political pressure on
Caribbean governments for communication policies respon-
sive to public needs.
REGIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT
Interest in a Caribbean satellite almost certainly has resulted
from broader economic and political developments affecting
the region. Caribbean telecommunictions officials are con-
cerned about the impact of deregulation and privatization in
the industrialized world. Of concern at the present time is the
possibility that Intelsat's prices will increase due to private
competition for international and domestic satellite transmis-
sion.
While such major policy changes defy predictions, they
compel attention to their possible impact on the distribution
of wealth and technical resources. Deregulation and competi-
tion in the telecommunications market have brought about
the introduction of new technologies and the attendant
development of new products and services in the consumer
market. In some of the industrialized countries, video discs
and digital stereo are available for consumer purchase.
Video-conferencing, the exchange of data among banks and
other multi-national enterprises, as well as remote printing of
newspapers and magazines via satellite, are established
features of the business enterprise.
Yet it has become apparent that not all nations can
participate on an equal footing in this telecommunications
explosion. While certain countries are operating on the
second and later generations of communication satellites, the
developing countries have yet to take full advantage of the
opportunities inherent in the earlier ones. For this reason,
policies which promote competition and sale of the most
sophisticated technologies may not serve the interests of the
developing nations. Moreover, local ownership of telecom-
munications facilities becomes a more attractive alternative as
the ability to influence foreign-owned systems diminishes.
Future Regional Satellite Systems
Institutional Arrangements
Efforts to strengthen regional telecommunications involve
the contributions of numerous governmental and private
organizations. Included here are the Caribbean Community
Secretariat (Caricom) which plays a central role in coordinat-
ing regional economic policies, including telecommunica-
tions; the Caribbean Association of National Telecom-
munications Organizations (CANTO) which facilitates tech-
nological integration; the Caribbean Publishers and Broad-
casters Association (CPBA), an influential private sector
organization; the Caribbean Broadcasting Union and the
Caribbean News Agency (CANA).
Regional governments also have recognized the need for
training in mass communication. In 1974, Caribbean govern-
ments recognized the need for well-trained and technically
competent personnel and established the Caribbean Institute
of Mass Communication (Carimac) as a department of the
Faculty of Arts and General Studies at the University of the
West Indies (UWI) campus in Jamaica. Recently, Carimac's
curriculum and research agenda has also included Caribbean
telecommunications.
The Caribbean and the ITU
Some of the Caribbean nations are playing a more active role
in meetings of the International Telecommunication Union.
A great deal of attention has been paid to the recommenda-
tions of the report of the Independent Commission for World
Wide Telecommunications Development entitled The Mis-
sing Link and to developments regarding geostationary
orbital allotments. At the World Conference on Telecom-
munications Development in Arusha, Tanzania in 1985, held
shortly before the 1985 Space W ARC on geostationary orbit
allotments, delegations from Barbados, Belize, Jamaica and
Trindad and Tobago called for attention to the special needs
of small island states and fragmented sub-regions.
Plans for a Caribbean Satellite
The ITU has served as a catalyst for a Caribbean satellite and
for regional telecommunication planning in general. Though
interest in a regional satellite had existed in several quarters
since the 1970s, actual planning for a 'Carisat' emerged in
connection with the 1983 ITU Regional Administration
Radio Conference for the Americas. The conference distri-
buted orbital positions and frequency bands for direct
broadcast satellites.
Caribbean delegates, realizing that most member countries
could not justify having their own satellites also secured a slot
for a regional satellite. Shortly after this, a report on the
conference, including preliminary ideas for a Caribbean
satellite, was prepared for the Caribbean Broadcasting
Union. In this report, the 'Caribbean beam' was envisioned
as a shared satellite with 16 transponders capable of providing
reception over a vast area, encompassing Bermuda in the
North Atlantic to Suriname and Guyana in South America;
Barbados in the east to Belize in Central America.
Variations in the political status and satellite requirements
of the various countries were reflected in the specifications
for dedicated national up-links for the independent countries
and service to and from the non-independent territorjes. The
report emphasized the flexibility of the network and the
possibility of accommodating changes in political status and
national requirements as they arose.
Further elaboration of this idea was then provided in a
CBU document recommending a detailed study of the
81
Satellites International
technical and economic feasibility of a regional satellite. h This
report described Carisat as a broadcasting and telecom-
munications satellite which would assist both the social and
economic development of countries in the region. It listed
seven potential benefits to be derived from a Carisat. These
included:
• improving the likelihood of linking countries in the region,
thereby facilitating the flow of news, information and
public telecommunications traffic;
• solving certain internal telecommunications traffic prob-
lems in widely separated island chains where terrestrial
alternatives are too costly;
• providing interactive linking of the UWI's three campuses
in Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados, with university centres
in the non-campus territories. This would make available
for the first time an extended service of university
instruction in all of the territories.
• encouraging the use of teleconferencing as a low-cost
alternative to attendance at regional meetings, seminars
and conferences;
• facilitating the exchange of television and radio program-
mes between the countries of the region;
• providing a variety of telecommunications services, includ-
ing telephone, telex, data and other services required by
the business and banking community;
• contributing to the improvement of community health care
and disaster relief.
The report emphasized the importance of a Caribbean
satellite to the regional integration movement. In this regard,
the report emphasized that the main advantage of a Carib-
bean satellite would be to lower the high cost of linking
circuits, which was seen as 'the chief impediment to the free
flow of information between Caricom countries.' Lowering
the costs of intraregional communication would, in turn,
facilitate the exchange of ideas across the region and provide
needed avenues for preserving and expanding a common
body of knowledge.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Work is now being done in preparation for a feasibility study
of the economic and technical requirements for a Caribbean
satellite. This study will place satellites within a wider context
of available technologies and telecommunications objectives.
It is also expected to supply necessary information related to
Caribbean representation at the 1988 Space WARC.
Caricom is playing a leading role in this project, an
indication of the ever-increasing importance of telecom-
munications to the economies of the region. At a meeting of a
committee of Caricom telecommunications officials in 1986,
an agenda was adopted which included increased participa-
tion of Caricom countries in international organizations such
as the ITU and Intelsat and more active efforts to introduce
technically compatible telecommunications equipment.
Specifically regarding the JTU feasibility study, Caricom
has recommended that it be broadened to include other
telecommunications technologies, and take into account
plans already developed, including traffic volumes and
growth projections. It also has noted the importance of
involving Caribbean experts in this work. 7
These recommendations reflect concern about the costly
duplication of effort that often occurs when planning
stretches over a number of years, with support from a variety
of outside agencies that pay insufficient attention to the
availability of local expertise. Yet such caveats did not
prevent the committee from giving unanimous support to the
ITU feasibility study.
82
CONCLUSION
In harnessing technology for national development, a
developing country must establish both short and long-term
goals. The present examination of the Caribbean satellite
option contains both types of objectives.
Since the gap between the existing level of expertise and
resources available locally stands in sharp contrast to the
state-of-the-art in industrialized countries, Caribbean coun-
tries are faced with the considerable challenge of finding ways
to satisfy local needs for technology and technical information
in the short-term without ceding hopes of greater independ-
ence over the longer term.
The leap from reliance on foreign systems to indigenous
ownership is obviously very great, yet cannot be ruled out
entirely. One advantage for policy makers of contemplating
such a leap is that a feasibility study may provide more
accurate information about alternative directions and use of
technology. Moreover, the feasibility study could supply
needed information about individual country requirements in
relation to non-entertainment media, data transmission and
intraregional communication.
Plans for a Caribbean satellite are closely linked to the
activities of the ITU. On account of the distribution of
satellite frequencies and orbital positions by this international
agency, proponents of a Caribbean satellite are necessarily
drawn into meetings that are likely to strengthen ties with
experts in other developing countries.
The ITU has recommended that public policy for telecom-
munications be developed at national and regional levels and
that nations expend more resources on improving telecom-
munications services. Countries in the Caribbean are pre-
sently acting in accordance with these recommendations. The
satellite-related feasibility study is one of several projects
underway. This study, as well as the ITU Rascom study in
Africa, will examine a dedicated satellite system, shared
systems probably using Intelsat capacity, or an innovative use
of the Article III( e) provisions of the Intelsat Agreement to
have a separate satellite system within the umbrella of the
global satellite system.
As a starting-point, strong emphasis has been placed on the
selection of appropriate technology and on strengthening
institutions and government agencies responsible for telecom-
munications. In addition, a premium has been placed on the
development of policies that will reinforce national and
regional integration and counteract pressures that tend
toward national isolation and the exclusion of the majority of
Caribbean peoples from the benefits of sophisticated
information technologies.
REFERENCES
1. Aggrey Brown, The Politics of Electronic Colonization in
the Caribbean,' in Media Development, January 1987.
2. William G. Demas, 'Caribbean Media Imperatives; Future
Direction and Policy,' address given at a conference spon-
sored by the Press Association of Jamaica, Kingston, 27-29
November 1986.
3. Michael Rudder, 'Broadcasting, Step-Child or Blood-
Relative?', in Telecommunications For Development: Explor-
ing New Strategies, Intelsat, Washington, DC, 1986.
4. Marlene Cuthbert, 'Communications Technology, Culture
and Development: Caribbean Realities,' in Gazette, Volume
38, Summer 1986.
5. Sylvia Ospina, 'Piracy of Satellite-Transmitted Copyright
 Future Regional Satellite Systems
Material in the Americas: Bane or Boom?' in Donna Demac,
ed, Tracing New Orbits: Cooperation and Competition in
Global Satellite Development, Columbia University Press,
New York, 1986.
6. Caribbean Broadcasting Union, The CAR/SAT Report (a
proposal for a Caribbean communications satellite), Barba-
dos, 1983.
7. Caricom, 'Summary of Conclusions of the First Meeting of
Caricom Committee of Telecommuncations Administra-
tions,' Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, June 1986.

83
 11 COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE SERVICES

The best communications satellites in the world are useless without users. Improving a satellite's
lifetime, or its irradiated power, or its stabilization system are all interesting and desirable
developments, but the end user has only a few very basic concerns. Will the satellite work and
reliably so? Will the capacity needed to provide the service be available on time? Will the satellite
provide high quality service on a consistent basis? To many users, the transmission mode is a
matter of indifference. You could use a satellite, or a microwave relay, or a coaxial cable, or a pair
of twisted wires; all would be quite acceptable as long as they worked. Even a pair of tin cans
connected by a wire would be acceptable if the service came through on time. Fortunately satellites
work much better than tin cans, and in fact are the first media capable of providing global ISDN
quality digital communications to business users and public switched networks.
Because the perspective of the service user is different, this section is devoted to the user
community which defines what it is that communications satellites must acutally do. Included here
are the views of the international press community, the video conference user groups and
broadcasters.

11A Video and Audio Conferencing Networks Louis A. Bransford and Suzanne G.
Douglas

11 B Telecommunications Satellites and the Press Today Oliver Robinson and Louis A. Bransford

11C Satellites and Television Broadcasting Peter Marshall

85
 11 A VIDEO AND AUDIO CONFERENCING NETWORK S
Louis A. Bransford, President, and Suzanne G. Douglas, Public Service Satellite Consortium
The telecommunications industry has undergone dramatic
changes in the last five years, driven by social, economic and
political forces. The changes had tremendous impact on the
corporate world, government and the public service sector.
For many organizations the changes call for new services, new
products and better ways of delivering services. Telecon-
ferencing is one of those services. Both private business and
the public service sector is increasingly finding that telecon-
ferencing can meet many of its needs for information
exchange and transfer. Teletravel can he more than ten times
more effective than actual busines~ travel to a meeting or
conference. Not only is teleconferencing displacing certain
travel and personal visits for routine business, teleconferenc-
ing enables new services, like distance teaching and tele-
marketing, to evolve.
There are four types of teleconferencing techniques now
available: full motion video conferencing; audiographic (or
slow scan) teleconferencing; audio conferencing and compu-
ter conferencing. Full motion video conferencing, by far the
most complex and expensive option, requires full video
origination capabilities at each of the participating sites.
However, the most common video conferencing arrangement
typically uses a configuration involving a one-way video,
two-way audio connection from the origination site to one or
more receiving sites. Usually, the vi~ual programe is transmit-
ted via satellite, with return voice interaction carried over
standard telephone lines. In the past two years, the alterna-
tive to point-to-point full motion video conferencing using
digital compression techniques has seen rapid development.
These networks typically use 1.544 megabits per second
(mbps) speeds in the US and Japan and 2.044 mbps in
Europe, although more sophisticated new coding equipment
allows speeds as low as 56 kilohits per second. Dedicated
receive-only networks are providing another option for users
with ongoing teleconferencing requirements.
Audio conferencing involves linking two or more indi-
viduals or groups at dispersed sites typically using telephone
lines for voice communications. For convenience and to
ensure uniform voice quality, many audio conference users
now employ audio conferencing bridge services.
An audiographic conference is simply an audio conference
which is augmented by the use of such visual technologies as
freeze frame or slow scan television, facsimile, computer
graphics, electronic blackboards, or remotely controlled
projection equipment, all of which can be transmitted over a
standard telephone line. Satellite service enhances audio
graphic transmission capability in terms of capacity, speed
and quality.
Computer conferencing denotes a telecommunications
mode that allows dispersed individuals to be connected
through a computer network, using computer keyboards to
send data and message communications.
Audio conferencing, using standard phone lines, may
ultimately prevail as the most flexible, most convenient, and
least expensive method of sharing information among three
or more locations. Plain old telephone service is an often
overlooked and usually underutilized option. It is estimated
that 40 to 50 million meetings are held daily in the OECD
countries and that 50 to 60 percent of those meetings could be
handled by voice communications alone. Historically,
however, relatively few meetings have been conducted
electronically. Numerous excuses have been made, not the
least of which are outmoded prejudices based on bad
experiences with old technology. Archaic speakerphones,
poor signal quality, time wasted while waiting, and that
uncomfortable feeling some people have conducting business
by phone head the litany of complaints.
That picture is slowly changing. The evolution of bridge
technology, high quality speakerphones, and the concomitant
training programmes available through telecommunications
consultants has helped sway public response toward the use of
audio and audiographic technologies for a variety of uses.
Research indicates that 85 percent of teleconferencing activi-
ties are audio rather than video. Audio conferencing's
flexibility and convenience in concert with judicious planning
can realize effective, efficient, and productive alternatives to
the traditional meeting without the requirements and costs
associated with video or audiographic teleconferencing.
Dozens of universities around the world use audio con-
ferencing for curriculum delivery, while thousands of
businesses use audio conferencing for tele-meetings. Some
companies, such as Arco Oil, J.C. Penney and others, have
dedicated full time teleconferencing networks. Both universi-
ties and businesses make extensive use of audio-visual aids,
including transparencies, tapes and slides. But with straight
audio conferencing these must be sent in advance and no
interactive video image is possible.
In teleconferencing situations when audio only is not
adequate and full motion video is not justified for reasons of
cost or programme requirements, audiographic technology is
frequently used. Audiographics offer both written and
graphic communications and are generally used in conjuntion
with an audio conference.
Defined broadly, audiographics include freeze frame/slow
scan television, facsimile, telewriters, electronic blackboards
and electronic text. All of these technologies work in more or
less the same way. A visual image is converted to digital form,
transmitted over a standard telephone line, and recqnverted
at the receiving end into a u~eable format. Taping and storing
for later use can be accomplished in either an audio or video
format with most audiographic systems.
Audiographic conferencing offers several advantages. Its
use, first of all, is predicated on standard telephone lines.
This flexibility allows users to originate and distribute graphic
87
Satellites International
information to and from virtually any location. Phone line
charges, usually for two lines per site (one for video and one
for audio transmission), and audio conferencing bridge
charges are essentially the only transmission costs in audiog-
raphic conferencing. The ability to transmit a variety of
written, graphic and other print information economically
and conveniently has made the audiographic alternative an
attractive one for a wide range of users in both business and
social services. Since these systems are most extensive in the
US examples are largely derived from American experiences.
A number of US universities have implemented audiog-
raphic systems as part of their efforts to reach students
outside the typical campus. The University of Wisconsin
Extension (UWEX) Educational Telephone Network (ETN)
is a dedicated, four-wire audio teleconferencing network that
provides UWEX with exclusive use of a system that offers
higher quality and more reliable service than regular tele-
phone lines. In addition to ETN's 200-site audio network, the
Statewide Extension Education Network (SEEN) consists of
an additional 23 sites equipped with dual networks - one
carries audio messages and one is used for slow scan/freeze
frame transmission. These networks offer state residents a
combination of non-credit professional and continuing educa-
tion courses, public service programming, credit courses and
administrative services. Altogether, electronically-delivered
instruction through this network is provided to more than
36,000 participants each year.
The US Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation
Service has equipped 20 sites with electronic blackboards and
two-way audio capability. Two additional sites have audio
and computer equipment, and another two have audio and
slow scan capability. Thirty-three other sites have audio
equipment. This interactive capability is used for teletraining
courses on soil conservation, and for administrative and
technical teleconferences. In France, over one hundred sites
have been equipped for audiographic teleconferencing in
addition to 40 sites for video conferencing. Through Eutelsat,
both video conferencing and audiographic services are
available throughout Europe today.
Full motion video conferencing, although experiencing
some success in the private sector, has not achieved compara-
ble use in the public service sector. This dichotomy is
primarily due to cost and availability factors.
Full motion video conferencing is available on an ad hoc
basis for approximately $1,000 per hour for a two node
network. A typical teleconferencing site includes a three
camera set up with graphics and taping facilities. AT&T, after
experimenting with such an arrangement has phased out its
Picturephone meeting Service. Other full motion video
conferencing networks are marketing excess time on an ad
hoc basis but with a relatively modest return on their
investment. The most successful full motion video conferenc-
ing services have been full time dedicated corporate net-
works.
Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) services will use more
powerful Ku-band satellites and small earth stations. These
have the potential for dramatically increasing the use of one-
way video conferencing by offering new subscriber services
and increasing satellite capacity. The prospect of acquiring
earth stations less than one meter in diameter for $800 or less
will attract not only large business, but small users and
non-profit organizations. For users of one-way video con-
ferencing on a regular basis, dedicated networks have proven
a viable means of establishing an ongoing delivery system.
A recently developed alternative to full motion video uses
digital compression technology. Rather than use an entire
satellite transponder to transmit a broadcast quality analog
88
video signal, the advent of a digitally compressed video
technique has resulted in video signals which use less than ten
percent of a single transponder. Although digital video is not
completely smooth in its simulation of full motion, it is
adequate for most educational and training purposes.
Popular digital video rates range from 1.544 mbps (T-1 line
rate) in the US to 2.044 mbps in Europe down to the more
economical 56 kilobits per second (kbps) codecs offered by
certain high tech suppliers. Most US cities have 56 kbps
service and with ISDN coming soon, 64 kbps services should
be available throughout most of Europe and Japan within two
to three years.
Despite these examples of applications, ambitious projec-
tions for satellite teleconferencing services have never been
realized. Particularly in the area of teleconferencing, the
explosion largely fizzled. The satellite teleconferencing indus-
try has grown, and from all indications, will continue to
expand, but on a moderate scale.
An Air Transport Association report issued during the first
part of the decade predicted that by 1985 teleconferencing
would divert one percent of the airlines business travel
revenue and two percent of postal revenue. This hasn't
happened. In fact, financial reports indicate that both travel
and mail services have increased not only in terms of revenue,
but also in utilization.
A few years ago, teleconferencing promoters estimated
that as much as 30 percent or more of today's conventional
meetings would be replaced by teleconferencing by the end of
the decade, growing to 50 percent by the turn of the century.
In retrospect, cost and time savings projections were both
overestimated and misleading. Certain types of repetitive
meetings have been displaced, but there's no empirical
evidence that teleconferencing is replacing conventional
meetings in general. Those organizations that have acquired
dedicated facilities are, of course, exceptions but the total
number of public or social service organizations that have
dedicated facilities are very few. Consequently, the real
growth manifested in the teleconferencing industry has been
interpreted in less positive terms because market projections
did not meet the initial expectations.
Teleconferencing presents a viable alternative to tradi-
tional means of delivering programmes and services, but
arguments justifying its use in the past two years are based
less on cost reduction and more on revenue generating
potential. Much less attention is paid to the technology, with
applications and programming coming to the fore. Value-
added benefits of going through the teleconferencing process
continue to accrue. Teleconferencing allows an organization
to utilize staff more efficiently, involve key people who
ordinarily would not be able to travel, plan more systemati-
cally and replicate programme materials easily.
Teleconferencing planners have now adopted much more
realistic goals. The advent of dedicated networks in concert
with expanded telecommunications capability will surely
accelerate the incorporation of teleconferencing into business
as usual, but this expansion will be tempered by a more
pragmatic view of teleconferencing's strengths and weak-
nesses. The user community, both corporate and non-profit,
has a better understanding of how and where teleconferenc-
ing can best contribute. The realization that certain informa-
tion is not amenable to electronic delivery, and the fact that
travel is often a perceived perquisite not willingly relin-
quished, will contribute to more down-to-earth planning. A
great awareness of the real costs and revenue potential in
teleconferencing will clarify much of the current thinking
regarding the value, utilization and ultimate adoption and
integration of teleconferencing on a regular basis.
 Communications Satellite Services
This process of technology adoption is the culmination of a
number of steps along the way. These steps include aware-
ness. understanding. acceptance and utilization. leading to
adoption. In less than a decade satellite teleconferencing has
moved from the awareness stage to one of understanding and
acceptance. However. effective utilization is necessary to
guarantee the adoption of this technology. Teleconferencing
is moving toward this final stage. but to date it has not been
utilized nor integrated effectively. By capitalizing on the
knowledge and experience of the computer industry.
however. these stumbling blocks are slowly being overcome.
Ad hoc teleconferencing. much of it experimental in nature.
has set the stage and the next decade will represent the true
benchmark for the teleconferencing industry. It may not be as
pervasive as some early predictions estimated. but its
presence will be an undeniable factor in both the corporate
and the non-profit worlds.

89
 11 B TELECOMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES AND THE
PRESS TODAY
Oliver Robinson, Executive Director, International Press Telecommunications; and Louis A. Bransford,
President, Public Service Satellite Consortium
Most people hate change as much as they welcome variety.
Change is thus resented most by those with a vested interest
in the status quo such as people whose livelihood may be
threatened by technological innovation or governments to
whom change is almost impossible to reconcile with the
exigencies of economic planning or historical regulations.
The satellite is a symbol of change. It offers almost
unlimited opportunities for the exchange of information
between peoples, businessmen, scientists and all those who
strive to make the world a better place. It is a unique tool for
defining the role and influence of the written press in today's
electronic world.
The press- the oldest of the media- is a popular vehicle for
disseminating news and views. It preceded sound broadcast-
ing by several generations and television by even more.
Yet it survives, and in most cases, prospers despite the
closure of evening newspapers largely uncompetitive in price
and stolid in content beside the glossiness of dinnertime
television. Television provides the headlines to a story. But
there are people whose appetite for information is whetted by
the two or three minute TV introduction, which is all that
television can spare for an earthquake, a hi-jack, a political or
economic crisis or some other news event. Many who want to
know more about the story turn to the newspaper for the
fuller story- to read at their leisure - and not at a pace some
newscaster may dictate. Some people buy newspapers
because they provide a wealth of specialist information such
as stock exchange prices which are not readily available as yet
in a more convenient and cheaper form. People buy them
because they are more transportable than a TV set. They buy
them because they are scurrilous, or at least opinionated,
because of their crosswords, their 'do-it-yourself' columns,
their astrologies and their political proclivities. They buy
them as an antidote to boredom. Yet most people think of the
press and the newspaper as synonymous: they aren't. Some
members of the public have heard of news agencies like AFP,
AP, ANSA, DPA, EFE and Reuters 1, but the majority
remains largely ignorant of their functions and of their role in
the dissemination of information, whether general or special-
ized, to thousands of newspapers and business subscribers.
News agencies and some publishing houses have been
quick to realize the impact of new technology upon their
conventional products, and in this tornado of change the
satellite plays a star role. Its great advantage over other
means of telecommunications is that it is virtually distance
independent in terms of cost. Investment in a transoceanic
cable connecting no more than two terminals will be not quite
proportional to its length, but the cost of a satellite serving a
multitude of earth stations in a variety of countries, is a
constant except for the number and size of stations needed to
transmit or receive a signal, and these can be insignificant
beside the cost of the satellite itself and its launch.
Satellites might have been designed exclusively for the
media, for what the media want is a tool for disseminating
information to the largest number of people. When a
telephone subscriber calls his family, clients or business
colleagues, his conversation is of little value unless it is
two-way. But with the media the requirement is differrent.
Broadcasters want to reach as many viewers as possible, not
vice versa. The press wants to distribute its various informa-
tion services to subscribers by the thousand, be they
newspapers, broadcasting organizations, business houses and
ultimately the reader. Newspapers also want to send their
pages to remote printing plants for regional or even foreign
editions. In fact the media's main requirement is for a
multi-destinational one-way telecommunications service
which may traverse oceans, continents or even both.
The potential of satellites for press distribution, however,
has been severely constrained. The press has been given
almost unrestricted access to the telecommunications satellite
in only one country - the US- although recently, restrictions
have been removed in Canada. Privately-owned American
satellite carriers have been happy for news agencies and
newspapers to publish in several cities, to buy or lease
transponders and to own their own terminals. This 'space
freedom' together with the dramatic increases in the charges
for renting terrestrial (or microwave) facilities, began the
space race for the US press. Now, it has become a little less
than a stampede, with the development of a new technology
used in astronomy and perfected in military applications.
The new technology is known as 'spread spectrum'.
Because of the modulation technique that it uses, it is more
sensitive to bandwidth than noise and can work in a
remarkably high noise level environment. Spread spectrum
permits the use of small transportable 0.6-metre diameter
receive-only dishes. These dishes, together with a micro-
processor and printer cost no more than $2,500 and weigh a
modest 16 kilogrammes. They provide highly reliable digital
communication of up to 19.2 kilobits per second. Thousands
of these dishes have been installed by broadcasting stations
and publishing houses throughout North America for the
reception of news agency services upon which they depend
for both news programmes and newspaper content. There is
scarcely a commodity more perishable than news and the
small receive-only dish has preserved its freshness at a price
that is modest compared with the use of terrestrial circuits
provided by telecommunications administrations or privately-
owned carriers.
This 'freedom of the skies' in the US has also led to the
publication of individual newpapers at plants all over the
country. The Wall Street Journal, with a circulation limited at
first to the financial community in and around New York
91
Satellites International
City, is now printed in 22 plants throughout the US. The Wall
Street Journal has purchased satellite capacity and uses its
own 11-metre ground stations for both transmission and
reception. The demand for financial information keeps
growing. In societies where there are more and more
stockholders people want to read about the ups and downs of
currencies, shares and commodity prices, etc. They also want
informed opinion about the likely drift of this market sector
or another. USA Today is also a satellite flag bearer. This
publication aims to be America's first national newspaper and
the breadth of its state-by-state coverage keeps the itinerant
businessman or tourist aware of events back home. The
prestigious New York Times is another entrant into the
multi-point satellite printing business, although on a some-
what less ambitious scale.
To news agencies whose function it is to collect and
disseminate information, whether in textual or photographic
form, telecommunications costs represent a conspicuous item
in their budgets. Anything which can contain or reduce
telecommunications costs is not only of benefit to the agency
itself but to its newspaper and commercial subscribers, and
ultimately, to the newspaper reader too. Newspapers that
want to publish at a variety of sites cannot realize their
ambitions without telecommunications facilities that are
reliable and tariffs which are equitable. In the US their
dreams have come true, but elsewhere at least the economic
freedom of the press is still hampered.
Frustrations abound, particularly in the developing coun-
tries. Many established their own government sponsored
news agencies shortly after independence, for the enlighten-
ment of their people and the creation of a spirit of national
identity and consciousness. The agency's budget often
reflected the poverty of the country, sometimes less than
$100,000 a year. No agency can survive without news from
the outside world, and in particular, from countries which
have shared to some greater or lesser extent, the same
heritage or in future, some converging destiny.
Yet these news agencies can scarcely receive or send
information across their own frontiers because of the very
high tariffs imposed by their own telecommunications admi-
nistrations for telex, telephone or leased circuits, whether
provided by land line or radio. Even when satellites are used
the price can be prohibitive. One African administration will
charge a customer $2,500 for renting a single 50 words per
minute teleprinter circuit from the capital city to New York
for ten days while a portable receive-only dish with a capacity
of 19.2 kilobits sells for the same price.
What's wrong? Unfortunately, governments so proud of
their news agencies and anxious for their success are also
patrons of their telecommunications administrations. These
administrations may be their governments' principal source of
revenue and valuable foreign exchange. If satellite com-
munication could be as accessible to the press in, say, Africa
and Latin America as it is in the US, the literate would be
better informed. If this is what governments want, then there
must be realistic pricing of telecommunications services for
the media, not only in the developing, but also in the
developed world.
Satellite communications poses a challenge to telecom-
munications administrations because it allows direct intercon-
nections rather than routing through third party countries.
The satellite not only threatens their traditional way of doing
business, but it delivers enormous savings in the cost of
telecommunication. These administrations are committed to
investing in expensive terrestrial networks, including the
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). They argue that
this investment is necessary because it is their responsibility to
92
provide a quality telecommunications service to all comers at
all hours. They explain how satellites can go astray and have a
limited life span, how they are likely to be more vulnerable
than terrestrial networks in times of war. For this reason
telecommunications administrations have some argument in
favour of tariff policies which fail to distinguish between
spatial and terrestrial communication, at least for conven-
tional telecommunication services such as the telephone,
telex and data networks. Yet despite this the satellite has had
a marked effect upon some intercontinental tariffs and in
particular, between London and New York, the main
overseas telecommunications artery of the world. Here rates
have dropped by as much as 60 percent during the last few
years despite inflation.
But has even this sort of tariff decrease been sufficient?
Intelsat now provides a two-way voice grade circuit between
two countries for just under $800 a month. If business or the
press leases this same channel from its telecommunications
administration, the retail price which includes earth station
charges and terrestrial links will be 7, 10 or even 15 times
higher. Administrations may say that they have expensive
satellite ground stations to buy, staff wages to pay, parts and
equipment to maintain and eventually replace, but their
mark-up still seems excessive. The problem of high tariffs can
be measured by comparing the rates for service provided by
satellite carriers within the US by Intelsat's international rates
and those between the US and countries abroad where the
telecommunications service is provided by PTT's. For
example:
Voice grade circuits
USA to:
UK $ 7,046 per month
USSR 16,245 ,
Australia 11,391,
Japan 11,279,
Chile 15,092 ,
Zaire 15,807 ,
lntelsat
International two-way
voice circuit $ 780 per month
US domestic
New York to:
Dallas $ 1,092.50 per month
San Francisco 1,177.50 , ,
Los Angeles 1,177.50,
Houston 965.00 ,
Atlanta 965.00,
Miami 965.00,
Few administrations will tell you what they make on the
international satellite calls but will tell you how they lose on
innumerable terrestrial roundabouts like the provision of
telephone service to remote areas. Such services to remote
areas and subsidies that help this to occur are important, but
the press is a social service too. The freedom to communicate
in today's world of telecommunications is thus threatened by
excessive transmission tariffs. This threat is particularly so
with regard to the new spread spectrum technology which
Intelsat calls Intelnet, which is so well adapted to interna-
tional news distribution.
Governments and their telecommunications administra-
tions cannot stare into a satellite mirror forever, fixed in
indecision. Policies for communication and telecommunica-
 Communications Satellite Services

tion - and these are interdependent and indivisible - are as It is not a sin to ask for the moon. Yet, except for tides, the
essential to the fabric of society as policies for health, satellite is infinitely more useful.
education and defence. Governments have the responsibility
to create conditions most favourable to the collection and
dissemination of information, but seldom, if ever, face this
daunting challenge. REFERENCE
In the meantime, international or foreign editions of
newspapers are starting to proliferate, but only because of the 1. AFP, Agence France Presse (Paris); AP, Associated Press
telecommunications tariffs they can afford. Asahi Shimbun of (New York); ANSA, Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata
Tokyo started printing in London on 1 January 1986 to bring (Rome); DPA, Deutsche Press Agentur (Hamburg); EFE,
the sizeable Japanese population in Europe closer to their Agencia EFE (Madrid); Reuters, (London).
home country. The International Herald Tribune, the father
of international page facsimile printing, is now printing in
south east Asia and has plans for a Miami edition in the
forseeable future. The Financial Times of London also prints
in Frankfurt and New York. The Economist and the weekly
Guardian print via satellite in New York, while a number of
American dailies want to use satellite for European editions.
Papers in Arabic and Chinese are now printed in London.
The press is aboard the satellite bandwagon even if it is in low
gear.
It is undoubtedly true that Intelsat has been largely
responsible for stimulating the press and other industries to
use satellites for specialist applications. In as little as six
months Intelsat introduced more than 200 service offerings in
1984. Most of its signatories however, have offered no more
than five or ten of these new services to the public.
Market research can play a key role in increasing man's
understanding of the benefits of satellite communication, and
it is unfortunate that more is not being done in this respect.
Satellites mean employment, not only in their construction
and launching, but for those who can use them profitably. If a
newspaper can publish a foreign edition, be it a country or
continent away, using an inexpensive and reliable satellite
link, it can mean jobs for more journalists, more advertising
and distribution personnel, more maintenance staff and more
telecommunications engineers. Satellites must not be seen as
a challenge to the orthodoxy of the telecommunications
establishment but as the ubiquitous servant of most of
mankind.
Yet there are portents that telecommunications administra-
tions are beginning to come to terms with satellite com-
munication - but with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The
French PTT recently authorized the establishment of a press
carrier, funded jointly by its fully-owned subsidiary, France
Cable, and the French news agency, Agence France Presse.
The new carrier will disseminate news to small dishes
throughout western Europe over the ECS and Telecom 1
satellites. Furthermore, the International Press Telecom-
munications Council, which was set up in 1965 to safeguard
and promote the telecommunications interests of the world's
press, has recently submitted a series of contributions to the
CCITT. This committee, whose voting members are res-
tricted to representatives of telecommunications administra-
tions, have been giving a more than sympathetic ear to the
claims of the press for access to satellite communication so
that it may serve its readers better. Perhaps this may be due
to the clarity and vigour with which newspapers and news
agencies have been able to define their requirements, not
only technically, but in social and economic terms.
What is it that the press wants? In brief: unrestricted access
to satellites for both transmission and reception; the ability to
purchase satellite capacity or to lease band-width (from full
transponders to voice grade circuits on a full or part-time
basis for both point to multi-point and two-way services);
freedom to own transmit and receiver stations; the right to
purchase or lease satellite capacity at affordable rates.

93
 11C SATELLITES AND TELEVISION
BROADCASTING
Peter Marshall, Deputy Director for Broadcast Services, lntelsat
Among the many inventions and new technologies of the 20th
century, some have achieved their full potential only when
paired together. One example is radio broadcasting and the
subsequent invention of the transistor; another is television
broadcasting, which started in 1936, and the arrival 21 years
later in 1957 of the communications satellite in space.
The technologies of television and satellites have since
been combined to create the most powerful medium for the
distribution of information, education and entertainment
known to mankind. In the space of 30 years, the global
potential for satellite-transmitted television programming
expanded to a point where two billion people, in every
continent of the world, were estimated to have watched the
same event at the same time. The event was the World Cup
Soccer Final from Mexico City in 1986.
The speed of development over a relatively brief number of
years can be measured by comparing that astonishing figure
with equally impressive figures from earlier years: one-half
billion people watched the Apollo moon landing and man's
first steps on the moon in 1969; the Olympic Games in 1984
reached an estimated audience of 1.5 billion. Major news
events such as the Mexican earthquake in 1985, the Reagan-
Gorbachev summit in 1986, and the Ethiopian famine
pictures in 1985, reached equally large audiences by means of
satellite distribution.
A less dramatic, more intimate example of the use of
satellite communications encapsulated the extraordinary time
scale in which these developments have occurred.
On Christmas Day 1986, the English sports personality Ian
Botham - in Australia on a cricket tour - took part in a live
television programme which linked him in Melbourne with
his grandfather in Leeds, in the north of England.
The programme, transmitted by the BBC and by Channel
10 Australia, showed the two Bothams on a split screen,
exchanging Christmas greetings as though they were in the
same house; but one was in cold, rain-swept Yorkshire,
England, and the other 13,000 miles away in warm, sunny
Melbourne. The technological achievements of satellite
broadcasting which made this possible are now taken for
granted in most countries - but their brief exchange illus-
trated how the world has changed in their lifetime.
Mr Botham senior was one hundred years old - and when
he was born in 1886, Queen Victoria was on the throne of
England, the American Civil War was barely over, Australia
was still being explored and colonized, and Thomas Edison
was still developing the telegraph and experimenting with
uses of electricity. Ian Botham was 31 - and when he was
born in 1955, the use of outer space was still in the laboratory
stage and the Russians were edging towards the historic day
in 1957 when the first Sputnik was launched into orbit,
bringing closer to reality the predictions of Arthur C. Clarke,
who wrote in 1945:
'An "artificial satellite" at the correct distance from the
earth would make one revolution every 24 hours: ie, it
would remain stationary above the same spot and
would be within optical range of nearly half the
Earth's surface. Three repeater stations, 120 degrees
apart in the correct orbit would give television and
microwave coverage to the entire planet'.
His prescience has been quoted many times over the
following years, providing Dr Clarke with the satisfaction
denied to many prophets in their own lifetime.
Events since the launch of Sputnik have taken place at such
an accelerated pace of change and development that the
words in this chapter may well be outdated before they are
read! If it is often bewildering to newer generations, how
must it seem to those from earlier generations like Mr
Botham senior, who grew up in a horse-drawn age, before
popular newspapers, before electricity, before radio and
before television? If television has shaped and influenced
lifestyles and social expectations in the second half of the 20th
century, then the use of satellites has been one of the most
significant contributory factors. And there is still more than a
decade of development to come before the century gives way
to the new vistas of the year 2000 and beyond. The following
pages will review some of the steps along the way since
Sputnik, consider some of the effects and consequences, and
attempt to look into the future uses of satellite systems for
broadcasting.
Television broadcasting made its first use of an interna-
tional satellite in 1962, using the Telstar satellite which was
orbiting the Earth once every 157 minutes. This was the first
satellite designed for experimental television transmission (as
well as multi-channel telephony). It was constructed by the
American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), and
launched by NASA on 10 July 1962, to work with the British
Post Office earth station at Goonhilly Down, and with the
French PTT earth station at Pleumeur-Bodou.
A week after the launch, executives of AT&T and the
British Post Office set up an experiemental link and saw
pictures of each other as they exchanged greetings at their
respective earth stations. At about the same time, there was a
more ambitious exchange between the US and France and
some pictures derived from the satellite feed were broadcast
on French television. However, the 'official' debut of
television by satellite came on 23 July 1962 - with a
programme transmitted from the US to the members of the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU); followed by a prog-
ramme in the opposite direction to viewers of the US
networks.
In Earth orbit, Telstar was 'visible' to the US and
European earth stations for just 18 minutes, and special
programmes were on the air in 27 European countries to wait
for the first transmission shortly after 8.00 pm CET. Richard
Dimbleby, the legendary BBC commentator, hosted the
Europe-wide programme and introduced the first pictures as
the satellite came over the horizon. Fred Friendly of CBS
appeared in the studio and took viewers on a US tour, in
95
Satellites International
which all three networks- CBS, NBC and ABC- took part.
There were sequences from New York and California, from
Cape Canaveral and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Mount
Rushmore, from the Rio Grande and from the Canadian
border.
As the pictures eventually faded from view, Europe
celebrated a new step in history and Telstar continued its way
around the globe. About 2Yz hours later, the satellite was
over the Atlantic Ocean again and just before 11:00 pm CET,
there was another 18-minute transmission showing American
viewers a panorama of Europe: industry in Germany, opera
from Rome, the first edition of the next day's newspapers in
Paris, the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London, and
another new invention, the hovercraft, on the south coast of
England.
So it all began, and from that day in 1962, for TV audiences
in North America and Europe, the use of Atlantic satellites
for special occasions gradually developed. Once the uncer-
tainties of the low-orbiting Telstar had been succeeded by
geostationary satellites in the 22,300-mile orbit (as predicted
by Arthur C. Clarke) the continents were linked with growing
frequency as TV executives began to persuade their col-
leagues to recognize the value of the impact achieved - even
at the relatively high costs of satellite transmissions in the
1960s.
Syncom-11 and Relay were the satellites which provided the
mid-Atlantic link for some notable pioneering work in 1963.
One occasion which bridged the generations was the
ceremony in Washington DC in April 1963 at which Sir
Winston Churchill was made an hononary US citizen. Presi-
dent Kennedy presided over the ceremony in the rose garden
of the White House, describing Sir Winston as 'the most
honoured and honorable man to walk the stage of human
history at this time'. The honour was ac~epted by Sir
Winston's son, Randolph Churchill. Sir Winston and Lady
Churchill watched the ceremony in their London home - he
was by then too elderly to make the transatlantic journey. But
he was able to share in the historic occasion by satellite - and
so, too, were millions of admirers of Churchill on both sides
of the Atlantic.
Seven months later, on 22 November 1963, the same
satellite link was used to bring to the rest of the world the
unbelievable, unforgettable news coverage from Dallas of the
assassination of President Kennedy. It is the first occasion on
which the links between New York and London were
established within a matter of a few hours instead of being
planned days in advance.
The film coverage of the presidential motorcade, the
moment of the shooting and the scenes which followed at the
hospital and elsewhere were transmitted from NBC New
York via satellite to be recorded and shown to British
audiences more quickly than any previous news story from
the US. Simultaneously, the London-based international TV
news agencies were distributing copies of the same pictures by
air to broadcasters in other parts of the world- where again,
the coverage was seen by viewers a day earlier than would
have been possible before the transatlantic satellite.
In the months and years that followed, more and more
special events were transmitted in the same way - occasions
like the NASA space launches, and sporting occasions like
the Olympic Games and World Cup; and major news stories
could be moved from North America to Europe or vice versa,
with more and more immediacy.
The role of Intelsat became central to the growth of global
television transmissions. The organization was created in
1964, recognizing that satellite communications should be a
matter for an international forum rather than for national
96
initiatives. From the original 12 countries whose representa-
tives met in Washington in October 1964, the membership
had grown to 114 by the end of 1987.
In that first year, there were five earth stations providing 75
telephone circuits across the Atlantic Ocean. Television
transmission was possible only by surrending voice circuits.
By the end of 1986, fifteen operational satellites over the
three oceanic regions were operating in conjunction with 680
major earth stations, and countless small receive-only anten-
nas, linking together 165 countries, territories and dependen-
cies around the globe. ·
How has all this hardware in space been utilized by the
television broadcasters of the world?
Live international transmissions of space-shots, moon
landings, Royal Weddings, Olympic Games and World Cup
Soccer were among the subjects which enabled television
production and distribution techniques to evolve, technical
and creative improvements to be made, which utilized the
potential of this new medium.
Sporting events gained audiences of many millions to enjoy
the big occasions- and provide massive exposure for sponsors
and advertisers, too. But it is in the area of news coverage and
reporting that those same global audiences have been most
profoundly affected.
In the 1960s, television viewers in Europe saw the racial
confrontations in Arkansas, Alabama and Chicago in their
stark reality, almost as they happened, conveying the depth
of the problem in a way which was not possible by radio or
newspapers. Those long, hot summers led to changes of
attitudes and policies in the US, and one may ask whether the
changes were, perhaps, more radical or more comprehensive,
because the eyes of the world were watching, via satellite?
Then Vietnam, which sometimes seemed to be the first war
to be fought on the screens in the living rooms of American
families- as well as those in the rest of the world. Analysis of
the way in which the conflict eventually came to an end leaves
little doubt about the influence of the television coverage on
public opinion, and of public opinion on the decision-makers.
It was graphic reporting and pictures, month after month,
made even more telling by the immediacy of satellite
transmission across the Pacific Ocean, which in turn limited
any opportunity for censorship or official controls over what
was being seen.
More recently, by contrast, the British encounter with the
Argentine forces in the Falkland Islands was in a remote
island in the South Atlantic where it was possible, even in
1982, for control to be maintained over the news coverage for
several weeks. Now, only five years later, it is doubtful
whether any Western country could successfully keep such
distance between its war-like efforts and the attentions of the
world's TV cameras; changes in public attitudes and improve-
ments in technology are the main reasons - and Intelsat's
satellites are there to provide the links.
Iceland was a less remote island and the situation there was
not a hazardous war zone but a summit conference in the
autumn of 1986. The news coverage of that event was a clear
indication of changes which had taken place in a few, short
years. With only two or three days notice no fewer than
eleven transportable earth stations were flown in to enable
broadcasters to transmit television coverage by satellite to the
US, the USSR, Japan and many other countries, using seven
different satellites.
This instantaneous global network enabled correspondents
to report in many languages as this potentially crucial meeting
of world leaders unfolded. It also provided an unprecedented
world audience for the political positioning by the President
of the United States, the Chairman of the Praesidium of the

USSR and their spokesmen as they sought to characterize the
outcome of the meetings.
This political exploitation is one by-product of the expan-
sion of satellite communications for television broadcasting.
Another is the disappearance of the opportunity for politi-
cians and leaders to ponder for hours, even days, on a major
event before presenting their views in a considered, possibly
sanitized, form. Now, their own people, and probably most of
the world, would have seen the reality of an event as quickly
as a prime minister or president can be informed through
diplomatic channels.
A classic example was the Shtila Camp massacre in
Lebanon in 1985, when TV camera crews found their way to
the bloody scene soon after the marauding troops had
departed. Within two hours, the coverage was transmitted by
satellite from a Syrian earth station (the nearest facility
operational at the time) and received in London. By the end
of the same day, the pictures were distributed around the
world and were seen by viewers in US, Europe, Japan,
Australia- and, no doubt, in Eastern Europe and the Middle
East, too.
The massacre was identified as the work of the Israeli-
backed Christian militia. The victims were Palestinians, who
have few friends around the world. In Lebanon, the
Christians were the enemies of the Moslems. Against such a
complex political background, the issue might have easily
become submerged in United Nations debate and it would
have been months before the full facts emerged. By then
fresh news would have displaced the story from the headlines.
But on this occasion, the television pictures provided ample
testimony of the facts and governments were put under
immense pressure to condemn the incident. The first and
categoric reactions came from the US and the USSR. Both
condemned the massacre unequivocally and the rest of the
world quickly followed their lead. The Israeli cabinet came
close to resigning and world politics had been influenced not
just by the news coverage of a single, vivid event, but by the
speed with which people the world over became aware of it,
almost simultaneously.
Those who question, with some justification, the influence
of satellite-delivered television news coverage, should also
take into consideration that in the months and years that
followed there were no further such occurrences.
In a very different context, it was the television coverage of
the Ethiopian famine in 1985 which touched the conscience of
millions of people worldwide, and which in turn galvanized
governments into action in a meaningful way. That unforgett-
able coverage of the refuge camps, once it emerged in
London, was distributed worldwide by satellite so that the
impact was total and simultaneous, leading to the massive
success of the 'Live Aid' initiative. This again was possible
only by international satellite interconnections, and the
spontaneous response which it created is now history.
The growth in the use of satellites for the international
transmission of news and special events, including big
sporting occasions, has been spectacular during the 1970s and
1980s. It is not so long ago that broadcasters superim-
posed a caption: 'BY SATELLITE' over material received in
this way - partly as kudos, partly to explain any quality
difference in the pictures or sound. Now, few broadcasters
consider the caption necessary, for either reason. Indeed, the
repetition would become distracting.
Consider these Intelsat statistics. The use of the system by
broadcasters for what is called 'occasional TV service'- which
can be booked for any period from ten minutes upwards- has
increased from 12,000 hours in 1976 to over 60,000 in 1986.
During 1986, there were an average of more than one
Communications Satellite Services
hundred transmissions every day. If the same growth rate
were to be experienced over the next ten years, there would
be little room for anything else on the world's TV screens but
satellite transmitted programmes!
And that is only part of the story. By the end of 1986, 14
broadcasting organizations had leased full-time transponders
on Intelsat satellites providing them with the potential for 24
hours use, every day of the year. This is also a rapidly growing
area, which all adds up to a massive volume of TV traffic
already crossing the oceans of the world every day. It is not
just Intelsat and the major broadcasters who make this
happen. For much of the daily flow of news coverage around
the world, the key players are the two international TV news
agencies, Visnews and Worldwide Television News (WTN)-
both London-based companies. Their camera crews cover
news event in every corner of the world and supply a daily
service to more then 400 broadcasters in every country where
TV exists. They compete, in the field and in the marketplace,
and are among the heaviest users of satellites to reach their
clients with pictures of 'today's news today'.
A national broadcaster may book satellite time for a major
news story of importance to that particular country, covered
by their own correspondent and cameraman, if they happen
to have those resources available in the right place at the right
time. The agencies have their cameras in constant use, in
upwards of 50 different locations every day to provide the
regular, daily service of news coverage upon which broadcas-
ters depend in order to compile their TV news bulletins.
The use of international satellites for this purpose was
pioneered by Visnews in 1975, with a daily ten-minute
transmission of news from London to a group of broadcasters
in Australia- who until then, had received their TV newsfilm
from the rest of the world two or three days after the event.
That daily transmission was later shared by Japan and other
Asian countries. In the following years, the number of daily
newsfeeds by Visnews to various groups of broadcasters
around the world grew to a total of eight with a combined
transmission time of nearly four hours a day, by the end of
1986. Meanwhile, WTN, developing the same pattern of
multi-destination news transmissions, has another three daily
newsfeeds.
All this is the international dimension of satellite news and
programme distribution. In addition, there is now a major
domestic satellite industry in the US, providing coast-to-coast
links for the networks, for independent stations and for cable
services. Canada has its own domestic system; so too, does
Japan, India, Indonesia, Australia; and in Europe, there is
the growing Eutelsat system which provides services for
broadcasters as well as other telecommunications needs; and
in the Middle East, Arabsat provides similar services.
Intelsat's services are not exclusively international. In 1987
nearly 40 countries had purchased or leased transponders
from the organization to provide domestic telecommunica-
tions services - among them Argentina, China, Germany,
Israel, Norway, Peru, UK and Zaire. Many of these countries
use some of the capacity for international TV distribution.
The totality of satellite facilities, still expanding both in
numbers and in the power and flexibility of the hardware in
orbit, adds up to a massive new resource for the flow of
information around the world. And the use of that resource
for television is the way in which most people are aware of the
existence of satellites.
The largest global audience for a television transmission is
thought to have been the two billion who saw the World Cup
Soccer final in 1986- a statistic which underlines the power
and potential of the combined technologies of television and
satellites.
97
Satellites International
A trend has been clearly established in the direction of
more international communications, but this inevitably raises
questions about who provides the television programmes, and
who controls the airwaves? This is a technical question as well
as a political one: technical because the availability of
frequencies for broadcasting cannot be left to chance and
there are existing international regulating bodies (notably the
International Telecommunication Union) who grapple with
the complexities of this issue at their periodic meetings.
The political question is harder to reconcile, partly because
of widely differing ideologies and attitudes towards broad-
casting freedoms; but also because of the varying stages of
development in the broadcasting and communications sys-
tems between one country and another; and the priority
which each nation attaches to this area.
It is probably true that attitudes would be rather different if
all countries had reached the same stage of technological and
economic development, with equal capabilities for transmit-
ting television programmes to the rest of the world and for
receiving them. That is clearly an unattainable hypothesis,
but the basic inequalities are the root cause of many of the
problems which exist and will continue to exist, because it is
the ability to influence the hearts and minds of peoples which
television possesses, more powerfully than guns or butter,
military power or economic aid.
Against this background, where does the future lie for
satellites and broadcasting? First, the existing uses of an
international satellite system such as Intelsat for the transmis-
sion of television pictures will continue to grow rapidly. This
will be encouraged by the continuing reduction of costs,
resulting from more powerful satellites in space working with
smaller. cheaper and more flexible earth stations on the
ground. This technological trend will in turn enable broadcas-
ters to bring news and other special events from any part of
the world to their domestic audiences with the same ease that
is possible in 1986 within the US by using the domestic
satellite system.
Equally important, the reduction in cost will enable those
broadcasters in smaller countries, including the developing
countries, to use the benefits of satellite transmission more
and more frequently.
Cost reductions will come as the result of smaller earth
stations, which themselves cost only a fraction of the
investment necessary through the 1970s and most of the 1980s
to build and operate the huge 30-metre Standard A earth
stations. Also, the smaller earth stations can be located at or
close to the broadcaster's premises - subject to national
regulations - thus removing the high cost of long terrestrial
links between remote earth station sites and city centres.
Another economy will come from improved use of the
transmission bandwidth, enabling two or even four television
signals to be carried by a transponder which at present carries
only one signal. Work is going on with analogue and digital
signal compression techniques which suggest that this new
development will be available for widespread use during the
1990s. Indeed, one analogue version was used by the
Japanese broadcasters with reasonable success in 1984 and
another has been pioneered by an Australian broadcaster
using the Pacific Ocean satellite link.
Yet another stimulus to more efficient and cost-effective
satellite transmission will come as the result of competition.
The prospect, as much as the actual emergence of commercial
competitors to Intelsat, will ensure that the organization is
competitive in the highly visible television marketplace. The
arrival of international and domestic fibre optic cable links
will also have its effect on the pricing of competing systems.
All of this should be good news for broadcasters - not only
98
the existing national state broadcasters and networks, who
have dominated world broadcasting for so long, but also for
the new, emerging entrepreneurial broadcasters and prog-
ramme distributors who have seen satellites as the route to
new, international broadcast markets.
Satellites also provide the potential for direct transmission
to the home. Although DBS- direct broadcast by satellite-
has been slow to achieve the expectations of its early
advocates, there is little doubt that it will become a new and
important factor during the early 1990s - initially in Europe
and Japan.
The possibilities of DBS have already been exploited in
many countries where those with the resources to buy and
install backyard receivers costing a few thousand dollars can
receive a wide range of existing television programmes from
domestic and international satellites. The next stage, genuine
DBS, will arrive with new high-powered satellites, transmit-
ting new programme channels direct to small roof-top
receivers costing only a few hundred dollars. Those preparing
to finance such enterprises are aware that once the novelty
value has faded, their future will depend on the sustained
quality of their programming, in competition with existing
and other new forms of counter-attraction - including the
home video player.
In Britain, the commercial company planning to launch a
three-channel DBS service in 1990, is proposing to devote
one channel to the theme of 'see it now'. By accessing all the
existing and prospective international satellite systems they
plan to bring to their viewers the strong appeal of live
television, whether it is a news conference in Washington, a
sports event in Australia or a fashion show in Paris.
This concept poses an enormous challenge, in terms of
technology, programme rights and presentation techniques -
but it is 'state of the art' television, utilizing the satellite
systems of the world to the full in an exciting and imaginative
way which will no doubt be done by other organizations in
other parts of the world too. But is it the ultimate use of
satellite technology for broadcasting? It is certainly difficult
to conceive an idea which goes beyond the prospect of live
events, as they happen anywhere in the world, delivered
direct to the home television screen by satellite via a rooftop
dish. But no doubt someone will!
 12 THE 'OTHER' APPLICATIONS SATELLITES

Geoffrey K.C. Pardoe, Managing Director, General Technology Systems, Ltd

There is an overwhelming amount of attention given to communications satellites by the space

industry, business and the news media. This is largely a result of the many commercial successes
that these satellites have achieved, with over 100 comsats now in orbit. Taking into account direct
and indirect revenues, the communications satellite industry is today worth at least $5 billion a
year. But there is much more to space applications than communications satellites. There are
dozens of other application satellites which provide valuable (even vital) services to people around
the world, and it is important to know and understand their functions. Although not directly
producing revenues, these satellites help us predict the weather and save people from hurricanes
and rescue ship-wrecked people and crashed pilots. Earth resource satellites help monitor oceans
for pollution. forests for fire and crops for disease- as well as scout for valuable minerals and oil.
Satellites also perform navigational services and help map the Earth with great accuracy. Of
course, there are also the super secret 'snoop' satellites that can listen. photograph. use radar and
infrared images to spy on the military capabilities of other countries. This function. noted by
distinguished space scientist Geoffrey Pardoe. is actually quite key to maintaining peace in a world
which is unfortunately both tense and suspicious. The broad scope and depth of his knowledge
about all types of applications satellites is presented in this chapter.

Satellites for communications purposes evolved after much
early scientific and technological research. It became clear
early on that the high vantage point provided by satellites in
Earth orbit was immensely valuable for other practical
purposes in addition to acting as a communication relay. Of
course, the Earth can be seen very well from space, but the
potential value of this new tool was not recognized until after
the images taken by the astronauts with automatic photogra-
phy equipment in the late 1950s and early 1960s were
examined.
Two applications of great importance emerged. First,
looking up at satellites in the sky provided a new way to
locate one's own position on Earth. The precise positioning of
satellites in orbit can assist our own navigation on the Earth's
surface and within its atmosphere. Second, the high vantage
point of satellites provided a big picture of the planet,
allowing Earth observation for both civil and military
purposes.
Historically, it is worth noting that the full significance of
using space platforms as observation posts in the sky became
apparent from some of the early photographs from space.
The early astronauts, including those on the American
one-man Mercury mission, the two-man Gemini programme
and the Russian Soyez manned space flight, collected large
quantities of photographic evidence which, on analysis,
revealed that the macro-scale effect of looking down from
space. from altitudes of several hundred miles, could add
greatly to man's knowledge of the Earth. The ability to have a
consistent set of data within the large field of view made
possible by a single pass of a satellite was of immense
importance, because it revealed new views of the Earth that
were not even attainable from high altitude aircraft.
From this point on, the full potential of Earth observation
from space began to be realized. From it spawned the
immensely important programmes for meteorological
observation of the environment and natural resources on land
and in the oceans. Clearly, such activities were of immense
importance to the military organizations of the world,
because they provided images containing data of great
strategic and military value.
The early images from the hand-held Hasselblad cameras
in the American programme revealed amazing detail even at
that time. This prompted the scientific and technological
community to develop methods of separating the data
contained within the image and combine it with techniques
already developed for analyzing aerial photographs and other
remote sensing data. Techniques such as false colour analysis
- whereby different parts of the image would be assigned
various colours to represent different parameters (vegetation,
environmental pollution, or geological structures, etc.)
became an established tool
Moreover, by choosing an orbit with a plane close to that of
the North and South Pole, a 'sun synchronous' orbit could be
achieved. In this orbit, the plane is precessed just enough to
ensure that as the satellite orbits, the Earth's rotation beneath
it on each subsequent pass is slightly displaced longitudinally,
thus providing total coverage of the world which can be
repeated every X days, depending on the choice of orbit.
Orbit inclination could be chosen to assure the frequency of
overpassing a particular point on Earth with the same light
angle (synoptic coverage). But if an operational system were
required to provide cover at a certain repetition frequency
over a given point, then the number of satellites which would
need to be placed into such a pattern could also be
determined. Naturally. if the orbit were chosen so that its
plane was fully coincident with the North and South Poles,
then a different pattern would be achieved without the same
repetitive light conditions. This became appropriate for radar
satellites which did not need to rely on light illumination.
Although typically, an orbit of a few hundred miles altitude
takes llf2 hours, the precise choice of altitude can significantly
vary the general pattern described. Flexibility therefore exists
to provide global coverage, depending on the choice of
satellite and the orbit height. However, with the introduction

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in later years of radar, rather than the early visual and
infra-red bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, light condi-
tions became less important and the pattern of coverage
chosen for a given system varied again.
It should not be presumed that the only orbit for Earth
observation is that in the polar plane. From the very early
days, some of the vital meteorological data was obtained from
cameras and other sensors located on satellites placed into
geostationary orbit. The overview of nearly one half of the
globe's surface made possible by the 22,300 mile altitude of
the geostationary orbit, enabled daily temporal changes to be
observed, as well as daily and annual observations of weather
conditions and other characteristics.
For both experimental and operational purposes, a pattern
developed for satellites to be placed in orbits which varied in
height from a few hundred miles in the polar or near polar
planes, up to the 22,300-mile high geostationary orbit. But
this is not the end of the story. For the last seven or eight
years the Netherlands, in combination with Indonesia, have
been carefully exploring the possibility of an Earth observa-
tion satellite placed into an orbit of a few hundred miles
altitude above the plane of the equator. Such an orbit would
provide regular coverage, every 1 V2 hours or so, of territory
within typically + or -20 degrees of the equatorial plane. This
is an important area of the world. It is also an area heavily
covered by cloud (in the cases of land masses with tropical
forests) although in other cases there are vast arid areas and
here, clear atmospheric conditions exist. In general, however,
the Tropical Equatorial Resources Satellite (TERS) may add
yet a further dimension to the general observation of the
world beneath.
What of the sensors? When one takes into account the fact
that the first sensors were simple hand-held cameras, it can be
seen how far this technique has advanced. Today's devices
range from multi-spectral scanners which can choose fre-
quency bands in the visible, the near infra-red and the far
infra-red spectrum (the latter providing opportunities for
daylight and nighttime visibility of the Earth below).
However, these frequencies do not penetrate cloud and are
therefore limited in terms of observing characteristics
beneath cloud free zones. Even so, most of the demonstrated
capability for potential operational use so far has arisen from
the clever analysis of data obtained from these sensors during
gaps in the cloud.
Of equal importance already, but of potentially greater
importance in the future, are satellites that use radar
techniques. Radar penetrates cloud and provides guaranteed
coverage of the land or sea in any weather condition. At this
time, however, the techniques for obtaining data from such
radar sensors are less advanced than the multi-spectral
sensors in the visible and infra-red fields. But rapid advances
are being made and in the next five to ten years advanced
radar systems will be operational. There is no doubt that in
the long-term, radar type sensors will provide the mainstay of
guaranteed operational coverage. However, the technology
will undoubtedly be augmented by a variety of other sensors,
since it is an apparent fact of technological life that seldom
does one technique totally displace another, but rather
augments capability.
A few general words on the meteorological scene: as
already noted, the meteorologists were the first to benefit
from operational Earth observation systems. In the early
1960s the cameras and other sensors which had been placed in
experimental satellites, encouraged the meteorological
authorities of the world to stimulate the development of
special projects and coordinate their programmes in such a
way that for some years now integrated global coverage has
100
been obtained. Much of this pioneering work was done by the
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) in the US, but many of the meteorological
organizations of the world were very much involved in the
planning work. Amongst them, the British Meteorological
Office has had a leading role in developing weather models
and improving weather forecasting techniques, as well as
disseminating the data gathered. The USSR also made an
important contribution to the early collaborative work
between East and West in the meteorological field. At the
present time, Japan, Russia and Europe have all combined to
provide satellites which furnish operational coverage (as will
be described later).
Clearly, military interest is a crucial feature in the field of
Earth observation, since by increasing the power of the
optical systems, or the resolution of the radar within the
spacecraft, fine details of features on Earth can be obtained
which are of critical importance to national security. At the
early days of its development, the relatively poor resolution
of 90 metres was possible, but this progressively improved to
10 to 30 metres in recent years. All of this is of great interest
in terms of strategic value, but it was not nearly sufficient to
meet the stringent demands of the military. Therefore,
defence reconnaissance satellites were developed in the early
1970s and even then reached a spatial resolution capability of
a fraction of one metre.
The military reconnaissance satellites (as they were called)
were of dramatic value. It was important that these satellites
achieve the highest resolution possible. Techniques began to
be developed to ensure that image quality should not be lost
in the electronic transmission of data down from orbit via the
telemetry links to the ground.
In the early operational Russian and American satellites,
the film which was exposed through the high quality optical
systems was contained in a capsule. This was separated from
the main spacecraft after some days in orbit (typically seven).
Then, small retro-rockets fired in the capsule, which
decreased its velocity, lowered its orbit, and made re-entry
possible. The capsules were then recovered on the ground (or
snatched during parachute descent in the case of the US) thus
ensuring that the fine grain resolution of the film was not
down-graded. The recovery of such capsules has been
augmented in recent years by the electronic transmission of
data, which can now be achieved at extremely high quality.
All in all, it can be seen that the combined military and civil
interest in the developments of Earth observation systems has
been of major importance.
Finally a word on navigational satellites. In the 1960s the
US Navy required a system to assist nuclear powered
submarines to identify where they were as precisely as
possible, so that they could target their nuclear ballistic
missiles accurately. As a result, the Transit satellite system
was devised. The Transit system established a pattern of
satellites in low polar orbits to transmit data which, on
analysis from the ground, permitted high positional accuracy
of the receiving stations' location to be determined. As will be
seen later, the quality of the information, even in the early
years, was extraordinarily good, and the cost of the ground
equipment remarkably low compared to what might be
thought. Once the system was established, it was recognized
that this achievement had vital civil applications, particularly
to shipping. It was also immensely important for terrestrial
and aircraft location.
The US agreed that civil users would be entitled to use the
ground stations that received the data from the satellite, and
be applicable for civil oriented purposes. Thus, the Transit
navigational system was extended for use throughout the

world by ships and other users enabling them to locate their
positions with considerable accuracy.
Today. Transit is being replaced by the Global Positioning
System (GPS) of the US Navstar satellite programme. With
GPS in its highest capability read-out mode, an accuracy of 16
metres in each horizontal plane, and also in the vertical plane,
can be established against precise world coordinates. It serves
to show that already, in the last two decades, satellites have
been used to replace the stars. Yet their system has become
the most precise method known to mankind to locate himself
on or above the surface of our globe.
EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITES
Meteorological
As explained in the introductory remarks above, within the
earth observation category of spacecraft the first operational
systems were those that provided information on meteorolo-
gical conditions. The range of sensors has expanded consider-
ably from the early days and they now provide wide ranging
data for research into meteorological activities as well as the
provision of data for forecasting. In order to indicate the
nature of the satellites now used globally, various current
operational satellite systems will be described, since an
international range of spacecraft now exists for this important
activity.
NOAA
For many years the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) has been responsible for the provi-
sion of weather services. It inherited NASA's early work in
experimental satellites and now a variety of satellites are in
place. Essentially the operational network comprises two
craft on intersecting orbits. The payloads comprise an
advanced high resolution radiometer and the TIROS oper-
ational vertical sounder, solar backscatter ultra-violet spectral
radiometer. In addition, later spacecraft such as NOAA 9 and
10 carry equipment for the Earth Radiation Budget Experi-
ment (ERBE) operating in conjunction with the Earth
Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) which was deployed by
the shuttle. From NOAA 8 onwards, the satellites also carry a
406 MHz Sarsat search-and-rescue transponder for locating
and relaying ship and aircraft distress beacons.
The orbit of the Television/Infra-red Observation Satellite
(TIROS-N) is 870 kilometres high and sun-synchronous. The
inclination is 98.86 degrees to the equatorial plane. (The
mechanics of this has been described above.) The satellites
are stabilized in three axes and have an end-of-life electrical
power generation capability of 0.45 kilowatts. The launch
weight was 1. 712 kilogrammes and the cost, for example, of
NOAA 9, was $43.5 million.
The high resolution radiometer operates at visible near
infra-red and far infra-red wavelengths to measure surface
temperatures, cloud cover and vegetation. The vertical
sounder system comprises infra-red, microwave and stratos-
pheric sounders, together producing a vertical temperature
profile. The solar backscatter radiometer determines ozone
distribution in the atmosphere. The ERBE equipment
comprises a medium to wide field-of-view non-scanning
radiometer and a narrow angle scanning radiometer.
Meteosat
Europe has estabished an international meteorological orga-
nization Eumetsat, to operate the Meteosat geostationary
weather satellites. The European Space Agency (ESA) built
The 'Other' Applications Satellites
two pre-operational satellites, Meteosat 1 and 2, the first of
which was launched in 1977. These two satellites provide
excellent information, principally by a radiometer which
provides a visible wavelength resolution of 2.5 kilometres and
infra-red resolution of 5 kilometres. The radiometers operate
in invisible, infra-red and water vapour parts of the spectrum.
Eumetsat ordered three operational Meteosats to be
launched by Ariane in 1987, 1988 and 1990. Intermediate
capability to assist the world's operational system will use a
Meteosat engineering model P2 for launch by the Ariane 4
vehicle to replace the gaps left by the GOES failure (see
below).
Meteosat varies in fundamental details to the TIROS-N
system described above, in that it is in the geostationary orbit
and located on the Greenwich Meridian at zero degrees. It
thus provides major coverage of the globe. It is a spin-
stabilized satellite of a mass at launch of 700 kilogrammes and
a design life of three years and should still have, at the end of
life, an electrical power of 0.2 kilowatts. The budget cost of
the three operational Meteosats (plus parts for a spare) in
1984 money was $180 million dollars.
GOES
In a similar orbit to Meteosat are the Geostationary Oper-
ational Environmental Satellites (GOES). operated by the
NOAA in conjunction with the TIROS-N craft in the polar
orbit. The operational system comprised three satellites, but
the series has been plagued by sensors which have failed on
various occasions: GOES 4 in November 1982 and GOES 5 in
July 1984. The GOES 1 is still operational but providing only
visible wavelength cover and so GOES 1, together with
GOES 6, 7 and 8 are the only satellites currently available.
The payload comprises a visible and infra-red spinscan
radiometer and atmospheric sounders (VAS). The satellites
are spin-stabilized. It has a 0.3 kilowatt end-of-life power
from an initial launch weight of 840 kilogrammes and a design
life of five years.
GMS-3
The Japanese have made a contribution of importance to this
category. GMS-3 (also known as Himawari 3) is the third in
the Japanese series of geostationary meteorological satellites.
The first GMS was brought out of retirement in 1984 when its
replacement, GMS-2, suffered a scanning mirror malfunc-
tion. GMS was moved back to its parking place at 160 degrees
east after the launch of GMS-3 in August 1984. The payload
has a visible infra-red spin scan radiometer and the satellites
are owned by NASDA (the Japanese national space agency).
They are established in the geostationary orbit and are
spin-stabilized with an end-of-life power of three kilowatts
against a weight at launch of 680 kilogrammes. They have a
design life of five years. The radiometer provides 1.25
kilometre, visible resolution and five kilometre infra-red
resolution. GMS-3 also carries a solar particle monitor.
Together. these satellites are valuable in assisting the world
community in this import aspect of meteorology.
Earth and Ocean Observation
Important as the meteorological satellites have become, the
mainstream development of Earth observation now and in
the future will be to observe land and sea mass·es with
increasing detail of spectral and spatial resolutions.
The presence of tools such as Earth observation from
satellites is of such growing strength, that it is likely to have
an immensely beneficial impact on our communities in the
future - both to developed and developing societies. The
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macroscale of observation and its cost effectiveness
(described already in the general introduction), manifests
itself extremely well when one looks to the problems of the
under-developed parts of the world where important adv-
ances need to be made in agriculture, irrigation and water
management, land utilization, marine management and so
on. The list of potential users of data derived from such
satellite observation is impressive, it ranges from the obvious
to the less obvious applications such as archeology, sociology,
urban planning and others.
The benefit of Earth observation should always be mea-
sured in the integrated use of the spacecraft; any one sector
alone is unlikely to support and justify the major research and
development costs associated with the spacecraft and its
implementaiton into an operational system. Indeed, until
recently, the world did not have an operational system
because the US Landsat satellites, important as they were,
constituted a pre-operational system. The commercialization
of EOSA T (which is a private company combining a leading
aerospace and photographic organization in the US), and the
immensely successful launch in the beginning of 1986 of the
French SPOT system, designed for operational use, now gives
the guaranteed regular coverage of an operational service.
The application of data derived from such spacecraft falls
into two distinct categories - one which could be called
humanitarian use, the other, commercial use. 'Humanitarian
use' covers such aspects as information on the location of
icebergs, the sea's state, conditions of ice flows, levels of
pollution, forest fires and so on. The commercial use comes
particularly from locating mineral deposits, monitoring the
status and extent of agricultural crop growth, water manage-
ment and so on. It is important to note that the provision of
data in the humanitarian category (as with meteorological
data) represents information on which the world is becoming
increasingly reliant. These different services assist security
and generally improve the environment. There will, there-
fore, always be the need for substantial funds to be made
available either by individual governments or through for-
mally constituted international organizations (such as the
UN) in order for this dissemination of data to continue. The
same does not apply to commercial data. In the Western
world we have already reached the point where the on-going
provision of this data is going to be on a commercial basis.
There have, of course, been problems along the way in
achieving even this early commercial status. For example, an
initiative was taken by the German manufacturer, MBB, in
conjunction with an American bank, to operate the SPAS
observation pallette flown out of the shuttle. Unfortunately it
appeared that the legal conditions imposed via NASA
regarding the dissemination of data so obtained, were
unacceptable to the commerical entrepreneurs who withdrew
from this project. There are many hurdles to be overcome,
therefore, to ensure that the business environment is satisfac-
tory with regard to the protection of data. If a private
organization is investing its own money to acquire that data
there will undoubtedly be continuing legislative and regula-
tory battles in the future as the world community begins to
use, ever more extensively, such information.
There is also now a proliferation of countries who are
building satellites to obtain data regarding the Earth's
environment beneath. The US, USSR and France have
already been mentioned but already these countries have
been joined by China (who has now launched and recovered
elements from seven Earth observation satellites), India and
the UK (through the small and experimental Surrey Uni-
versity satellites, UOSAT 1 and 2). These countries are being
joined by Europe, with the important development of the
102
ERS-1 satellite. and also by Japan, with its MOS I satellite,
and by Canada, which is initiating the development of
Radarsat to be launched early in the next decade. Indeed,
within the next ten years, there will be many sources of data
available from operating satellites, each with a variety of
sensors that in combination cover a full spectrum from simple
visible cover to complex radar systems.
It is now appropriate to describe in more detail some of the
key satellites which are indicative of the Earth observation
scene. Landsat (which was originally called the 'Earth
Resource Technology Satellite· in the NASA programme)
has launched five models. Currently two Landsats are
operational, Landsat 4 and 5. Landsat 4 has lost two of its
four solar panel outputs and the X-band transmitter for its
thematic mapper has failed. However, in total, the Landsat
series has been of exceptionally high importance in the
development of the whole technique of Earth observation.
The payload ot the current Landsats compnses a multi-
spectral scanner and a thematic mapper; whereas the spatial
resolution (in other words the size of the picture element) was
90 metres in the early Landsat of the 1970s, currently the
thematic mapper gives a spatial resolution of 30 metres. They
have (until commercialization) been operated by NOAA,
who took over from NASA. Now the private organization
EOSAT, which is a joint venture between Hughes and RCA,
is organizing to take over the programme. Two further
Landsats in 1988 and 1991 are tentatively scheduled to be
launched within the operational period of the switch from
public sector ownership to privatization. The orbit in which
Landsat has been placed is sun-synchronous, 705 kilometres
high at a 98 degree angle to the equator, which leads to a
16-day repeat cycle (in terms of the precise synoptic coverage
with the same sunlight levels and angles, etc.). Landsat 4 was
launched in July 1982 by the expendable US Delta rocket and
Landsat was launched in March 1984, also by a Delta. Earth
observation satellites require high precision in pointing and
therefore use three-axis stabilization. The electrical power
generation at the end of life is 0.8 kilowatts and the weight at
launch was 1,940 kilogrammes. The nominal design life is
three years.
The multi-spectral scanner operates in four visible and
infra-red spectral bands. The thematic mapper operates in
seven narrower bands from blue/green to thermal infra-red
with a 30-metre resolution. Image transmission is either direct
or via NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS);
Landsat makes use of the new NA VST AR global positioning
system for its knowledge of its precise three-axis coordinates
at any one time.
In 1978 an experimental radar satellite called Seasat was
launched and it had a synthetic aperture radar payload.
Seasat provided excellent images with resolution of approx-
imately 50 metres. It also had an ability to determine wave
height to an accuracy of one metre or better. The satellite
lasted one hundred days before it failed but during that time it
produced an enormous quantity of very important and
reassuring data on the practicality and importance of develop-
ing radar satellites for the future.
One of the most significant achievements for observation
satellites in the visible and infra-red part of the spectrum has
been the successful launch in 1986 of the French SPOT
satellite (Satellite Probatoire d'Observation de Ia Terre),
which is owned by CNES of France. SPOT 2 is scheduled for
launch in 1988.
Authorization has now been granted by the French
government for two further SPOTs to be developed and
launched in later years. Compared with Landsat's 30-metre
resolution thematic mapper, SPOT offers a 20-metre resolu-

tion colour image and panchromatic resolution, even better,
at 10 metres. It also has two high resolution Vidacom cameras
which make stereoscopic imaging possible. It also uses
mirrors for precision beam steering. As a result it can be
programmed to acquire an image of a particular area on
successive cycles. This provides an immensely important
advantage over a fixed beam system, in that it can provide a
more cost effective cover of the world beneath. The high
resolution multi-spectral sensors are already producing excel-
lent results on a satellite which has a mass at launch of I, 750
kilogrammes and a power at the start of life of 1.2 kilowatts: it
also has three-axis attitude stabilization and a minimum
design life of two years.
The interesting feature of the SPOT system is that the
French government has created a special marketing organiza-
tion called SPOT Image, which has now successfully signed
up franchises in many of the countries of the world that can
benefit from SPOT data. SPOT Image is based in Toulouse
and the data is already being made commercially available.
SPOT could also serve as the basis of a proposed Samso
military reconnaissance satellite. This is likely to be a
Franco-German joint venture although details are still being
finalized. Without question, however, the SPOT system has
enormously stimulated the confidence of the world user-
community that a monopoly position will not be maintained
by the US. Indeed there will be multiple sources of data
available in later years for those who are becoming
increasingly dependent on such data.
Further development at this time is under way with the
MOS-1, Japan's experimental Marine Observation Satellite.
This is planned as the forerunner for an operational system in
the 1990s. MOS-1 will concentrate on observing the sea
surface and the atmosphere but will also examine the
techniques required for land observation. Japan plans an
Earth resources satellite JERS-1 to be launched around 1990.
MOS-1 will also carry an experimental data collection system
transponder, as a forerunner of the TDRS type tracking and
data relay satellite.
MOS-1 has a payload comprising a multi-spectral, electro-
nic self-scanning radiometer, a visible and thermal infra-red
radiometer and a microwave scanning radiometer. It is being
developed by NASDA and it will be launched in a sun-
synchronous orbit. The inclination of the orbit is at 99.1
degree to the equator and the altitude at 909 kilometres,
which means it provides a 17-day repeat cycle for the same
conditions for a given point on Earth. The satellite will be
three-axis stabilized with a launch weight of 750 kilogrammes
and a design life of two years. A multi-spectral radiometer
will determine the sea surface colour with spatial resolution of
50 metres. Visible and thermal radiometers will measure sea
surface temperatures and the microwave radiometer will
measure atmospheric water vapour content.
Europe is becoming increasingly active in the field of Earth
observation and, in the last few years, the European Space
Agency has taken a major decision to develop the ERS 1
advanced Earth resource satellite. The Marconi Company
(UK) has the lead in the industrial team developing the
payload which is a C-band synthetic aperture active micro-
wave instrument. It also will carry a radar altimeter capable
of determining sea surface conditions and wave height on a
relativity basis to an accuracy of ten centimetres. It has a
novel Along-Track Scanning Radiometer initiated by the
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory of the SERC in Britain and
also has a microwave sounder. The satellite is being
developed within the framework of the European Space
Agency's programme. It will be Europe's first Earth
resources satellite, and will be established in a sun-
The 'Other' Applications Satellites
synchronous near-polar orbit 780 kilometres high with a
three-day repeat cycle and is primely designed for ocean
surveillance. It is planned as the forerunner for a series of
operational spacecraft to be launched in the 1990s, although it
may well be that the Polar Platform, which is gaining
increasing interest by Europe and the UK in particular, as a
major part of the European contribution to the Columbus
element of the International US Space Station, may incorpo-
rate sensors and missions which may lead to later develop-
ment of the ERS-1 unmanned satellite.
The primary role of the ERS-1 will be to provide global
wind and wave information to users within three hours
maximum of overpass but the ERS-1 will also provide land
observation by synthetic aperture radar and generally assist in
the development of algorithms and techniques for an oper-
ational system. ERS-1 is due to be launched by Ariane in
1989; it will have three-axis 'tabilization to high accuracy with
a power of 2.6 kilowatts (necessary for the power-demanding
role of the radar) and a designed launch weight of 2,160
kilogrammes. It has a two-year minimum operational life and
a projected cost of $400 million. It is interesting that ERS-1
uses the SPOT spacecraft bus, even though the sensors are
quite different. The SAR sensor will operate in three modes:
image, wind scatterometer and wave. The radar-altimeter will
measure wave height, wind speed, ice type topography and
boundaries and will be calibrated by retro-reflector from
ground ranging stations. The Along-Track Sensor is a three
wavelength infra-red radiometer able to measure sea surface
and cloud top temperatures. When one has combined with
this the microwave sounder, which is able to measure total
atmospheric water vapour content and rainfall, then it can be
seen that the data which can be available from ERS-1 is of
great importance and represents a powerful combined instru-
mentation system.
Radarsat is due to launch in the early 1990s and has
characteristics rather similar in many ways to ERS-1 and is a
project involving extensive collaboration also between the US
and the UK.
The Chinese Earth observation programme clearly has
major military implications, since the capsules which have
been re-entered from space follow the similar technique to
that successfully operated by the US for many years- namely,
the recovery of film maintaining the high resolution capability
which can be lost by electronic transmission from orbit to
Earth.
The Indian programme similarly is ambitious and looks to
provide enhanced Earth observation capability which will be
of considerable importance to the Indian space programme.
TERS is a potential venture between Indonesia and the
Netherlands initially, but with the opportunity to involve a
wider number of countries in the equatorial band as joint
sponsors and users of the system.
Finally, an elaboration on a comment made above regard-
ing the polar platform work being initiated in the UK as a
potential part of the space station. Importance is attached to
the wide variety of instrumentation associated with remote
sensing and which could be carried on the platform. The
phase-B activity which defines more precisely the nature and
the role of the space station is still underway at the time of
writing this book and therefore no final information can be
given, but the point is made here that the remote sensing
utilization is an extremely important part of the space station
programme as foreseen at this time.
MILITARY RECONNAISSANCE
No attempt is made in this section to go into the same detail
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as that covered in the essentially civil programmes above, for
the obvious reason that there is a very high security
implication in the provision and operation of such military
systems. These reputedly can give spatial resolution to the
order of one foot or better, which clearly provides a vast
quantity of data of extremely high importance in strategic and
tactical military operations. Not surprisingly, the advanced
work of the US and the USSR in the satellites which have
been launched operationally since the early 1970s is highly
confidential, but the principles of operation are clearly similar
to those which have been mentioned above on the civil
systems. Operationally, a radar system particularly for
marine observation would be expected to have accompanying
high power level requirements which, it is reported, has led to
the USSR satellites used for marine observation being
equipped with small nuclear reactors in order to generate
these high levels of power.
Generally speaking, the inclusion of the military recon-
naissance satellites must be seen as a vital element within the
military thinking and operational capability of the Eastern
and Western blocs and provides now (and indeed has done
for many years) an opportunity to observe with precision
what is happening in other areas of the world not easily
monitored by aircraft or other means. There are many who
consider that the Open Skies policy, initiated over ten years
ago, which ensures that agreements can be easily monitored
by the use of space systems, is a major contributor to
continuing world peace on a global scale and it can be seen,
therefore, that the technology applications in the military
reconnaissance field are indeed most important.
NAVIGATION
In the early 1960s, the US Navy called for the development of
a satellite system named Transit which consisted of a series of
satellites orbiting in relatively low polar orbits around the
world and continously transmitting signals which could be
picked up by antennas located on nuclear-powered sub-
marines.
By means of relatively straightforward triangulation
techniques, the crew could determine with considerable
accuracy the location of the ship. A few years later it was
announced that such a system would be made avilable for use
by the world merchant shipping industry. Since that time
many thousands of ships of all sizes have been equipped with
on-board, omni-directional terminals to permit such posi-
tional measurements to be established. In addition to
shipping, many offshore oil installations have made use of the
service. Indeed, by the early 1980s, the situation had been
reached whereby the use of such a satellite terminal permitted
the user to determine where he was on the surface of the
world with greater accuracy and repeatability than any other
system in use by man. Navigational systems by satellite have
progressed far.
A new US global system of 18 orbiting satellites called
Navstar now provides a much more enhanced capability than
the earlier Transit systems. It brings with it many interesting
implications: clearly one of these is that ships and aircraft can
benefit from the advent of such satellite navigational and
positioning data.
However, other new operations will become possible. One
of these is the technique of surveying. The need for surveys in
the construction industry and many service industries is
worldwide. Surveys are needed to identify precisely the
nature of terrain, and as far as possible the geological
composition of the land for the purpose of creating dams or
104
bridges, or for urban or rural redevelopment. Surveying
activities also relate to networks across countries. They are
also concerned with massive pipelines for the transportation
of oil and natural gas in many different parts of the world.
So far, with comparatively few exceptions, the implications
of satellite navigational systems have been insignificant to this
sector of the community. Not necessarily so in the future.
Essentially, a survey team has a fundamental requirement to
establish the relationship of all of the appropriate features of
either natural terrain or an artificial structure, to a datum
point on Earth. Generally this starts with determining a fixed
reference point in relation to the macrostructure of the
country, region or town, then moving from that point to
determine, by use of theodilites, etc., the relative position of
each continuing datum point. The act of transferring the
reference points to the next in sequence is a time-consuming
process when multiplied by large numbers of functions which
clearly a district survey, for example, demands. From that
point onwards, the collation of measured points into a pattern
and the transformation of these data into appropriate formats
for use by construction engineers is also a complex and
expensive process. Some of these features have been referred
to in relation to Earth observation techniques, but the central
principle of the process is the precise three-dimensional
determination of position. This is precisely what navigational
satellites permit to be accomplished by means that will
become progressively inexpensive and increasingly accurate.
A point will be reached in the next few years where a more
continuous, semi-automatic or even automatic process may
well be achieved by the use of satellites, whereby a measuring
point can be surveyed and the data obtained by reference to
the advanced capabilities of future navigational satellite
systems. Without proceeding further with this train of
thought at present, so far as the precise nature of the system is
concerned, it can clearly be seen that the advent of improved
navigational satellite systems could have immense bearing on
the industrial implications and commercial opportunities in
the future regarding non-aerospace activities such as the
whole surveying field.
In summary, the field of navigational satellites has fewer
sub-divisions than in communications systems, yet the
financial implications are really very interesting. The range of
possible operations are very broad. We have many primary
and secondary applications to watch as the use of satellites for
navigational purposes expands in the 1990s.
 13 SATELLITES FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Joseph N. Pelton, Director, Strategic Policy, lntelsat

In the last 25 years of satellite applications, some remarkable achievements have been attained.
International telecommunications have increased more than one hundred times in volume,
international television has not only become possible, but routine. Close to half the world's
population will witness the 1988 Summer Olympics live via Intelsat. We now expect to see a global
weather map on our evening news and a satellite-based forecast of the weather for a week ahead.
Communications via satellite to ships at sea, to jet aircraft in the skies and to vehicles on the
ground are already possible. Also well-established are satellite systems for Earth resource sensing,
navigation, geodetic measurements; and in the military sector, photo reconnaissance and
electronic surveillance have been operational for some time. Yet these activities would have been
science fiction only a quarter of a century ago. But time does not stand still, and the next quarter
century will likely bring even more changes and innovations. The list of possibilities is long and
impressive: solar power systems in space, satellite relays to personal hand-held communicators,
satellite clusters to cram more equipment into geosynchronous (Clarke) orbit, intersatellite relays
and much more that will be described in the following section. One thing is clear- the sky is no
longer the limit.

COMMUNICATION SATELLITES

The communication satellites of the 21st century will likely be

The 21st century will be a time of enormous and dramatic
change. The transition from the 20th to the 21st century may
be more demanding than the changes from the 16th century
until today. It is anticipated that in the 21st century man will
establish a permanent colony on the Moon, travel to other
planets, and begin to inhabit and exploit the ocean in new and
important ways. We may even start to transform the basic
architecture of our planet, or maybe other planets. We will
organize work and leisure activities in new ways.
In the 21st century it will probably not be uncommon for
people to telecommunicate to work. In the 21st century we
may well see corporations decentralize, spread across the
globe and expand the scope of their operations. These new
global corporations will become possible because of low-cost
telecommunications links that will make instant communica-
tions possible between corporate headquarters and numerous
corporate branches around the world.
Regardless of what area one looks to in the future, whether
it be health, education, manufacturing, leisure, farming, or
virtually any other activity, the 21st century will be much
different from today. It has been estimated that by mid-20th
century world population will stabilize between eight- to
ten-billion people. From that point onward, however,
humankind's further growth and expansion will probably be
towards the stars.
This chapter is about the future - about what may or may
not be. It is, of course, difficult to say for certain which of the
predictions that follow will be correct and which ones will
prove false. Nevertheless, it seems more certain than ever
that application satellites will play an important and construc-
tive role in making the world a better place to live in the
decades ahead.
different in many regards. Communication satellites will
probably be longer lived, perhaps with in-orbit lifetimes in
excess of 20 years. These comsats of the next century will
likely be much higher in capacity and designed to provide a
wide range of digital communications services. These services
may include three-dimensional television, videophone,
videoconferencing channels, multiple-rastered television or,
conceivably, some form of 'holovision'. The communication
satellites may still be operating in a geosynchronous or
'Clarke' orbit, or may not be - at least not all of them.
There may be new types of satellites tethered from Clarke
orbit in order to transmit and receive signals from locations
closer to the Earth's surface. Alternatively, there may be
satellites maintained in orbit at a location a few hundred
kilometers above the Earth's surface. These may be main-
tained there through ground-based, energy-beam transmis-
sions. Most likely, these satellites would be held in stable
locations through photon-beam transmissions.
In geosynchronous orbit, satellites may perhaps grow to be
very large in size, with multiple antennas, designed to both
reuse radio frequency and serve multiple service require-
ments. We may even see a single multi-ton orbital antenna
farm capable of providing millions of telephone channels and
thousands of 3-D television channels. Such high-powered
monster satellites, with large antenna reflectors, should be
able to operate to very small antennas, built into the roofs of
houses, office buildings, schools; even the tops of cars,
trucks, trains, and airplanes. These orbital antenna platforms
will likely be interconnected, through intersatellite links
(ISLs) that will link these massive space communication
centers together on a global scale.
Another approach to providing high-capacity from geosyn-
chronous orbit would be the deployment of a number of
satellites in a 'cluster', in Clarke orbit. These satellites would
be designed to avoid interference among and between each

105
Satellites International
other as the multiple satellites 'rotated' around a single
nodal point on the geosynchronous orbital arc. The satellite
clusters sometimes are referred to as being deployed into
'Halo orbits'.
The design of communications satellites of the 21st century
will be quite different. Phased-array antennas may likely be
used to create very high-powered beams with low sidelobes.
This would allow the possibility of many-fold frequency
reuses. It is also likely that new power sources and high
efficiency ion engines would be developed for deployment of
satellites from low-Earth orbit to Clarke orbit and to maintain
structures in space for multi-year lifetimes.
Because satellites in geosynchronous orbit will be long-
lived and have changing operational missions, it is likely that
there will be robotic or service modules that will be available
to move around the geosynchronous orbit to perform repairs,
as well as maintenance, supply and mission retrofits. There
will also likely be a service 'tug' operating from low-earth
orbit to geosynchronous orbit and back, largely to support the
upgrades and maintenance of satellites in Clarke orbit as
performed by the service module.
Although there are some who have suggested that optical
fibre cables will make satellites obsolete, this seems unlikely.
The network flexibility of satellites can never be matched by
optical fibres. Glass is cheap, but air and vacuum are cheaper.
Multinational corporations will likely use satellites to create
intracorporate digital networks, including, data, electronic
mail, facsimile, telephony, audio-conferencing, and video-
conferencing. Equally important will be the broadband
applications that will include not only television, but also
high-definition television, three-dimensional television, and
perhaps other new communication services not yet invented
or conceived.
By the middle of the 21st century, virtually all countries
(developed and developing) will be using the much higher
efficiency digital modulation techniques for virtually all their
telecommunications and broadcast requirements. The effi-
ciencies that the digital modulation techniques bring through
voice encoding and video-compression will help produce
dramatic new economies. Digital techniques, plus satellite
technology breakthroughs, should help bring the price of
telecommunication services down to less than 10 percent of
their current levels. New high-value communication services,
(such as three-dimensional television, and multiple-rastered
television) would probably not become economic without
such dramatic breakthroughs in new satellite technology, and
in digital communications techniques.
METEOROLOGICAL SA TEL LITES
Meteorological satellites, like communications satellites, will
also radically change by the 21st century. In large measure,
this may be driven by complex new computer models that will
allow accurate weather forecasting on a global basis for
extended periods of weeks at a time. These complex
computer models will demand far more information on
meteorological conditions. Masses of information, in the
form of space imaging data, will be required with frequent
updates. This suggests either more satellites of greater
sophistication in low-Earth orbit or, perhaps more likely, the
development of meteorological satellites that can operate in
geosynchronous orbit but with sufficient resolution and
accuracy in their sensing devices to produce highly precise
information. This will allow observation of weather condi-
tions on a micro-level, as well as on a macro basis, as the
needs of the computer model and changing weather dictates.
106
Because of the likely future requirements for geosynchro-
nous coverage, with immediate update on weather conditions
and the difficulty of doing it from the 'saturated' Clarke orbit,
new concepts (such as tethered satellites or meteorological
satellites maintained in 'fixed point low-earth' orbit through
ground-based power sources) could also be explored. The
first applications of such technologies will, however, more
likely come in the communication satellite field.
EARTH RESOURCES SENSING SATELLITES
Earth resource sensing satellites will likely be driven by
several factors. First, it is likely that ocean sensing will
increase in economic and scientific importance in the 21st
century. Greater emphasis will likely be placed on sensing not
only the Earth's surface and the ocean's surface, but also we
may well see the use of side-looking radar and other
techniques to obtain submarine data and information, parti-
cularly for continental shelf areas.
Secondly, it is likely that much higher resolution (say 1 sq.
metre per pixel) may evolve as fifth and sixth-generation
computers prove capable of processing the tremendously high
data levels these high-resolution Earth resource satellites will
produce. The high data rates required in order to relay earth
resource sensing data from space to Earth will, in fact,
tremendously increase by a factor of more than one hundred
times- maybe even a thousand. This will require allocation of
much broader bands of radio frequencies to handle such wide
band data relays. The high resolution images produced by
multi-spectral sensors and cameras will also likely create
increased controversy about the proper use of such data.
There are already concerns with resolution of only 40-metre
square per pixel in the SPOT satellites. There remains
concern that this information could be misused, not only for
industrial espionage purposes, but also for military recon-
naissance and surveillance purposes as well.
NEW SATELLITE AND NEW SERVICE CONCEPTS
The evolution of communication satellites, weather satellites,
Earth resource and reconnaissance satellites can be predicted
with an apparent high degree of reliability. But it is much
more difficult is to envision the totally unknown and the
undiscovered. Certainly man is just beginning to understand
the possible uses of our planet. It would seem likely that we
will see in the 21st century the design, launch and operation
of satellites to monitor all of the important environmental
conditions over the entire planet. Such a system could help to
save our planet from the ravages of industrial pollution. This
system could monitor acid rain, oil spills, the changes of the
albedo of the ice caps in the polar regions, depletion of the
ozone layer, builds up of sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide,
dessertification, deforestation, damage to the mountainous
highlands areas, rates of urbanization, and changes in the
total amount of land that is in vegetation. Such an environ-
mental satellite system would be technically possible by the
21st century and may also prove economically essential, as
suggested by the devastation of the world's great forests in the
1980s.
Another use of satellites also looms over the horizon - the
so-called Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). This complex
defense system, sometimes known as 'Star Wars', would
require the development of a vast array of technology in the
various fields of satellite communications, particle beam
weaponry, computerized targetting and control, and many
 Satellites for the Twenty-First Century
other areas. If it goes ahead, this multi-billion dollar necessary and appropriate. The future of military uses of
expenditure would be a great technological gamble that may space and, in particular, of the Strategic Defense Initiative of
never succeed, but undoubtedly would serve as a great source the US, remains both a puzzle and a concern to those engaged
of new science and technology. in the peaceful uses of outer space. But continued prolifera-
Another possibility is the deployment of equipment in tion and competitive deployment of satellite systems may
space to allow low-cost but effective radio broadcasts to become overly wasteful of the limited radio frequency
hand-held receivers. Depending on the frequency, it might be resource of the geosynchronous orbital arc. Accordingly,
possible to broadcast from space via such a simple design as a consolidated institutional solutions, such as Intelsat, Inmar-
couple of wires 5 to 10 kilometres long. These wires could act sat, and Intersputnik, may be found to be the best solution for
as the antenna system. delivery of at least some international and domestic space
It has even been suggested that a form of 'space elevator' services to Earth. Other systems, however, will likely
could be created. This would require a giant satellite in continue as private competitive ventures. One thing is clear,
Clarke orbit to lower a tapered cable to the earth's surface, the 21st century stands filled with excitement, challenge and a
and then be anchored there. Such a space elevator would great deal of hope!
allow equipment to be raised and lowered along the cable into
geosynchronous orbit. This system, if it ever should become
feasible, would lower the cost of launching by more than 100
times.
We can also imagine the development of cost-effective
phased-array antennas that can be built right into the roofs of
houses and buildings and could conform to almost any
surface, including the roof of a car, truck, aeroplane or ship.
Mobile communications and position locating via satellite
could thus be an important part of the story.
Moving a little closer to the present, Intelsat has been
wrestling with the subject of how to provide low-cost and
affordable communications to rural and remote locations.
Recently, a manufacturer in Silicon Valley has offered to test
a low-rate encoding voice-message service that will allow
communications, or at least a voice-message link, to be
established to earth stations for less than $10,000. The
combination of such innovative microterminals, low-rate
encoding, and rural communications seem made for each
other. But in time, we may find unexpected applications
beyond rural communications, such as to support oil drilling
operations, geological surveys, weather forecasting, environ-
mental monitoring, etc. Such applications may be unexpected
beneficiaries of new rural communications technologies and
the innovative new uses that they make possible.
It is hard not to look to the future with some enthusiasm,
not to be awed with some sense of wonder at how truly
remarkable our new technologies are and what tremendous
potential they offer for education, for health, for business, for
scientific exploration and humanitarian purposes. These
technologies are also serving to allow our fragile world to
grow more closely together to make our economies more
inter-related and to share our breakthroughs and innovative
uses with one another.
This is not to suggest, however, that the future is
straightforward and that progress will come easily and
without some considerable opportunity for problems and
rancour to occur. International and political problems will
likely serve as larger obstacles to success than technological
difficulties. Despite these potential problems we will still see
in the 21st century a great diversity of applications, including
global direct broadcast satellite, sophisticated Earth resource
and environmental sensing satellites, satellite clusters and
other new applications. The institutional framework within
which international and national satellite services are pro-
vided has grown more complex and challenging from an
institutional policy and even an economic standpoint.
We have seen the proliferation of communications satel-
lites, to the extent that there are now more than 150 such satel-
lites in Clark orbit, with prospects of more than 300 to be
launched by the start of the 21st century. Diversification,
specialization and forward-looking developments in the
communication and application satellite field has been

107
SECTION II
 1. SATELLITE MANUFACTURERS AND SYSTEMS

GENERAL

This section lists the major statellite manufacturers with weight, the satellite has to guarantee service for a certain time
information on their spacecraft families and systems. For and maintain its orbital position.
addresses, see the A-Z of countries {Chapter 7). The platform of a communications satellite includes:
Satellite construction has become more complicated over • the energy pack which collects solar energy by cells on the
the years due to technological innovations and a tendency outside of the satellite, or on fixed panels;
towards specialisation. As a result, the manufacturers work- • the power generation and distribution system which
ing directly on one satellite can number six or seven, from as. converts the solar energy into electrical power and
many countries. Some operators deliberately seek an interna- distributes this power to other components of the satellite,
tional balance for political reasons. In recent years, the US including the on-board batteries;
manufacturers' share of the market has been challenged by • the stabilisation subsystem which ensures that the satellite
European companies, while in the late 1980s the Japanese remains in a fixed position relative to its orbit and that the
may be more active. antennas remain pointed at the service area of the system;
Usually one company, the prime contractor, is responsible • the thrust subsystem which is responsible for keeping the
for the time schedule and cost control of each project. The satellite in the correct orbital position: it consists of
prime contractor then subcontracts manufacturers for the on-board propulsion jets and their fuel supplies;
construction of specific parts of the satellite system. For • the temperature control system which radiates the excess
example, Intelsat ordered its VI series of satellites from heat produced by the payload to the exterior of the
Hughes Aircraft of the US. Sub-contracts went to British spacecraft.
Aerospace (UK) , NEC (Japan), Selenia Spazio (Italy), Spar There are two basic stabilisation concepts used in current
Aerospace Ltd/Comdev (Canada) , MBB (Germany FR), satellite platform design: spin stabilised and three-axis stabil-
Thomson-CSF (France) and AEG Telefunken (Germany ised.
FR). The five satellites in this Intelsat-VI series (more may be Spin stabilised platforms rotate at a speed of 60 revolutions
commissioned later) constitute the largest and most valuable per minute around an axis and give the satellite gyroscopic
contract for communications satellites. stability around that axis. The solar cells are fixed to the
outside of the spacecraft which is typically cylindrical.
INTELSAT- VI The three-axis technology gives the satellite stability by
using small jets along each axis of its body. Inside the
Prime contractor Hughes Aircraft Company satellite, momentum wheels provide stability in the satellite's
position towards the Earth .
Subcontractors: Telemetry and command antennas
(Selenia)
C-band multiple beam antennas (British
A erospace)
K-band spot beam antenna (British
Aerospace)
Earth coverage antennas (Selenia)
Communications equipment:
C-band receivers (Thomson-CSF
and Spar)
K-band receivers (Thomson-CSF
and NEC)
Travelling wave tube amplifiers (Thom-
son CSF)
Thermal radiator {MBB)
Spinning structure (British Aerospace)
Digital electronics {Spar)
Solar cell arrays (MBB)
Forward panel solar cells {AEG Tele-
funken)

Satellite construction demands that the builder chooses the

optimum technology for the functions the satellite has to
perform in orbit. Options for the two basic components of
most satellites, the platform and the payload, are relatively
limited.
Besides optimal reliability, maximum power and minimum Typical three-axis design

111
Satellites International
Aerospatiale (France)

Aerospatiale is the leading French aerospace and satellite

manufacturer. It works closely with Alcatel Thomson Espace,
MBB and AEG/ANT in the Eurosatellite consortium.

Aerospatiale projects include:

• TDF (France) and TV-SAT (FRG)

DBS spacecraft (through Eurosatellite)
• Ariane launcher: design and system integrator
• Arabsat
• Meteosat
• Telecom-! (France)
• Spot (France) (through Eurosatellite)
• Tele-X (Sweden)
• Eutelsat second series, for launch at the end of 1990.

Typical spin-stabilised design

British Aerospace (UK)

The payload of a satellite includes:
• the antennas which receive the signals from Earth and
retransmit them; the shape of an antenna is determined by
the geographical area to be served, together with the
stength of the signal;
• the transponders, which change the frequency of the
received signals, amplify them and retransmit them back to
Earth;
• the telemetry, tracking and command system (TT&C)
which receives commands from Earth and transmits
information about the satellite back to the command
centre.
Manufacturers often form consortia to bid for specific
contracts. The consortia may be formed purely to ensure the
optimum technical mix of expertise and components,
although political considerations may be a factor. Mem-
bership of a consortium may be based on an agreement to
exchange information or simply on a long experience of
collaboration. The companies listed in the two groups below
frequently work together, but the inclusion of a company in a
particular list does not imply any commitment, and some
companies (eg, AEG/ANT) work within either group.
Consortia:
1. British Aerospace (UK)
Hughes Aircraft Company (US)
Selenia (Italy)
NEC (Japan)
Fokker (Netherlands)
Matra (France)
2. Aeritalia (Italy)
Aerospatiale (France)
Ford Aerospace (US)
Marconi (UK)
MBB (FRG)
Mitsubishi (Japan)
AEG/ANT (FRG)
Alcatel/Thomson Espace (France)
MAJOR MANUFACTURERS
This section lists the major companies that work as prime
contractors, and the major subcontractors.
The Space and Communications Division of British Aeros-
pace (UK) (BAe) is a manufacturer and designer of satellites
for telecommunications, direct broadcast television and
specialised business services. It has been the prime contractor
for several major projects including OTS and ECS (and UK
military satellites). It has developed Olympus, which is part
of the advanced programme of the ESA and will be launched
in 1987/8 to provide advanced communication and DBS
television services. BAe has also developed the Eurostar
Platform for DBS and has proposed its use for a UK DBS
system (initially in 1984, as Unisat). BAe is also the prime
contractor for the Marecs (maritime) satellites and Inmarsat
II series. It is a subcontractor to Hughes in the Intelsat-VI
programme. Other British Aerospace activities include the
manufacture of the solar arrays for the NASA space telescope
and microprocessor modules for other spacecraft. It is a
partner with Matra (France) and Selenia Spazio (Italy) in a
joint company called Satcom International.
Some examples of BAe spacecraft include:
• ECS - the European Communications Satellites are being
built for the European Space Agency (ESA) by a
European consortium led by British Aersopace as prime
contractor. Five satellites have been ordered. The first
ECS was launched in 1983, the second in 1984. ECS
satellites provide Europe with a regional space-based
communications system.
• Eurostar- a medium scale, multi-role civilian commercial
satellite extending the OTS/ECS series. Eurostar satellites
will be built under British Aerospace prime-contractorship
and will offer a variety of worldwide communications
services.
• Giotto- a scientific satellite launched in 1985 to intercept
Halley's Comet in 1986. It was built for the ESA with
British Aerospace as the prime contractor.
• Marecs - The maritime Marecs satellites are part of the
Inmarsat system and were built by a consortium under the
prime-contractorship of British Aerospace. They provide a
global communication system for the merchant shipping
and off-shore industry. It is the maritime version of the
ECS.
• Olympus-1- the first of a family of high-power, multi-role
communications satellites with direct broadcast facilities.
The first spacecraft, built for ESA, is scheduled for launch
in 1987.

112
 Satellite Manufacturers and Systems

Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation
(US)
Ford Aerospace is one of the top three US manufacturers
(the others being Hughes and RCA). In recent years its major
output has been as prime contractor of the Intelsat-V series,
of which 15 satellites have now been ordered. Ford has
worked for ten years with the Mitsubishi Electrical Company
(Melco) on the Japanese CS satellites. Other imporant
subcontracts are for components of the French Telecom-!
satellites and Arabsat. The multi-functional satellites pro-
duced by Ford include the Indian lnsat programme and the
NOAA series of weather satellites. In the future Ford hopes
to sell the technology it is developing to construct direct
broadcasting satellites.
Hughes Aircraft Company (US)
Hughes is the world's largest satellite manufacturer. About
60% of the commercial satellites launched in the past 25 years
were built by Hughes Aircraft Company. In 1963, Hughes
built the first geostationary satellite, Syncom, and has since
constructed several of the most successful series of satellites.
Hughes built the Intelsat I, II and IV series. They are also the
prime contractor for the Intelsat-VI series (see page 26).
Hughes has also constructed the Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellites (GOES) for the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the GMS
satellite series, both of which scan nearly two-thirds of the
Earth's atmosphere and help predict storms and other
weather conditions.
The founder of Hughes Aircraft Company was Howard
Hughes. He signed the company over to the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute before he died. The Institute claimed tax
exemption, but a US court decided that Hughes was not
sufficiently actively engaged in medical research to qualify for
the tax breaks. It finally sold the Hughes Aircraft Company
to General Motors for $5 billion in 1984.
Hughes is responsible for the successful HS 376 series of
satellites. The HS 376 is a multi-purpose satellite which is
adaptable to a wide variety of requirements including voice,
video and facsimile services in both the C-band and K-band
frequencies, or a combination of the two. The HS 376 can
also be used for DBS.
Customers for the HS 376 include AT&T (Telstar),
Australia (Aussat), Indonesia (Palapa), Mexico (Morelos),
US (SBS) and Western Union (Westar). The HS 376 is also
used by the Hughes-operated Galaxy system, which serves
the business community, cable programmers and broadcas-
ters in the US. The Anik-C and Anik-D satellites for
Canada, and the SBTS satellite for Brazil were also con-

The Ford Family of Satellites

Satellite Type/Significance Number Built Launch dates

Courier World's first active repeater communications satellite 3 1960

Intelsat-V
Indian Satellite (Insat-1)
Communications Satellite ( CS-2)
Telecom 1 Defence Payload
Fordsat
Synchronous Meteorological
Satellite (SMS)
Applications Technology
Satellite Communications Payload
(ATS FIG)
Communications Satellite
(CS-1) Sakura
Large-capacity advanced design communications satellite 15 1980-1986
employing multiple frequency re-use techniques at C and
Ku-band: several also incorporate maritime
communications or international business service
capabilities
Domestic telecommunications, broadcast and 3 1982-1986
meteorology satellite
First multi-operational domestic satellite for television
broadcast, communications and meteorology
Domestic communications satellite 2 1983
First Japanese operational communications satellite
F ACC subcontract from Me leo
First operational telecommunications satellite for France 3 1984
FACC subcontract from Thomson-CSF
Commercial satellite built for Ford Aerospace Satellite 3 1987-1988
Services Corporation
First US domestic satellite with frequency interconnection
between C and K-band
First operational synchronous meteorological/data relay 3 1974-1975
satellite system
FACC provided payloads for world's largest experimental
communications applications satellites
Japanese experimental communications satellite 2 1977
First Ka-band communications satellite
FACC subcontract from Melco

Geostationary Operational Meteorological satellite for 2 1977-1978

Enviromental Satellite (GOES) operational weather satellite systems

113
Satellites International

Scale comparison of three Hughes Satellites

HS399 HS376 HS393

Customers for Hughes 376 spacecraft

Country Owner Satellite Frequency band Number of Function

channels

Australia Australia Aussat 14112 GHz 15 TV distribution to remote

outback areas, an improved
tel phone service and a centralised
air traffic control system for
Australia and Papua New Guinea
Brazil Em bra tel SBT (Sistema 6/4 GHz 24 Advanced communications
Brasileiro de services
Telecomunicac6es
por Satelite)
Canada Telesat Anik-C/ Anik-D 14/ 12 GHz 16/ Communications to remote
6/4 GHz 24 regions of Canada
Indonesia Perumtel Palapa B 6/4 GHz 24 A regional system designed for all
forms of telecommunications
Mexico Secretariat of SCT/Morelos 14/12 GHz 18/6 All forms of communications
Communications 6/4 GHz
and
Transportation
USA AT&T Telstar 6/4 GHz 24 All forms of communications
including high speed digital and
video communications
USA Hughes Galaxy 6/4 GHz 24 TV distribution to US cable
Communications networks
USA Satellite Business SBS 14/12 GHz 10-14 Mainly business communications
Systems
USA Western Union Westar IV & V 6/4 GHz 24 All services, including wire
services and publishing links
between newspapers, magazines
and printers

114

structed on the same design, but were built under licence by
Spar Aerospace (Canada).
The HS 376 is 216 centimetres in diameter. With the
antenna and the telescoping cylindrical solar panel in their
stowed positions, the spacecraft is 282 centimetres in height.
In its in-orbit configuration it is 660 centimetres, or nearly
two stories tall. A spin table in the base of the cradle spins the
satellite to 50 rpm. Four springs deploy the satellite, which is
ideally suited to launch from the space shuttle.
The other satellites produced by Hughes include:
HS 393 - a domestic satellite with a wide body configura-
tion that can accommodate varied communications require-
ments. It can provide 16 high power channels (up to 50 dBW)
or 48 low power channels for standard telecommunications
needs. The HS 393 is 3.6 metres in diameter. Stowed for
launch, the satellite is only 3.4 metres high. Its fully deployed
in orbit height is 10 metres. It can be launched from either the
space shuttle or the expendable Ariane 4 rocket.
HS 394- a high power 4 kilowatt class spacecraft capable of
DBS, mobile communications and conventional transmission
in multiple frequencies. Its design combines the technologies
of spin stabilised satellites and body stabilised (three-axis)
satellites.
HS 399 - is primarily a low cost option for customers
implementing a first generation system with limited com-
munications capacity. The 12-transponder satellite is
designed to use the space shuttle at a post-1985launch cost of
under $10 million.
Matra (France)
Matra is a prime contractor responsible for the first French
domestic telecommunications satellites, Telecom-lA and
Telecom-1B. As a sub contractor, it works with British
Aerospace and Selenia Spazio in the Satcom International
consortium. The company also manages the French observa-
tion satellite programme, SPOT.
Messerschmitt Boelkow Blohm (MBB) (GFR)
MBB specialises in both research and development and
manufacturing. As a key member (with Aerospatiale) of the
Eurosatellite consortium, it was responsible for TV-SAT and
TDF satellite, as well as Tele-X. It is also the prime
contractor for Kopernicus. A subsidiary company, ERNO,
manufactures on-board data handling systems. power systems
and ground equipment. ERNO has been associated with
MBB in TV-SAT/TDF/Tele-X and Kopernicus.
Mitsubishi (Melco) (Japan)
Mitsubishi Electrical Company (Me leo) is the prime contrac-
tor for the Japanese space agency, N ASD A, for the construc-
tion of the national CS communications satellite system. The
first satellite of this system, CS-1 was launched in 1977, and
was developed in cooperation with Ford Aerospace (US).
Nippon Electric Corporation (NEC) (Japan)
NEC is a major manufacturer of a wide range of electronic
equipment and notable for its company slogan of C & C:
Computers and Communications. Its satellite manufacturing
capability includes on-board satellite communications equip-
ment such as K-band receivers, solid state power amplifiers,
Satellite Manufacturers and Systems
etc. NEC is the prime contractor for the Broadcasting
Satellite (BS-3), the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite
(GMS) and the Marine Observation Satellite (MOS-1) for the
National Space Development Agency of Japan. For BS-3,
NEC made the spacecraft, mission and TT&C systems, while
RCA made the major bus subsystem.
For GMS, NEC made the spacecraft and TT&C equipment
while Hughes made the other subsystems. For MOS-1, NEC
made the spacecraft systems and major subsystems while
several other manufacturers participated in the other sub-
systems.
NEC also made transponders for Intelsat IV, IV-A and VI
spacecraft, and the TT &C transponders for Inmarsat-2.
RCA(US)
RCA is one of the largest US manufacturers. RCA Astra-
Electronics was formed in 1958, a few months after Sputnik
was launched. The new company used RCA's expertise in
radio to develop SCORE (1958), the first voice message from
space. Its early satellites included Echo and Relay I and II.
The main breakthrough came with Satcom I and II in the mid
1970s which serviced the emerging US cable industry. Later
satellites include G-Star, ASCI and II, Americom, BS-3,
Panansat and the Astra satellite for SES, Luxembourg. The
TIROS, ESSA. ITOS and NOAA type of spacecraft were
designed and built by RCA Astra-Electronics under the
technical coordination of NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center. Astro has also been commissioned by NASA to build
the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS)
that will carry out key experiments in satellite signal
processing and switching. ACTS is scheduled for launch in
1989/90. It will experiment with several electronics and
communications systems designed to provide greater capaci-
ties and more flexible networking: i. Baseband processing;
ii. Multiple Beam Antenna; iii. Microwave Matrix Switch;
iv. Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA); v. Advanced
receiving transmitters.
Selenia Spazio (Italy)
Selenia Spazio, established in 1983, is the only Italian
company devoted solely to space activities. Selenia Spazio's
stock capital is controlled by Selenia (60% ), while Aeritalia
(24%) and ltaltel (15%) are minority shareholders. The
activities of Selenia Spazio are devoted to all space systems
with particular regard to telecommunications and other
applications systems, like meteorology and remote sensing,
and cover both spaceborne and ground systems. Satellite
projects in which Selenia is currently engaged include:
Arabsat, European Remote Sensing (ERS), Intelsat VI,
L-Sat, Meteosat and GOES. Past projects include ECS,
Meteosat, Sirio 1, Intelsat IV, Vand VA, ESRO IV, Exosat,
OTS and Insat. It is a member of the Satcom International
consortium.
SPAR Aerospace (Canada)
Spar is the leading Canadian aerospace company. Its first
prime contract was the Anik D-1 satellite, launched in 1982.
The Anik A, C and D satellites were built on a Hughes
design, the HS 376, under licence to Spar/Comdev Corpora-
tion. The partnership was also the prime contractor for the
SBTS satellites for Brazil, which were also based on the HS
376 design.
115
Satellites International
NEC-built spacecraft family
Application Satellites/Subsystem Supply
ORBIT
Satellite Main mi>sion Weight Shape Perigee Inclination Launch vehicle Launch date
(kg) Apogee Angle

lntebat-IY International 7(K)-720 Geo>tationary Atlas Centaur 1'!71-ln-l

communication~
Intelsat-IV A International 825 Geostationary Atlas Centaur 1'!75-1'!78
communication~
Ionosphere Observation of 13'! ncar circular 990km 6'!.7" N-1-2 2'! Feh. 1976
Sounding Satellite ionmpherc; 1.012km
(UME) improvement of
propagation
prediction> for
>hort wave
communication~
Medium Capacity Experiments on 350 Geo>tationary 36.<Kl0 km ()" Delta 291-l 15 Dec. 1977
Experimental RF communication 135' E (hy NASA)
Communication with >atellite
Satellite (Sakura) >y>tem; confirming
operational and
control technique>
of satellite
communication~
>y>tem>
Ionmphere Same as 141 ncar circular 978km 69.3' N-1-4 16 Fch. 1978
Sounding Satellite UME(ISS) 1.222km
(UME2)
Communication~ To provide 326 Geostationary 36.()(l0km ()" N-11-3 4Fch. 1983
Satellite 2A communication~ in 132'E
(Sakura 2a) case of di>a>ter;
maintain
communication~
with remote
i>land>. and cope
with a temporary
incrca~c in the
amount of
communtcation~;
development of
technology for
communication
>atellite
Communications Same as Sakura 326 Geostationary 36.(Kl0km ()' N-11-4 6Aug. I9S3
Satellite 2h 2A 136'E
(Sakura 2B)
CS-2A
Intclsat-VI International 2200 Geostationary Shuttle or Ariane-4 198X-19S9
communication~
Inmarsat-2 International 650 Gco~tationary Shuttle or Arianc 1988
maritime
communication~

Engineering Test Satellites/Subsystem Supply

ORBIT
Satellite Main Mission Weight Shape Perigee Inclination Launch Launch Date
(Domestic) (kg) Apogee Angle

Engineering Test Confirming 638 elliptical 25km 28.SO N-II-1 II Feb. 1981
Satellite IV performance of 36,000km
(KIKU-3) N-Il rocket;
measuring
satellite launch
environment;
skills in ground
handling
techniques for
applications type
satellite
Engineering Test Preliminary 385 near circular 68km 4SO N-1-7 3 Sept. 1982
Satellite III experiments in 1,230km
(KIKU-4) 3-axis attitude
control; solar
paddle
deployment and
active thermal
control, etc;
functional tests
for on board
equipment
116
 2. MAIN LAUNCH VEHICLES

Country/ Name Type Mass (tons) Payload Delivery Cost (where

Region Capacity (geostation- known) 1
ary transfer orbit)
kg $m

China Long March Expendable 200 1400

Europe Ariane 3 Expendable 237 2580 27
Ariane 4* Expendable 2800 49
Ariane 5* Expendable 5200
Japan MU-35 Expendable 54 60
N2 135 700 15
India SLV-3 Expendable 17.5
USA Scout Expendable 21.3 55
Delta 3914 Expendable 190 950 25
Delta 3920 Expendable 193 1247 38
3
Atlas F Expendable 140
Atlas G
Centaur Expendable 150 2360 55
Titan 34D Expendable 635 4500 100*
Shuttle/STS Reusable 2,000-23,000 4 " c.1400-c.7000* 10-100
USSR F2 Expendable 185
A2e Expendable 312 2400
Die (Proton) Expendable 1000 9000 25

1. Launch costs depend on the nature of the payload and are negotiable; these costs are only a guide.
2. Capable of launching 2,000 tonne payload into low orbit.
3. Capable of launching 1,400 tonne payload into low orbit.
4. Upper stage only.
* In development.

117
 3. GLOBAL SATELLITE SYSTEMS
INTELSAT
International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
3400 International Drive, NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA
Telephone: (202) 944 781I
Contact: Dean Burch, Director General
1. History
The International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
( Intelsat) owns and operates a global satellite system for
public use. It was established on 20 August 1964 when the
representatives of II countries signed an 'Agreement Estab-
lishing Interim Arrangements for a Global Commercial
Communications Satellite System'. Definitive arrangements
were signed in May 1971 and entered into force in February
1973.
Intelsat has 114 member countries. Its 15 satellites are used
by 163 countries, territories and dependencies. In total these
user countries have 660 sites containing 830 earth stations.
2. Constitution and Finance
Intelsat is structured as a global collective. for the benefit of
all. All member states of the International Telecommunica-
tion Union (ITU) can become parties if they wish. The parties
to the Intelsat Agreement are governments or designated
entities. The agreement sets out Intelsat's objectives. organi-
zational structure. procurement provisions and the rights and
obligations of the member~.
A separate Operating Agreement has as signatories the
parties or their designated telecommunications entities.
These entities can be private companies (ie. the US signatory
Comsat or the Italian signatory Telespazio).
Article III(a) of the Intelsat Agreement states that Intel-
sat's prime objective is the provision · ... of the space
segment required for international public telecommunica-
tions services of high quality and reliability to be available on
a non-discriminatory basis to all areas of the world'.
Intelsat is a four-tier organization:
1. The Assembly of Parties is a meeting of the governments
that are parties to the Intelsat Agreement. The assembly
meets biennially unless there is an extraordinary basis for a
special meeting. It considers political issues and aspects
primarily of interest to the parties as soveriegn states. as well
as resolutions. recommendations or opinions of the Meeting
of Signatories or the Board of Governors. Each nation has
one vote.
2. The Meeting of Signatories is composed of all governments
or designated telecommunications entities to the Operating
Agreement. The Meeting of Signatories considers matters put
to it by either the assembly of Parties or the Board of
Governors and all matters relating to financial. technical and
operational aspects of the system. Each signatory has one
vote at the annual conference.
3. The Board of Governors is currently composed of 27
governors representing 90 signatories. The board is composed
of signatories whose investment shares. individually or in
groups, are not less than a specified amount. The board is
responsible for all decisions concerned with the design.
development. construction. operation and maintenance of
the Intelsat satellites and for the decisions necessary to carry
out any other activities undertaken by Intelsat. It is assisted
by Advisory Committees on Technical Matters and Planning.
and by a Budget and Accounts Review Committee. The
board endeavours to take votes unanimously. Otherwise
decisions are taken by a weighted vote based upon investment
share.
4. The Executive Organ has around 600 staff members from
over 40 countries. It is reponsible to the Board of Governors
for the day-to-day management and operation of Intelsat.
The appointment of the Director General. the chief executive
and legal representative of Intelsat, is made by the Board of
Governors and confirmed by the Assembly of Parties.
Intelsat operates as a financial cooperative. Its ownership is
shared by all of its members. Each country contributes
toward the cost of running the system and in return receives
compensation for the use of their capital. Intelsat sells its
capacity at a utilization charge which covers its operating
expenses. depreciation of the system and a 14'/c return on
investment. The revenues. after meeting the operating
expenses. are shared out among the member countries.
However. as users. these same countries will have paid in
those revenues in the first place. In this way, countries
establish their percentage shareholding in Intelsat, which
determines their capital investment contribution. As a result.
a country as user will pay itself back as owner. An important
purpose of the utilization charge is to provide a means of
measuring the use. and so find an equitable way of sharing the
costs of the system among the members.
Sources of Revenues (1984)
Full-time international voice service 72.5'/c
Domestic leases 9.1'7c
International data 6.8'7c
Occasional use TV 4.6'/c
Inmarsat leases 2.5'7c
International TV leases 1.4'7c
Other 2.9'/c
Source: Intelsat. Annual Report, 1985.
Although the 1984 growth rate for full-time traffic of 10.7
percent per annum was relatively low in comparison with
Intelsat's past experience and predictions, overall revenues in
1984 reached $411 million compared to $366 million in 1983,
an increase of 12.3 percent.
A recalculation of the shares in Intelsat is made every year.
based on the utilization charges paid for the previous six
months. The percentage shareholding also covers the voting
119
Satellites lntcrnationar
Disposition of total revenues. Launch date May 1975
Launcher NASA
Millions$ Design life (years) 7 (exceeded)
411
Number of channels 12
400r--------------------------------------+ TWTA power (watts) 6
Antenna coverage Indian Ocean
Operating expenses f:tt~=:J /TV region 1
350 Depreciation ~ f------------~~41:; Status Spare
Compensation for • Primary use
use of capital Lease services

IVA (Fl)
.,
(I)
Type FSS
.,c>
:::J
250
Orbital position 3l 0 W
e! Launch date September 1975
iii
§ 200 Launcher NASA
0 Design life (years) 7(exceeded)
c
.g Number of channels 20
'iii TWTA power (watts) 4 at 6; 16 at 5
8.
(I)
150 Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean
i5 /TV region 1
Status Spare
Primary use Telephony
Lease services 3 Radiodiffusion Television
Marocaine (Morocco)
7 libya (PAL)
50
10 Argentina
10 Argentina Television
Colour, Channel7 , Buenos
Year
0
1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 Aires

Source: lntelsat, Annual Report, 1985. IVA (F3)

Type FSS
rights of the signatory in the Board of Governors. So far, $4.5 Orbital position 179°E
billion has been invested in the lntelsat system. Contracts Launch date January 1978
awarded to US firms total some $4.09 billion, close to 90 Launcher NASA
percent of the total investment. Intelsat has reduced its Design life (years) 7 (exceeded)
utilization charges 12 times over its 22-year history. Current Number of channels 20
charges are about one-eighteenth of their original level, TWTA power (watts) 4 at 6; 16 at 5
adjusted for inflation. Antenna coverage Pacific Ocean
Intelsat is structured as a global collective, for the benefit lTV region 3
of all. Signatories, or individuals within a signatory's jurisdic- Status Spare
tion, desiring to establish or use international facilities Primary use Telephony
separate from Intelsat space segment facilities. either for Lease services 3CNN, NBC
domestic, international, public or specialized telecommunica- 3CBS, ABC
tions services, are required to consult with the Assembly of 5 Australian Broadcasting
Parties through the Board of Governors to establish technical Co., ABQ2
compatability, operation of spectrum and orbital space. and 7 Australian Broadcasting
to avoid significant economic harm to Intelsat. (Intelsat Co., ABW-2
Agreement, Art. XIV, c, d, e) . 9 Japanese International
Satellite Organization
3. Spacecraft 11 American Forces Radio
and TV Service
The Intelsat system usually has 15 to 16 operational satellites
in geosynchronous orbit above the Atlantic, the Pacific and
the Indian Oceans. Current satellites include Intelsat IV, IVA (F4)
IVA, V. VA and VI (1986) satellites. Type FSS
Oribital position 21SW
Launch date January 1978
THE INTELSAT SYSTEM Launcher NASA
Design life (years) 7 (exceeded)
IV (Fl) Number of channels 20
TWTA power (watts) 4 at 6; 16 at 5
Type FSS Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean
Orbital position 50°W /TV region 1

120
 Global Satellite Systems

Status Residual capacity 11 Portugal

Primary use Telephony 12 American Forces Radio
Lease services I Saudi Arabian Television and TV Service
3 Tele-Sahael; TV Niger Tele-Sahael; TV Niger
5 Saudi Arabia Sweden (SVT)
7 Sudan Television
8 Zaire Video
V (F3)
Type FSS
IVA (F6) Orbital position 50°W
Type FSS Launch date December 1981
Oribital position 174°E Launcher NASA
Launch date March 1978 Design life (years) 7
Launcher NASA Number of channels 44
Design life (years) 7 (exceeded) TWTA power (watts) 4.5/8.5
Number of channels 20 Antenna coverage Indian Ocean
TWTA power (watts) 4 at 6; 16 at 5 /TV region 1
Antenna coverage Pacific Ocean Status Spare
/TV region 3 Primary use
Status Primary path Lease services
Primary use Telephony
Lease services 12 Occasional programme
exchanges V (F4)
Type FSS
Orbital position 34SW
V (Fl) Launch date March 1982
Type FSS Launcher NASA
Oribital position 57°E Design life (years) 7
Launch date May 1981 Number of channels 44
Launcher NASA TWTA power (watts) 8.5/10
Design life (years) 7 Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean
Number of channels 44 /TV region 1
TWTA power (watts) 4.5/8.5/10 Status Major path
Antenna coverage Indian Ocean Primary use Telephony
/TV region 3 Lease services 23 TVE 1 Spain
Status Spare 24 TVE 2 Spain
Primary use Telephony 38 International news and
Lease services 12 Nigeria sports feeds
13 Television Algerie
14 TV Nigeria
15 TV Nigeria V (FS)
21 India Type FSS
22 Malaysia TV Orbital position 63°E
24 Thailand Launch date September 1982
36 Oman Television Launcher NASA
61 Germany (GFR) Design life (years) 7
63 Germany (GFR) Number of channels 44
69 Germany (GFR) TWTA power (watts) 4.5/8.5/10
Antenna coverage Indian Ocean
/TV region 3
V (F2) Status Major path
Type FSS Primary use Telephony
Orbital position loW Lease services Inmarsat
Launch date December 1980 13 France
Launcher NASA 38 International news and
Design life (years) 7 sports feeds
Number of channels 44
TWTA power (watts) 4.5/8.5/10
Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean V (F6)
/TV region 1 Type FSS
Status Spare Orbital position 18SW
Primary use Telephony Launch date May 1983
Lease services 4 Norway (NRK) Launcher NASA
5 American Forces Radio and Design life (years) 7
TV Service Number of channels 44
9 Bright Star TWTA power (watts) 4.5- 10
10 Portugal TV Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean

121
Satellites International

ITU region Launcher NK

Status Major path/Inmarsat spare Design life (years) 7
Primary use Telephony Number of channels 44
Lease services 24 Major international news TWTA power (watts) 4.5/8.5/5110
feeds Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean
ITU region 1
Status Spare
V (F7) Primary use Telephony
Type FSS Lease services I Cadena 1 TV. Colombia
Orbital position 60°E 3 Radio Y TV. Channel7.
Launch date October 1983 Peru and Cadena I TV.
Launcher NASA Colombia
Design life (years) 7 5 Venezolana Television
Number of channels 44 (Venezuela)
TWTA power (watts) 4.5/8.5110 22 United Nations
Antenna coverage Indian Ocean Ku-band (UK-based)
ITU region 3 1 Premiere
Status Primary Path/Inmarsat The Children's Channel
back-up 3 Lifestyle
Primary use Telephony Arts Channel
Lease services 38 International news and Screens port
sports feeds Cable News Network
Satellite Racing
Developments
V (F8)
Type FSS
Orbital position 53°W VA (Fl2)
Launch date March 1984 Type FSS
Launcher Ariane Orbital position 60°E
Design life (years) 7 Launch date September 1985
Number of channels 44 Launcher NASA
TWTA power (watts) 4.5/8.5110 Design life (years) 7
Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean Number of channels 44
ITU region 1 TWTA power (watts) 4.5/10
Status Spare Antenna coverage Indian Ocean
Primary use Telephony ITUregion
Lease services 11 XEW-TV; Channel2, Status Primary path
Mexico Primary use
12 XHIMT; Channel 7, Lease services Music Box
Mexico KMP
14 XHDF-TV, Channel13, WDR
XETV Channel 6, Mexico 3-sat
35 SCPC/FM, Radio Denmark BR-3
37 TV Chile, Channel 7 ARD Eins Plus

NK =Not Known
VA (FlO)
Type FSS
Orbital position 24SW 4. Earth Stations
Launch date March 1985
Launcher NK Intelsat currently authorizes three standards for international
Design life (years) 7 services through its satellites. Standard A, with 30-metre or
Number of channels 44 larger dish antenna, can be rotated one degree per second
TWTA power (watts) 4.5/8.5/5.10 and can track- to a fraction of a degree- a satellite stationed
Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean in geostationary orbit. Due to technical improvements, the
ITUregion 1 specification for Standard A earth stations was reduced to 15
Status Primary path from 18 metres in 1986. Standard A operates in the C-band
Primary use Telephony Standard B earth stations measure between 10 to 13 metres in
Lease services 12 Major international news diameter and operate in the C-band. Many countries have
feeds also installed Standard C stations, with antennas measuring
74 World Net 13 to 20 metres in diameter for Ku-band operations with
Intelsat V.
In addition to these main 'gateway' standards, Intelsat
VA (Fll) authorizes various D. E and F standards. Standards Dl and
Type FSS D2 are used for the Vista low density telephony service
Orbital position 27SW (international and domestic) and operate in the C-band.
Launch date NK Standards E1, E2 and E3 are used for the Intelsat Interna-

122
 Global Satellite Systems

tiona! Business Service (IBS) and operate in both the C and
Ku-bands. Standards Fl, F2 and F3 are also used f0r IBS but
they operate in the C-band only. The antenna diameter for
the D. E and F standards range from 3.5 to 12 metres.
Two other standards should also be mentioned. Standard Z
is authorized for earth stations to be used for leased domestic
services. This standard provides specific guidelines on tech-
nical performance requirements: however. certain para-
meters can be chosen by the earth station owner. subject to
Intelsafs review. Standard Z operates in both the C and
Ku-bands and the dish diameter ranges from 4.5 to 18.3
metres. Standard G is recently authorized for accessing the
space segment for specialized international services that are
not covered by the other station standards. Standard G
operates in both C and Ku-bands: the dish diameter ranges
from .8 to 12 metres.
Intelsat operates eight ground stations for tracking. tele-
metry. command and monitoring (TTC&M). These stations
are at the sites of Standard A earth stations and use their
antennas.
The eight TTC&M stations are operated for Intelsat at
Tangua. Brazil: Zamengoe. Cameroon: Pleumeur Boudou.
France; Jatiluhur. Indonesia: Fucino. Italy; Yamaguchi.
Japan; Paumalu. Hawaii. US; Andover. Maine. US.
The signatories of these countries are contracted to provide
TTC&M services to Intelsat until 1989. In-orbit tests are
conducted from the facilities located in Italy and Japan.
lntelsat Business Service
IBS is an integrated digital service designed to carry the full
range of telecommunications services, including voice, fac-
simile, data applications and video teleconferencing. It
permits small and medium sized antennas to be located near
end-user premises and in major cities, providing direct access
and minimizing dependence on terrestrial switched networks.
Intelnet
The Intelnet service, started in 1984. is used for data
transmission to very small earth stations or 'microterminals'.
Intelnet can be used, for example. to broadcast financial news
to a great number of receive-only stations.
Vista
Vista provides telecommunications services such as voice and
low speed data to rural and remote communities. The service
can provide both domestic and international links. The new
Vista and Intel net services can have widespread application in
the developing world. The key to these services is the
introduction of small low cost earth terminals that can
support thin route requirements.
6. Countries operating lntelsat Transponder leases
as of 31 December 1985

Countries operating domestic leases:

5. Services
1. Algeria 15. Nigeria
International telephony was the first service provided by 2. Argentina 16. Norway
Intelsat through its 'Early Bird' satellite and is still the main 3. Chile 17. Oman
service (69.000 voice channels in full time use. or 72% of the 4. China 18. Peru
total traffic; 1984). Today. many other services are provided. 5. Colombia 19. Portugal
including telegraph. facsimile. digital video and data. In 7. Germany (GFR) 20. Saudi Arabia
addition to telephony. several of these new services. specifi- 8. India 21. Spain
cally designed for particular users. are becoming more 9. Italy 22. Sudan
significant. They are listed below. 10. Libya 23. Thailand
11. Malaysia 24. UK
International Television 12. Mexico 25. Venezuela
A full-time leased channel service and occasional use televi- 13. Morocco 26. Zaire
sion service are available. New video services include: 14. Niger
1. digital television. which has compatibility with evolving
improvements in television quality and studio equipment;
2. enchanced quality international television, which has
East/West or West/East connectivity for international televi- Countries participating in the UN lease:
sion and East/East or West/West connectivity for regional
televisions; 1. Israel
3. integrated quality international television. which combines 2. Lebanon
the broadcasting of video. audio. radio and printed informa- 3. Switzerland
tion in one transponder at Ku-band;
4. occasional access television. which allows occasional access,
on request. to established television channels; List of international TV leases:
5. cross-strapped international television, which allows cable
television reception with small Ku-band antennas using 1. USA/France (Netcom)
existing C-band uplinks. 2. USA/Australia #1 (TVS)
3. USA/Diego Garcia/Iceland/Portugal/Germany (GFR)/
Cable Restoration Italy (Armed Forces Radio and TV Service)
Cable restoration services are available on occasional use 4. USA/Australia #2 (TV7)/Japan (TV Asahi)
when an undersea cable fails. In 1984 there were 20 cable 5. UK/USA #1 (CBS)
failures and a total of 7.442 circuits were restored. Intelsat 6. UK/USA #3 (ABC)
satellites took over the traffic. The repair of the Transatlantic 7. USA/UK #2 (Visnews)
Telecommunications Cable (TAT-6) in 1985 made Intelsat 8. USA/Korea/Philippines (Armed Forces Radio and TV
decide to provide cable restoration as a service to meet the Service)
restoration requirements of medium capacity cable systems 9. USA/Japan #1 (NHK)
through the temporary lease of space segment capacity. 10. USA/UK #4 (CNN)

123
Satellites International

International and Domestic leases

(in operation as of 3/ December /985)
Allocation Type of lea>e Lease dates
Country
(By order of (MHZ) Art Approval AA signed or'
Priority) Bandwidth Region Sat XP# III Date RFS received Start End
Contrac- Opera-
tual tiona!)

Regular:
1. SPAIN#! ISG ISZ Atlantic 504 53 bi 28 Jan 76 2S Jan 76 27 Mar76 N/A
2. SPAIN #2 ISG ISH Atlantic 504 24 bi 16 MarS3 17JanS3 4 Feb S3 N/A
3. USA-FRANCE* ISG ISG Atlantic 504 37 a 27 MarS5 12 Mar S5 3 Oct S5 2 Oct S7"
Preemptible:
4. ALGERIA 36G 36H Indian 501 13 bii 16 Jan 75 4 Oct 74 17 Feb 75 31 Mar90 1
5.NORWAY#I ISG ISH Atlantic 502 22 bi !Oct75 14 Oct 74 31 Dec 75 30 Dec90"'
6. NIGERIA #I 36G 36H Indian 501 14 bii 16Jul75 15 Jul 75 31 Dec 75 30 Dec S5 5
7. NIGERIA #2 36G 36H Indian 501 15 bii 5 Apr 77 I Feb 76 15 Oct 76 14 Oct S6"
S. SUDAN 36G 36H Atlantic 414 7 bii 27 May 76 15 Jan 77 15 Feb 77 14FebS7 7
9. NIGERIA #3 36G 36H Indian 501 12 bii 27 May 76 I Apr 77 I Apr 77 31 Mar S7"
10. ZAIRE 36G 36H Atlantic 414 9 bii9 5Mar75 S Feb 7S 15 Dec 7S 14 DecSS "'
11. PERU #I 9H 9H Atlantic 511 12 bii 21 Sep 7S 27 Nov 7S 15 Dec 7S 14 DecSS 11
12. MEXICO #lA 36S 72H Atlantic 503 II bii IS Mar Sl S Dec Sl 9 Dec Sl S DecS6 '"
13. MEXICO #IB 36S 72H Atlantic 503 12 bii IS Mar Sl S Dec Sl II Mar S2 10 MarS7 '"
14. CHILE #2 ISG ISG Atlantic 503 37 bii 17 Dec Sl 27 Jan S2 I AprS2 31 MarS7
15. MEXICO #IC 36S 72H Atlantic 503 14 bii IS MarS! S Dec Sl 24 Apr S2 23 Apr S7 '"
16. COLOMBIA #4 ISG ISH Atlantic 511 II bii 10 Jun 81 29 Dec Sl 12 Jun S2 I I Jun S7
17. COLOMBIA #5 ISH ISH Atlantic 511 15 bii l7DecSJ 16 Jun S2 15JulS2 14 JulS7
18. PERU #3 36H 36H Atlantic 51 I II bii IS MarS! 30 JulS2 I Aug S2 31JulS7
19. PORTUGAL #I 54G 54G Atlantic 502 37.36 bi 17 Dec81 7 Oct S2 S Nov S2 7 Nov 87
20. USA/AUSTRALIA ISG ISH Pacific 413 3 a 23 Jun S2 18 May S2 20 Nov S2 19 Nov S7
#I
21. USA/DIEGO 36G 36G Atlantic 502 38 a 23 Jun S2 17 May S2 21 Dec82 20 Dec S7
GARCIA/ICELAND/
PORTUGAL!
GERMANY (GFR)/
ITALY
22. DENMARK #2 ISG 18G Atlantic 503 35 bii 16 SepS2 15 Dec82 I Jan S3 31 Dec S7
23. USA/AUSTRALIA ISG ISH Pacific 413 3 a 15 Dec82 15 Nov S2 I AprS3 31 MarSS
#2/JAPAN
24. UK/USA #I (CBS) ISG ISZ Atlantic 502 54/44 a 15 Dec S2 18 Nov S2 I May S3 30 Apr88
25. UK/USA #3 (ABC) ISG ISZ Atlantic 502 54/44 a 16 Mar83 25 Feb S3 I May 83 30 Apr8S
26. USA/UK #2 ISG 18G Atlantic 502 36 a 16 MarS3 22 Dec S2 I Sep S3 31 Aug SS"
(Visnews)
27. USA/KOREA 36G 36H Pacific 413 II a 15 Dec S2 IS Nov S2 24 Sep S3 23 Sep SS
/PHILLIPPINES
28. CHILE #3 ISG ISG Atlantic 503 37 bii 23 Mar84 I Feb S4 S Feb S4 7 Feb S9 13
29. USA/JAPAN #I ISG ISH Pacific 413 9 a 23 Jun S3 20 Jun S3 I AprS4 31 Mar8S'"'
30. PERU #2 9H 9H Atlantic 511 12 bii 20AprS2 30 JulS2 27 Aug S4 26 AugS9
31. MALAYSIA #2 36H 36H Indian 501 22 bi 17 Dec Sl 9 Sep S2 I SepS4 31 Aug S9
32. UNITED 9G 9Z Atlantic 511 53 a 15 Sep S3 16 Aug S4 S Sep 84 31 Dec S9
NATIONS
33. GERMANY. FR 216S 216S Indian 512 61.63.69 bi 15 Sep S3 14 Sep S3 27 DecS4 26 DecS9
34. COLOMBIA #06 9H 9H Atlantic 511 15 bii 23 Jun S3 15 Jun S3 I Jun S5 31May90
35. USA/UK #4 72H/S 72H/S Atlantic 51 I 13173 a (19 Apr S5) 14 Mar S5 I OctS5 30 Sep 92
36. CHINA #2 72H 72H Indian 501 23 bii (15 Jul85) 20 Jun S5 I Nov S5 31 Oct 90
37. SAUDIA ARABIA 54H 54H Atlantic 414 1,5 c 28 Sep 77 J60ct 77 I Jan 7S 31 Dec S7 15
#2
38. SAUDIA ARABIA ISH ISH Atlantic 414 5 c S Feb7S 8 Feb 78 I Mar 7S 29 Feb S8"'
#3
39. OMAN #2 36G 36G Indian 501 36 c 2S Sep 77 10 Nov 7S 15 Nov 7S 14 May S6 17
40. NIGER 36G 36H Atlantic 414 3 c II Dec80 1S Feb 81 I Apr81 31 Mar91 1"
41. MOROCCO 36G 36H Atlantic 411 3 c 25 Jun SO 12 Mar82 30 Mar S2 29 MarS7
42. ARGENTINA 54G 54G Atlantic 511 36, 38 c 17 Sep Sl 26 Oct81 28 AprS2 27 AprS7
43. THAILAND #I 9H 9H Indian 501 24 c 10 Jun S1 10 May S2 10 May S2 9 May S7
44. VENEZUELA 36H 36H Atlantic 511 12 c 17 Sep Sl 19 Aug S2 2 Sep S2 I Sep S7
45. LIBYA 36H 36H Atlantic 411 7 c 17 Sep Sl 28 Oct S2 I Nov S2 31 Oct S7
46. INDIA #3 36H 36H Indian 501 21 c 16 Sep S2 1 Nov S2 5 Nov S2 4 Nov S7 1"
47. INDIA #4 27H 27H Indian 501 21 c 16 Sep S2 I Nov S2 I Feb S3 3JJanS8'"
48. UK#IA 72S 72S Atlantic 511 63 c 16 MarS3 17 Mar S3 29 Mar S4 2S Mar 89
49. UK#IB 36S 36S Atlantic 511 61 c 16 Mar S3 17 Mar S3 31 Aug S4 30 Aug S9
50. ITALY #I 72H/Z 72H Atlantic 502 23 c 23 Jun 83 15JunS5 I Jun S5 31 May90

• stands for extension.

124
 Global Satellite Systems

International and Domestic leases (in operation as of 3I December 1985)

I. AA stands for Allotment Agreement; RFS stands for Request for Service.
2. This lease is reversible.
3. As extended at the Board of Governors meeting (BG-41) and later by the Director General on I 0 May 1985.
4. As extended at BG-43 and by the Director General on 4 October 1985.
5. As extended at BG-43. Lease expired 30 December 1985. Nigeria advised no extension to be granted until its signatory meets its quarterly
financial obligations.
6. As extended at BG-46.
7. As extended at BG-48 ..
8. As extended at BG-50.
9. Lease temporarily classified under Art. III( c) pending satisfaction of capital obligations.
10. As extended at BG-57.
II. As extended at BG-56.
12. Mexico advised Intelsat on 9 January 1986 that termination took place on 31 December 1985.
13. Expansion to 36G approved by the Director General on 30 December 1985.
14. As extended by the Director General on 24 December 1985.
15. As extended at BG-52.
16. As extended at BG-54.
17. As extended by the Director General on 14 November 1985.
18. As extended by the Director General on 4 December 1985.
19. Early termination ( 1986) planned if Domsat launch is successful.
International and Domestic Leases
(approved as of 31 December 1985)
Type of lease Lease dates
Reg or Art BG/(DG) AA signed or
Country MHz Region Pre III Approval date RFS received Start End

!.IRAN 72S Indian Pre c 15 Sep 83 14 Sep 83 22 Jan 86 21 Jan 91

2. ITALY #2 9S Atlantic Pre c 14 Dec 83 7 Dec 83 30 Sep 85 29 Sep 90
3. ISRAEL 216S Atlan./lndian Pre c 23 Mar84 18 Jan 84 I Apr 86 31 Mar91
4. SOUTH AFRICA #I 72H Atlan ./Indian Pre c ( 5 Oct 84) I Oct 84 I Jul86 30 Jun 91
5. CHINA #I ISH Indian Pre bii (15 Jul85) 20 Jun 85 24 Jan 86 23 Jan 91
6. BELGIUM /EUROPE 36S Atlantic Pre a (4 Oct 85) 6 Sep 85 I May 86 30 Apr93
7. BELGIUM /CANADA 36S/H Atlantic Pre a (4 Oct 85) 6 Sep 85 I May 86 30 Apr 93
8. BELGIUM /SCAND. 72S Atlantic Pre a (4 Oct 85) 17 Sep 85 I May 86 30 Apr93 1
9.NORWAY#2 9H Atlantic Pre bi (4 Oct 85) 23 Jul85 31 Dec 85 30 Dec 90c
10. SOUTH AFRICA #2 36H Indian Pre c (4 Oct 85) 25 Jul85 15 Dec 86 14 Dec91c
ll.UK#2 !80S Atlantic Pre c (II Oct85) 15Jul85 14 Jul87 13 Jul92c
12. NORWAY #3 216S Atlantic Pre c (15 Oct 85) 29 May 85 I Jan 86 31 Dec90c
13. TURKEY 72S Indian Pre c (15 Oct 85) 29 Jul85 31 Dec 86 30 Dec 91c
14. USA/UK/PANAMA 36G Atlantic Pre a (15Nov85) 2 Jul85 I Oct 86 30 Scp 93
15. MOZAMBIQUE 9H Indian Pre c (2Dec85) 27 Sep 85 30 Apr 86 31 Mar91

I. Expanded from 36 MHz spot by approval letter dated 12 December 1985.

2. Conditional approval.

International TV Leases
(future use inquiries received as of 31 December 1985)

Type of Lease Lease Date

Country MHz Region Reg or Pre Start End

I. UK/AUSTRALIA ISH I Pre 1988 1993

2. UK/EUROPE #8 72S A Pre 1986 1991
3. UK/HONG KONG 18Zor S I Pre 1986 1986
4. UK/USA #lx 18G A Pre 1988 1993
5. UK/USA #3x 18G A Pre 1988 1993
6. USA/AUSTRALIA #lx 18G p Pre 1987 1992
7. USA/AUSTRALIAS #2x 18G p Pre 1988 1993
8. USA/AUSTRALIA #3 ISH p Pre 1987 1992
9. USA/DIEGO GARCIA x 36G A Pre 1987 1992
10. USA/ISRAEL 18G A Reg 1986 1988
11. USA/JAPAN #1x 18G p Pre 1988 1988
12. USA/JAPAN #2 18G p Pre 1986 1988
13. USA/JAPAN #3 18G p Pre 1987 1992
14. USA/UK #6 I 18G A Reg 1986 1988
15. USA/UK #7 72H/S A Pre 1986 1993
16. USA/UK. FRANCE 72S A Reg 1986 1991

I. To replace existing USA/UK #2. Reversible transmission has been requested.

125
Satellites International

Domestic Leases
(future use inquiries received as of 31 December 1985)

Type of lease Lea'e date

Country MHz Region Reg or Pre Start End

I. ALGERIA #2 IRG I Pre 19R7 1990

2. ANGOLA 36G A/I Pre 19RR 1992
3. ARGENTINA #lx' 54G A Pre 19R7 1992
4. BRAZIL IORG A Pre 19R6
5. CAMEROON IRG A/I Pre 19RR 1992
6. CHILE #2x IRG A Pre 19RR 1992
7. DENMARK #2x IRG A Pre 19RR 1992
R. DENMARK #3 9G A Pre 19R7 1991
9. ITALY #3 2x72S A Reg
10. MALI 36G A Pre 19RR 1993
II. NEW ZEALAND #I 72H p Pre 19R6 1991
12. NEW ZEALAND #2 36H p Pre 19R6 1991
13. NIGERIA #lx 1 36G I Pre 19R6 1990
14. NIGERIA #2x 36G I Pre 19R6 1991
15. NIGERIA #3x 36G I Pre 19R7 1992
16. PAKISTAN 36H I Pre 19R7 19RR
17. PERU #lx 9H A Pre 19RR 1993
JR. PERU #3x 36H A Pre 19R7 1992
19. PORTUGAL #1x 54G A Pre !9R7 1992
20. PORTUGAL #2 9G A Pre 1990 1994
21. SPAIN #lx IRG A Reg 19R6 1991
22. SPAIN #2x IRG A Reg 19RR 1993
23. THAILAND #lx 9G I Pre 19R7 1992
24. THAILAND #2 9G I Pre !9R6 1991
25. THAILAND #3 72G I Pre 19R6 1991
26. UK #7 (MCL) IORS A Pre 1987 1992
27. UK (MCL) 72S A Pre
28. UK 3x72S A Pre 19R6 1991
29. VENEZUELA x 36H A Pre 19R7 1992
30. ZAIRE x 36G A Pre 19RR 1993

*Stands for extension

I. As extended at BG-43. Lease expired 30 December 19R5. Nigeria advised that no extension be granted until its signatory meets its quarterly
financial obligations.

Members of lntelsat
Date of '(c
Country Organization Joining Share

Afghanistan Ministry of Communications 26 March 1973 0.050000

Algeria Government of the Democratic and Popular Repuhlic of Algeria 20 August 1971 0.362102
Angola Empresa Publica de Telecomunicacoes (EPTEL) 23 September 1977 0.124739
Argentina Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ENTEL) 13 March 1973 1.152640
Australia Overseas Telecommunications Commission 20 August 1971 3.159546
Austria Government of Austria 5 April 1972 0.300000
Bahamas Bahamas Telecommunication Corporation (BA TELCO) 30 May 19R5 0.050000
Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board 14 December 1976 0.104614
Barbados Barbados Telecommunications Ltd 12 April 19R4 0.050000
Belgium Regie des Telegraphes et des Telephones 13 January 1972 0.745004
Benin Office des Postes et Telecommunications 12 May 19R7 0.050000
Bolivia Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones 19 December 1974 0.123670
Brazil Empresa Brasileira de Telecommunicacoes S.A. (EMBRATEL) 20 August 1971 3.041419
Burkina Faso Office des Postes et Telecommunications 27 October 1977 0.050000
Cameroon Societe des Telecommunications Internationales 14 October 19R3 0.242399
Canada Teleglobe Canada 20 Al!gust 1971 2.31R574
Central African Government of the Central African Republic 13 March 1973 0.050000
Republic
Chad Societe des Telecommunications Internationales (TIT) 9 June 1977 0.050000
Chile Empresa Nacional de Telecommunications S.A. (ENTEL Chile) 20 August 1971 0.578405
China. People's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications 17 September 1981 0.496R20
Republic of
Colombia Empresa Nacional de Telecommunicaciones (TELECOM) 20 August 1971 1.100000
Congo Government of the People's Republic of the Congo 26 October 1977 0.050000
Costa Rica Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad 9 December 1971 0.050000
Cyprus Cyprus Telecommunications Authority 1 March 1974 0.153000

126
 Global Satellite Systems
Denmark Generaldirectoratct for Post-Og Telegrafvae>enet 13 June 1974 0.3R4163
Dominican Compania Dominicana de Telefonos. C.Por A 20August 1971 0.050000
Republic
Ecudor Im.tituto Ecuatoriano de Telecomunicaciones (I ETEL) 9 November 1973 0.350R31
Egypt Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt 20 October 1971 0.690000
El Salvador Admini>tracion Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ANTEL) 19 January 1977 0.050000
Ethiopia Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia 20 August 1971 O.OR9209
Fiji Fiji International Telecommunications Ltd (FINTEL) 4 May 197R 0.050000
Finland General Directorate of Po>ts and Telecommunications 15 December 1971 0.092176
France Government of France 27 March 1972 5.642236
Gabon Telecommunications Internationales Gabonaises (TIG) 20 April 1972 0.050000
Germany, GFR Bundesministerium fur das Post und Femmeldewesen 12 January 1972 0.050000
Ghana Ministry of Transport and Communications 12 December 1973 0.050000
Greece Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. (OTE) 20 August 1971 0.813135
Guatemala Empresa Guatemalteca de Telecomunicaciones (GUA TEL) II October 1979 0.050000
Guinea Government of the People's Revolutionary Republic of Guinea 14 July 19RO 0.050000
Haiti Telecommunications D'Haiti S.A. 3 October 1974 0.16R004
Honduras Empresa Hondurena de Telecomunicaciones (HONDUTEL) 6 May 19RO 0.050000
Iceland Government of Iceland 14 February 1972 O.IROOOO
India Overseas Communications Service Ministry of Communications 23 December 1971 0.49R730
Indonesia Government of the Republic of Indonesia 20 August 1971 0.49R731
Iran Telecommunication Company of Iran 25 August 1971 0.937963
Iraq Government of the Republic of Iraq 6 August 1973 0.405501
Ireland Irish Telecommunications Board 27 August 19R4 0.1331R2
Israel The Israel Telecommunication Corp. Ltd (BELZEQ) 12 April 19R4 0.557462
Italy Telespazio 20 August 1971 2.14R906
Ivory Coast Government of the Republic of Ivory Coast 20 August 1971 0.264921
Jamaica Jamaica International Telecommunications Ltd (JAMINTEL) 14 December 1972 0.3R2145
Japan Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co, Ltd (KDD) 20 August 1971 3.330332
Jordan Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 20 August 1971 0.29R781
Kenya Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation 16 June 19R3 0.374390
Korea Korea Telecommunication Authority 3 September 19R2 0.720R52
Kuwait Ministry of Communications R March 1973 0.9R9464
Lebanon Government of Lebanon 20 August 1971 O.OR6501
Libya Government of the Libyan Arab Republic 9 June 1975 0.149600
Liechtenstein Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein 20 August 1971 0.050000
Luxembourg Government of Luxembourg 2R September 1971 0.050000
Madagascar Societe des Telecommunications Internationales de Ia Republique Malgache 9 February 1973 0.050000
(STIMAD)
Malawi Department of Posts and Telecommunications 16 July 19R4 0.050000
Malaysia Telecommunications Department 22 February 1972 0.6R28Rl
Mali Telecommunications Internationales de Mali (TIM) 6 July 1976 O.OR6374
Mauritania Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania 20 August 1971 0.050000
Mauritius 2 September 19R6 0.059969
Mexico Government of Mexico 4 November 1971 l.RJRJR4
Monaco Government of the Principality of Monaco I May 1972 0.05000
Morocco Government of Morocco 20 August 1971 0.257424
Netherlands Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands 13 October 1971 1.12ROOR
New Zealand Postmaster General 5 January 1972 0.4025R4
Nicaragua Compania Nicaraguense de Telecomunicaciones por Satelite 12 November 1971 0.050000
Niger Government of the Republic of Niger 14 April 19RO 0.050000
Nigeria Nigerian External Telecommunications Ltd 17 November 1975 1.230R44
Norway Norwegian Telecommunications Administration (Teledirektoratet) 20 August 1971 0.3R2246
Oman Sultanate of Oman 3 January 1975 0.509R37
Pakistan Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 20 August 1971 0.393000
Panama Intercontinental de Communicaciones Por Satelite S.A. (INTERCOMSA) 29 May 1975 0.050000
Papua New Guinea Post and Telecommunication Corporation 24 March 19R3 0.050000
Paraguay Administration Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ANTELCO) IR July 1977 0.116067
Peru Empresa Nacional de Tclecomunicaciones (ENTEL PERU) 20 August 1971 0.74R993
Philippines Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation (PHILCOMSA T) 10 October 1973 0.644R42
Portugal Companhia Portuguesa Radio Marconi 20 August 1971 0.6R249R
Qatar Government of the State of Qatar 2 February 1976 0.324020
Rwanda Ministere des Postes et des Communications 2 September 19R6 0.050000
Saudi Arabia Government of Saudi Arabia 24 August 1972 3.106999
Senegal Government of the Republic of Senegal 20 August 1971 0.050000
Singapore Telecommunication Authority of Singapore 20 February 1973 1.400000
Somalia Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications 27 March 19RJ 0.050000
South Africa Department of Posts and Telecommunications 20 August 1971 1.271510
Spain Compania Telefonica Nacional de Espana 20 August 1971 1.962657
Sri Lanka Government of Sri Lanka 7 February 1973 0.050000
Sudan Government of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan 20 August 1971 0.2RR474
Sweden Swedish Telecommunications Administration 19May1972 0.664R7R
Switzerland Direction Generale de L'Entreprise des Postes Telephones et Telegraphes 20 August 1971 1.234140
Suisses
Syria Government of the Syrian Arab Republic 20 August 1971 0.122415

127
Satellites International
Tanzania Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation 9 March 1978 0.098839
Thailand Government of Thailand 20 August 1971 0.424225
Togo 2 September 1986 0.050000
Trinidad and Trinidad and Tobago External Telecommunications Co. Ltd (TEXTEL) 20 August 1971 0.050000
Tobago
Tunisia Administration for Post Telegraph and Telephone 20 August 1971 0.050000
Turkey Government of Turkey 10 September 1971 0.227404
Uganda Ministry of Power. Posts and Telecommunications 11 September 1980 0.050000
United Arab Ministry of Communications 12 May 1976 1.736693
Emirates
United Kingdom British Telecommunications PLC 18 September 1984 13.068645
United States Communications Satellite Corporation 20 August 1971 22.462815
Uruguay Administracion Nacional de Telecommunicaciones 7 December 1982 0.050000
Vatican City State Government of the Vatican City State 20August 1971 0.050000
Venezuela Compania Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela 20 August 1971 1.149790
Vietnam Direction Generate des Postes et Telecommunications 29 October 1979 0.050000
Yemen Arab Government of Yemen Arab Republic 20 August 1971 0.219888
Republic
Yugoslavia Community of the Yugoslav Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones 20 August 1971 0.217580
Zaire Office National des Postes et Telecommunications de Zaire (ONPTZ) 20 August 1971 0.286292
Zambia Government of the Republic of Zambia 1 November 1972 0.098744

INTERSPUTNIK activities of the organization, including development and

other matters within the scope of the functions stipulated by
2 Smolensky i/4, i21099 Moscow USSR the Agreement. The Board meets at least once a year.
Telephone: (95) 244 03 33 2. The Directorate is the main executive and administrative
Telex: 4ii 288 DiSK SU organ of Intersputnik. It is headed by the Director General,
4ii 289 DiSK SU who answers to the Board. The Director General represents
Contact: S. Kurilov, Director the organization in its relations with the authorities of
R. Valdes D., Deputy Director General member states. international organizations and other institu-
tions. The Director General and his deputy are appointed for
1. History a four-year term.
3. The Auditing Committee supervises the financial activi-
Intersputnik is the international satellite communications ties of the organization. Its three members are appointed by
system set up by socialist and communist countries. These the Board for a period of three years.
countries did not join Intelsat initially because they felt the In principle, Intersputnik is financed from a statutory fund
influence of the United States would be too strong. At that made up on a pro rata basis of members' contributions. The
time, since Intelsat shares are divided between members on size of each member's contribution is determined on the basis
the basis of system usage, the US signatory, Comsat, had of its utilization of the space segment, and profits are
more than 53% of the shares (now reduced to 22%). distributed in the same proportion. However, the USSR has
Therefore, the USSR felt it would have an unrealistically so far paid the total costs of the space segment and has also
small share. borne part of the costs for the earth segment of several
The preliminary draft agreements on the establishment of countries (ie, Cuba, Laos. Mongolia and Vietnam). Since no
Intersputnik were signed by nine countries in May 1968 in statistics on usage are available, it is not possible to say
Budapest, Hungary. In August of that year the USSR whether the USSR contribution reflects its actual usage.
delegation submitted the draft agreement to the Vienna (UN)
Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
After several modifications, the Intergovernmental Agree- Rates of the 'INTERSPUTNIK' ISSC for i985
ment on the Establishment of Intersputnik was signed in i. Television
Moscow on 15 November 1971. It entered into force on 12 Space segment
July 1972. video channel 40.00 Gold Francs per minute
According to this agreement, Intersputnik was planned to 10 KHz sound channel 0.60 Gold Francs per minute
proceed in three stages. In stage one, the earth segment was Earth station
established and tested, and the USSR provided free Soviet video channel 990.00 Gold Francs for initial
satellite capacity. In stage two, Intersputnik leased capacity 10 minutes
on Soviet communications satellites. In stage three (reached 28.20 Gold Francs for each
in 1975) Intersputnik acquired its own space segment. additional minute
Intersputnik now has 14 members; another nine countries use 10 KHz sound channel 0.60 Gold Francs per minute
the system.
2. Radiobroadcasting
2. Constitution and Finance Space segment
10 KHz channel 2.00 Gold Francs per minute
Intersputnik is run by three separate organs: 15 KHz channel 3.00 Gold Francs per minute
1. The main organ of Intersputnik is the Board which is
composed of one representative from each member country. Earth station
Each representative has one vote. The Board considers all 19 Khz channel 2.00 Gold Francs per minute
questions of general policy and principles affecting the 15 khz channel 3.00 Gold Francs per minute

128
 Global Satellite Systems

3. Voice frequency channel Number of channels 2

Half space segment TWTA power (watts) 5 at 15; 1 at 40
1,250.00 Gold Francs Antenna coverage Pacific Ocean
per month 15,000.00 Gold Francs per year ITU region 3
Earth station Status Intersputnik/
2,500.00 Gold Francs USSR domestic
per month 30,000.00 Gold Francs per year Primary use TV/Telephony
Services 6 I Programma TV Moscow;
Procurement Auxiliary service for Radio Mayak
The Intersputnik Agreement has no procurement provision. 7 Wideband digital service
It states in Article 6: 'Communication satellites owned by the 8 Telephony
organization shall be launched. put into orbit and operated by 9 Wideband digital service
members which possess appropriate facilities for this purpose 10 II Programma TV, Moscow;
on the basis of agreement between the organization and such Auxiliary service
members.·

Rights and Obligations Gorizont 12

All member countries are free to set up their own national Type FSS
system or take part in the establishment or use of other Orbital position ww
regional or worldwide space communications systems. There Launch date June 1986
is no equivalent to Intelsat's Article XIV that discourages Launcher USSR
regional systems which might compete for traffic. Mission life (years) 5
Number of channels 7
3. Spacecraft TWTA power (watts) 5 at 18; 1 at 40
Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean
In its initial experimental stage. Intersputnik provided ser- ITU region 1
vices through Molnya-1 satellites borrowed from the USSR. Status Intersputnik/
The satellites operated in an elliptical orbit (apogee 500 Km, USSR domestic
perigee 40,000 Km). In the second stage, it used Molyna-2 Primary use TV/Telephony
satellites. Since 1975 it has used its own satellites, known as Services 1 I Programma TV Moscow;
Statsionar (also called Gorizont), which are located in the Auxiliary service for Radio Mayak
geostationary orbit at 14° W, 53° E. 80° E and 140° E. The 2 OIRT news feeds
transponders have a capacity of 200 to 500 circuits and 3 Telephony channel with radio,
operate in the 6.2 GHz and 3.9 GHz frequency bands. voice and data traffic
5 Wideband digital service
THE INTERSPUTNIK SYSTEM 6 Multiple digital carriers

Statsionar 4
Type FSS 4. Earth stations
Orbital position ww
Launch date June 1983 The system operates 18 earth stations in 17 countries.
Launcher USSR They are equipped with 12-metre or 25-metre antennae.
Mission life (years) 3
Number of channels 2
TWTA power (watts) 5 at 15; 1 at 40 5. Services
Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean
ITU region 1 Intersputnik provides a full range of communications ser-
Status Intersputnik/ vices: voice, vision, data, etc.
USSR domestic
Primary use TV/Telephony
Services 1 I Programma TV Moscow; Auxili- Users and Members: lntersputnik
ary Service for Radio Mayak
2 OIRT news feeds
3 Telephony channel with radio,
voice and data traffic Country Organization Member
5 Wideband digital service of
6 Multiple digital carriers Inter-
sputnik
Afghanistan Ministry of Communications Yes
Algeria Ministere des Postes et No
Statsionar 13 Telecommunications
Type FSS Angola Ministerio dos Transportes e No
Orbital position 80° E Comunicacoes
Launch date 1984 Bulgaria Ministry of Posts and Yes
Launcher USSR Telecommunications
Mission life (years) 3 Cuba Ministerio de Comunicaciones Yes

129
Satellites International

Czechoslovakia Federal Ministry of Posts and Yes capacity in orbit over the world's three major ocean regions,
Telecommunications it provides global service for about 3,300 ships, oil rigs, etc. In
Ethiopia Provisional Military No the near future, Jnmarsat hopes to extend its services further
Government of Socialist into the field of mobile satellite communications, in particular
Ethiopia aeronautical mobile satellite services.
German Ministerrat der Deutschen Yes Inmarsat has forty-three member countries. It also offers
Democratic Demokratischen Republik services to non-member countries.
Republic Ministerium fur Post und
Fernmeldewesen 2. Constitution and Finance
Hungary Ministry of Communications Yes
and Posts The organization consists of three parts:
Iraq The President of Posts, No 1. The Assembly meets once every two years to review the
Telegraphs and Telephones long-term policy and objectives of the organization. The
State Organization assembly is composed of representatives of all the signatories.
Kampuchea No The assembly expresses its views and recommendations to the
Korea, North Ministry of Communications Yes Council. Each member country has one vote.
Laos Ministre des Postes et Yes 2. The Council meets three times a year and is comparable to
Telecommunications a corporate board of directors. It consists of representatives
Libya Directorate General of Posts No of the 18 signatories with the largest investment shares and
and Telecommunications four signatory representatives elected by the Assembly on the
Mozambique Ministero dos Transportes e No principle of geographical representation (taking into account
Comunicacoes the interests of developing countries). The Council, having
Nicaragua Direccion General de No due regard to the views and recommendations of the
Telecomunicaciones y Correos Assembly, is responsible for providing the necessary space
(TELCOR) segment in the most economic and efficient manner. Signa-
Poland Ministerstwoj Lacznosci Yes tories in the Council have a voting power equivalent to their
Romania Ministry of Transport and Yes investment share. The Council is assisted by an Advisory
Telecommunications Committee on Technical and Operational Matters
Sri Lanka Department of No (ACTOM).
Communications 3. The Directorate carries out the day-to-day activities of the
USSR Ministry of Yes organization from its London headquarters. The Director
Telecommunications General is the chief executive officer and legal representative
Vietnam Direction generale des postes Yes of Inmarsat. He is responsible to and under the direction of
et telecommunications the Council. The Director General is appointed by the
Yemen, People's Yemen Telecommunicaions Yes Council for a term of six years, subject to confirmation by the
Democratic Corporation Parties.
Republic of
Procurement
The procurement policy is set out by the Council. Procure-
ment of goods and services required by lnmarsat shall be
INMARSAT effected by the award of contracts, based on responses to
open international tender.
International Maritime Satellite Organization
40 Melton Street, London NWJ 2EQ, England
Telephone: (1) 387 9089 Telex: 297201 INMSAT G Capital requirements and investment shares
Fax: 44 1 387 2115 Inmarsat is required to operate on a sound economic and
Contact: Olaf Lundberg, Director General financial basis having regard to accepted commercial princi-
ples. Its capital requirements are financed by contributions
1. History from signatories in proportion to their investment shares.
These in turn are intended to reflect their utilization of the
In 1973, the International Maritime Organization (then space segment. The minimum initial investment share is .05
known as IMOC), a London-based specialized agency of the percent, and the present capital ceiling is $300 million.
UN, convened a series of conferences to consider establishing
an international maritime satellite system. The last of these Revenue
conferences, held on 3 September 1976, adopted a 'Conven- Revenue is earned from telecommunications entities for their
tion on the International Maritime Satellite Organization use of the space segment. The charges levied by Inmarsat are
(Inmarsat)'. The organization came into being in July 1979, based on the satellite power and bandwidth used as well as
when the Inmarsat Convention was signed together with the market factors.
'Operating Agreement on the International Maritime Satel-
lite Organization (Inmarsat)'. Inmarsat became operational 3. Spacecraft
in February 1982.
Inmarsat is an international cooperative organization, Maritime satellite communications as pioneered in 1976 by
patterned on Intelsat. It provides satellite communications Comsat General (US) with a system of three geosynchronous
facilities to the world's shipping and offshore industries. It is Marisat satellites giving global coverage. When Inmarsat
funded by its member countries through their respective became operational in February 1982, it leased transponders
signatories. Inmarsat, like Intelsat, is commercially-oriented, on these Marisat satellites. To meet the fast growing demand
earning revenues from the sale of its services. With satellite for its services, Inmarsat now leases capacity on Marecs-A

130
 Global Satellite Systems

and Intelsat-Y satellites as well as on the Marisat-F3 Marisat-F2

satellites. Contractor Hughes Aircraft
In 1988/1989 Inmarsat will launch it!> own satellites, which are Orbital position 72.SOE
being built by British Aerospace. These three Inmarsat-2 Launch date June1976
satellites will be owned and operated by the organization Launcher NASA
itself and will treble the maritime mobile satellite communica- Design life (years) 8 (exceeded)
tions capacity in the Atlantic region. where traffic is very Number of channels NK
dense. TWTA power (watts) NK
THE INMARSAT SYSTEM Antenna coverage (ocean NK
region)
Marecs-A ITU region 3
Contractor British Aerospace Statlls Spare
Orbital position 26°W Use Spare
Launch date December 1981 NK = Not Known
Launcher Ariane
Design life (years) 7
Number of channels NK Marisat-F3
TWTA power (watts) NK Contractor Hughes Aircraft
Antenna coverage Atlantic Ocean Orbital position 176SE
ITU region 1 Launch date October 1976
Status Main Launcher NASA
Use Atlantic Ocean service Design life (years) 8 (exceeded)
NK = Not Known. Number of channels NK
TWTA power (watts) NK
Antenna coverage (ocean Pacific
Marecs B2A region)
Contractor British Aerospace ITU region 3
Orbital position 177.5°E Status Spare for Marecs-B2
Launch date November 1984 Use Pacific Ocean service
Launcher Ariane NK =Not Known
Design life (years) 7
Number of channels 48 lntelsat V-F6
TWTA power (watts) NK Contractor FACC
Antenna coverage Pacific Ocean Orbital position 18SW
ITU region 3 Launch date May 1983
Status Main Launcher NK
Use Pacific Ocean service Design life (years) 7
NK = Not Known. Number of channels 44
TWTA power (watts) 4.5/8.5/10
Antenna coverage (ocean Atlantic
lntelsat-V (FS)
region)
Contractor FACC
ITU region
Orbital position 63°E.
Status Spare for Marecs-A
Launch date October 1983
Use Atlantic Ocean service
Launcher NK
Design life (years) NK =Not Known
7
Number of channels 44
TWTA power (watts) 4.5/8.5/10
lntelsat V-F7
Antenna coverage Indian Ocean
Contractor FACC
ITU region 3 60°E
Orbital position
Status Main
Launch date October 1983
Use Indian Ocean service
Launcher NK
NK =Not Known.
Design life (years) 7
Number of channels 44
Marisat-FJ TWTA power (watts) 4.518.511 ()
Contractor Hughes Aircraft Antenna coverage (ocean Indian
Orbital position 15°W region)
Launch date February 1976 ITU region 3
Launcher NASA Status Spare for Intelsat-V (F5)
Design life (years) 8 (exceeded) Use Indian Ocean service
Number of channels NK NK = Not Known
TWTA power (watts) NK
Antenna coverage (ocean NK
region) 4. Earth Stations
ITU region
Status Spare The three main elements of the Inmarsat system are: 1) the
Use Spare space segment (the satellites and ground support facilities)
NK = Not Known
131
Satellites International

which is funded by Inmarsat, 2) the coast earth stations
(CES), and 3) the ship earth stations (SES). This section will
cover both CES and SES.
1. Inmarsat coast earth stations provide the link between the
satellites and the telecommunication networks ashore. They
are owned and operated by the signatories, who are also
responsible for the landline connections to the public
switched telephone and telex networks. A typical coast earth
station consists of a parabolic antenna about 11 to 14 metres
in diameter, which is used for transmission to the satellite at 6
GHz and for reception at 4 GHz (C-band). The same antenna
or another dedicated antenna may be used for L-band
transmission (1.6 GHz) and reception (1.5 GHz) or network
control signals.
Inmarsat coast earth stations are located at: Goonhilly, UK;
Southbury, Connecticut; Fucino, Italy; Umm al-Aish,
Kuwait; Odessa, USSR; Pleumeur Bodou, France; Tangue,
Brazil; Santa Paula, California; Ibaraki, Japan; Singapore;
Nakhodka, USSR; Yamaguchi, Japan; Eik, Norway; Ther-
mopylae, Greece.
2. The ship earth stations are the satellite communications
terminals which are purchased or leased by individual ship
owners/operators from manufacturers and suppliers of ship
radio equipment. They are typically .85 to 2-metre parabolic
antennas housed in a fibreglass 'radome' and mounted on a
stabilized platform which enables the antennas to track the
satellite despite ship movement. While the Standard A ship
earth station (see Lundberg, page 29) will remain the
workhorse of maritime satellite communications for the
foreseeable future, other standards are being considered for
the late 1980s, designed to take advantage of new transmis-
sions techniques. New facilities being considered include

Users and Members: lnmarsat

Country Organization Date of Joining %Share

Algeria Ministere des Pastes et Telecommunications 15 July 1979 0.05000

Argentina Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Entel) 2 October 1979 0.14750
Australia Overseas Telecommunications Commission (OTC) 16 March 1979 1.31243
Bahrain Ministry of Transportation 0.05000
Belgium Regie des Telegraphes et des Telephones 14 July 1979 0.33177
Brazil Empresa Brasileira de Telecomunicacoes S.A. (Embratel) 10 July 1979 0.84965
Bulgaria Shipping Corporation 'Vaden Transport' 15 June 1979 0.10886
Canada Teleglobe Canada 17 May 1979 4.37929
Chile Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones S.A. (Entel Chile) 26 February 1981 0.05000
China, People's Beijing Marine Communications and Navigation Company 13 July 1979 0.39061
Republic of
Denmark General direcktoratet for Post-og Telegrafvaesenet 10 May 1979 1.66142
Egypt National Telecommunications Organization (ARENTO) 29 November 1977 0.09960
Finland General Directorate of Posts and Telecommunications 12 July 1979 0.14750
France Direction Generale des Telecommunications 18 October 1979 2.51454
Gabon Telecommunications Internationales Gabonaises (TIG) 28 December 1984 0.07496
Germany, Federal Bundesministerium fiir das Post und Fernmeldewesen 23 October 1979 1.64795
Republic of
Greece Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) 13 July 1979 1.41143
India Overseas Communications Service 6 June 1978 0.51869
Iran Telecommunication Company of Iran 12 October 1984 0.05001
Iraq Republic of Iraq 21 July 1980 0.05000
Italy Telespazio 10 July 1979 1.03731
Japan Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co. Ltd 25 November 1977 7.44036
Korea Korea Telecommunication Authority (KT A) 0.35064
Kuwait Ministry of Communications 25 February 1977 0.62240
Liberia Republic of Liberia 14 November 1980 0.10672
Netherlands Netherlands PTT Aministration 15 June 1979 2.56013
New Zealand Post Office Headquarters 17 August 1977 0.11216
Norway Norwegian Telecommunications Administration 10 October 1978 14.24488
Oman Sultanate of Oman 30 December 1980 0.05000
Pakistan Pakistan Telegraph and Telephone Department 6 February 1975 0.05000
Philippines Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation (Philcomsat) 30 March 1981 0.09960
Poland Office of Maritime Economy 3 July 1979 0.51869
Portugal Companhia Portuguesa Radio Marconi 13 July 1979 0.09619
Saudi Arabia Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones 5 October 1983 0.55668
Singapore Telecommunication Authority of Singapore 29 June 1979 2.27367
Spain Campania Telefonica Nacional de Espana 5 September 1978 1.30846
Sri Lanka Overseas Telecommunications Service 15 December 1981 0.06556
Sweden Swedish Telecommunications Administration 19 June 1979 0.65244
Tunisia Republic of Tunisia 9 May 1983 0.05000
United Arab Ministry of Communications 13 January 1983 0.07461
Emirates
UK British Telecommunications pic 13 April 1979 19.28267
USA Communications Satellite Corporation (Comsat) 15 February 1979 28.91325
USSR Morsviazsputnik 13 March 1979 3.68737

132

access through a PABX as in an office or hotel, automatic
transfer of data from computer to computer and improved
distress and safety capabilities now under study by IMO and
others.
In addition to the space segment and the different types of
earth station, each of the three main ocean regions has its
own Network Coordination Station (NCS), for which Inmar-
sat has let contracts with Comsat (US) and Kokusai Denshin
Denwa (KDD) of Japan. The Atlantic region NCS, operated
by Com sat, is at Southbury, Connecticut. Those for the
Indian and Pacific regions are at Yamaguchi and Ibaraki
Global Satellite Systems
(Japan) respectively. Each NCS regulates the distribution of
available telephone channels to ships and coast earth stations.
Telex channels are directly assigned to ships by individual
coast earth stations.
5. Services
Inmarsat provides telephone, telex (the most popular service)
and data communications at up to 1.5 megabits per second.
Interactive services include videotex, navigational/weather
information and search and rescue (SAR).
133
 4. REGIONAL SATELLITE SYSTEMS

ARABSA T THE ARABSAT SYSTEM

Arab Space Communications Organization Arabsat (Fl)

PO Box 1083, Riyadh 11431, Saudi Arabia Type
Telex (1) 4646666 Telex 201300 ARAB SAT 51 Orbital position 19°E
Contact: Abdelkader Bairi, Director General Launch date February 1985
Launcher Ariane
1. History Design life (years) 7
Number of channels 25
Arabsat evolved from a 1953 Arab League Agreement to TWTA power (watts) 8.5/50
develop regional telephone, telex and telegraph telecom- Antenna coverage Arab League Nations
munications. After several 'tudies, the Arabsat organization ITU region 1
was established in April 1976. The system became oper- Status Back-up
ational in 1985 after two satellites were launched. Primary use TV/Telephony/
Data
2. Constitution and Finance

The Agreement for the Establishment of the Arab Space Arabsat (F2)
Communications Organizations was made in Cairo on 14 Type
April 1976. It was signed by 22 Arab countries and entered Orbital position 26°E
into force in February 1977. Under the terms of the charter, Launch date May 1985
Arabsat is to provide for and promote an Arab satellite Launcher NASA
network for the purpose of serving communications and Design life (years) 7
information as well as any services requested by the mem- Number of channels 25
bers. TWTA power (watts) 8.5/50
Antenna coverage Arab League Nations
Arabsat has three main bodies: 1TU region 1
1. The General Assembly is composed of the ministers of Status Main
communications of all the Arab member states. It is the Primary use TV/Telephony/
legislative body of the organization and convenes once a year Data
to outline general policy.
2. The Board of Directors is composed of representatives of
nine member states. The five highest shareholders are Transponders
permanent members of the Board; the other four members Each spacecraft has 25 C-band transponders and one CIS-
are elected every two years from the other Arabsat members. band transponder. Each C-band transponder will be able to
The board meets four times a year and is responsible for carry one TV channel, 1,100 SCPC/FM telephony channels or
providing, using and developing the space segment as well as approximately 550 FDM/DM/FDMA telephony channels.
implementing the .General Assembly's recommendations. The CIS-band transponder will carry one community TV
3. The Executive Body is made up of various administrative channel. The Earth-to-space transmissions for all services will
and technical branches and is headed by the Director be in the 5,925-6,425 MHz C-band. The space-to-Earth
General. Its function is to carry out policy decisions of the transmissions will be in the 3700-4200 MHz C-band. C-band
General Assembly and Board of Directors. The Director will be used for all services except community TV, which will
General is elected for a three-year term. be in the 2500-2690 MHz S-band. For TV, frequency
The organization's initial capital was $100 million divided modulation will be used. Arabsat will use the 2,500 MHz band
into 1,000 shares, although it has been increased several for community TV. With the high power flux density
times. Shares are tied to usage after two year's operation. specified for this band, it will be possible to receive TV signals
In 1985 more than 50% of the shares were announced to be at remote locations and rural areas by a cheap S-band earth
in the hands of Saudi Arabia (35%) and Kuwait (18% ). The station (TYRO). These stations can be operated by batteries
third largest shareholder is Libya (8% ). and also by solar energy converters. The cost of each station
including the monitor will not be more than $3,000. This will
3. Spacecraft allow educational TV programmes to be set up in all the
Arabsat member states and is one of the unique features of
The space segment consists of two satellites built by Aerospa- the Arabsat system.
tiale with Ford as sub-contractor. Arabsat-1 was launched on
8 February 1985 and Arabsat-2 (in-orbit spare) on 18 June 4. Earth Stations
1985 at 26° E and 19° E respectively. A third satellite remains
on the ground as a spare. The satellites are expected to The construction and operation of the earth stations in the
operate for at least seven years. system is the responsibility of the individual administrations.

135
Satellites International
Arabsat has specifications for two types of earth stations: 1) and objectives. It deals, in particular, with all questions
C-band stations for telephony, miscellaneous services and concerning relations with outside bodies, the procurement of
regional TV, with 11-metre antennas; and S-band stations for satellites and staff matters.
community TV with antennas of 4 to 6 metres. 2. The European Communications Satellite Council is the
A primary TTC&M earth station has been built in Riyadh, principal organ for the ECS space segment. It is composed of
Saudi Arabia. When completed, it will include Ku-band, representatives of each member administration. Its function
C-band and S-band facilities. Two antenna systems will be is to develop a reliable space segment adapted to the needs of
provided for simultaneous communications with each in-orbit members. It also makes traffic forecasts, defines the condi-
spacecraft. Other earth stations are being built in Djibouti, tions for accessing the ECS space segment and determines
Oman, Kuwait, Mauritania and the Arabic Emirates. earth station standards. In addition, the Council approves the
budget and regulates charges for the ECS space segment.
3. The General Secretariat is the permanent executive organ
Arabsat Members
and is headed by the Secretary General. It is responsible for
Algeria the management of the entire organization and, in particular,
Bahrain of the ECS space segment.
Djibouti Financial participation is based on usage, following the
Egypt Intelsat model. The system of payments for users of the
Iraq Eutelsat space segment is based on PTT practices, rather than
Jordan market forces. There are thus considerable disparities
Kuwait between the rates paid by European programmer providers
Libya on ECS (F1).
Mauritania The basic space segment charge is 1.8 million European
Morocco Currency Units (ECU's) per transponder per year, for a
Oman pre-emptible lease. In addition, Eutelsat requires the pay-
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) ment of a downlink charge of 200,000 ECUS for each
Qatar country, other than the country of origin of the signal, where
Saudi Arabia there is official reception of the signal, up to a maximum of 1
Somalia million ECUS. Neither of these rates is expected to change
Sudan for the next three years.
Eutelsat leases the transponders on both satellites to
Syria
Tunisia national administrations which then lease them to program-
Yemen Arab Republic ming companies at rates which reflect Eutelsat's basic rates,
Yemen (PDR) an uplink charge and often a profit margin.
United Arab Emirates
3. Spacecraft

EUTELSAT Eutelsat's space segment began with the Orbital Test Satellite
(OTS) which was developed by the European Space Agency
European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ESA) and launched in 1978. The OTS was used by Eutelsat
Tour Maine-Montparnasse, 75755 Paris Cedex 15, France for an extensive programme of telecommunications experi-
Telephone: 33 (1) 538 47 47 Telex: 203823 EUSAT F ments. It came to an end on 31 December 1983.
Contact: Andrea Caruso, Secretary General Eutelsat's space segment consists now of two satellites, F1
and F2, known as European Communication Satellites (ECS)
1. History or Eutelsat. The first, launched on 16 June 1983, is mainly
used for delivering TV services. F2 was launched in 1984. F3
Eutelsat was the first regional satellite system in the world. It was to be launched in September 1985 but the launch failed.
was set up to ensure the establishment, operation and F4 is scheduled for launch in 1987/8 but launches have been
maintenance of the space segment of the European telecom- held up by the problems of Ariane and the Shuttle. A second
munications satellite system. The organization was created in generation satellite, the Eutelsat-II series, is planned for the
provisional form on 30 June 1977 by the 17 members of the 1990s. Eutelsat also leases capacity on Telecom 1. The
European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Eutelsat-I satellites are in a geostationary orbit at l0°E and
Administrations (CEPT). 13°E. Eutelsat-II satellites will be at 30°E and 36°E.
On 14 May 1982 an intergovernmental conference in Paris
at which twenty-six European countries were represented
adopted a Convention establishing the definitive organiza- THE EUTELSAT SYSTEM
tion. Twenty-four countries signed the Convention and it
entered into force in August, 1985, allowing Eutelsat to join Name ECS (Fl)
the ranks of Intelsat and Inmarsat. Today Eutelsat comprises Type FSS
26 member countries. Orbital position 13°E
Launch date June 1983
2. Constitution and Finance Launcher Ariane
Design life (years) 7
Eutelsat's objective is to provide its members with the space Number of channels 12
segment capacity necessary for meeting their telecommunica- TWTA power (watts) 20
tions services requirements. Antenna coverage Europe
The organization consists of three parts: ITU region 1
1. The Assembly of Signatory Parties defines general policy Status Spare

136

Primary use TV
Lease services 1 Radio Televisione Italiana
(RAI), Italy
2 SAT-1, Germany
3 Olympus, Holland
4 TV5, France New World
Channel Worldnet
6 Sky Channel, UK (S)
7 Teleclub, Switzerland
9 Film Net, Belgium (S)
10 3-SAT, Germany, FR
12 Music Box
Regional Satellite Systems
About 180 earth stations, not standardized, are operating as
receive-only stations for TV signals. By the middle of 19S6
the number of standard earth stations was 18.
5. Services
The services provided by the Eutelsat space segment are as
follows: telephony and telegraphy; television distribution;
satellite multi-service system (SMS) for business telecom-
munications, providing high speed data transmissions, audio
and videoconferencing, remote printing of newspapers, facsi-
mile, interconnection of computers, etc. (2,400 bit/s to 2
Mbit/s).

Name ECS (F2)

Type FSS Eutelsat Members
Orbital position 10°E Country Investment share%
Launch date September 1984
Launcher Ariane Austria 1.96409
Design life (years) 7 Belgium 4.90524
Number of channels 14 Cyprus 0.96709
TWTA power (watts) 20 Denmark 3.27016
Antenna coverage Europe Finland 2. 72181
ITU region 1 France 16.35080
Status Main mission Germany (GFR) 10.78754
Primary use TV/Telephony Greece 3.18043
Lease services 1 EBU Iceland 0.05000
2 Telephony Ireland 0.21934
3 Telephony Italy 11.44556
4 Telephony Liechtenstein 0.05000
5 Telephony Luxembourg 0.21934
6 TV Norge (Norway) Malta 0.05000
7 EBU Monaco 0.05000
8 Telephony Netherlands 5.45359
9 Telephony Norway 2.50247
10 Programme exchanges Portugal 3.05082
11 Telephony San Marino 0.05000
12 Programme exchanges Spain 4.62608
13 International Business Sweden 5.45359
Services Switzerland 4.34692
14 International Business Turkey 0.92721
Services United Kingdom 16.35080
Vatican City 0.05000
4. Earth Stations Yugoslavia 0.95712

The Eutelsat earth segment consists of standard ground

stations in eight European countries (France, UK, Sweden,
Germany (GFR), Italy, Austria, Portugal and Spain).

137
 5. APPLICATIONS SATELLITES
METEOROLOGICAL SA TEL LITES
Weather forecasting has a long tradition of international
collaboration and there are numerous cooperative efforts
involving meteorological satellites. The most notable are the
World Weather Watch (WWW). the Global Atmospheric
Research Programme (GARP) and the Integrated Global
Ocean Station System (IGOS).
In 1972 the operating agencies of the various geostationary
meteorological satellites established a committee for the
Coordination of Geostationary Meteorological Satellites
(CGMS). It consists of the European Space Agency and the
national agencies of Japan. the US. the USSR and India. as
well as representatives from the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO). The CGMS meets annually to coor-
dinate the development and operation of Geostationary
Meteorological Satellites.
International Systems
The World Weather Watch
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO). a special-
ized agency of the UN. seeks to promote the development of
a global meteorological observing system. As such it insti-
gated the World Weather Watch (WWW). The WWW
generates over 40,000 observations daily. It hopes eventually
to have six geostationary satellites designed for global
meteorological observations.
The Global Atmospheric Research Programme
(GARP)
This project took place from I December 1978 to 30
November 1979. Its aim was to improve the knowledge of
global processes that produce changes in weather and
climate. and included observations and measurements by
ships, balloons, aircraft. polar-orbiting satellites and five
geostationary satellites. All 147 members of the WMO
contributed to GARP - the largest cooperative space effort
ever conducted.
Spacecraft
1 Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS or Hima-
wari). Japan at 140°E
1 Meteosat (European Space Agency) at oo
3 Geostationary Meteorological Satellites (GOES), USA at
75°W, 135°W and 60°E.
Meteorological satellites carry cameras or sensors to generate
images of the earth's surface that can be used to make
weather forecasts and study the climatic changes.
Satellites in the geostationary orbit provide a global view of
weather systems. Low-orbiting satellites. usually in a sun-
synchronous orbit, provide additional details.
Regional and National Systems
Europe
The European Space Agency developed the Meteosat pro-
gramme in part as the European contribution to the World
Weather Watch and to the first Global Atmospheric
Research Programme (GARP). Two satellites were laun-
ched: the Meteosat-1 in 1977 and Meteosat-2 in 1981.
Although some parts of the satellites have stopped function-
ing, they are still able to collect and disseminate data to
ground stations in the member countries of the ESA. The
Meteosat series will be continued with the launch of the
Meteosat-P2 satellite in 1987.
India
India's INSAT-1A and INSAT-IB carried a weather
observation system (as well as a communications payload).
The INSA T-1 series gives information on the weather every
half hour.
Japan
Japan launched Himawari or Geostationary Meteorological
Satellites (GMSs) in 1977. 1981 and 1984. The first Himawari
formed part of the World Weather Watch of the WMO. The
Himawari satellites are positioned at 140°E.
United States
The first weather satellite was the TIROS (Television
Infra-Red Observation Satellite), built by RCA. as were its
successors for 20 years, and launched by the United States on
1 April 1960. TIROS I weighed 2fl3 pounds (128 kilogram-
mes) and had a cartwheel configuration - 22 inches (0.56
metres) in height. 42 inches (1.07 metres) in diameter -
rolling along in orbit like a wheel. Two 0.5 inches ( 1.27
centimetres) vidicon TV cameras were mounted 180° apart in
the rim. It operated successfully for nearly three months.
TIROS showed the feasibility of using satellites for weather
observation, and the system soon grew to a pre-operational
satellite programme. Another nine TIROS satellites were
launched in the period from 1960 to 1965.
In the early 1960s NASA initiated a scientific satellite
programme called Nimbus. Satellites were launched in this
programme between 1964 and 1978. The system was
developed to test advanced instruments for the operational
TIROS satellite system and its successors. It also intended to
be a research system for remote sensing and data collection.
In 1966 NASA launched its first Applications Test Satel-
lite, ATS-1, a geostationary satellite equipped with cameras
and transmitters. The satellite transmitted a picture of the
western hemisphere every 20 minutes.
In February 1966 TIROS became an operational system
under the name TOS (TIROS Operational System). The new
139
Satellites International
system provided routine daily worldwide observations with-
out interruption. It used ESSA satellites (Environmental
Science Service Administration). Nine ESSA satellites were
launched between 1966 and 1969. Larger cameras were used
to increase the quality of the cloud cover pictures. The first of
a new generation of satellites was launched on 23 January
1970, the ITOS-1 satellite, or Improved TIROS Operational
Satellite. The ITOS/NOAA satellites operated in sun-
synchronous orbit with an orientation system which pointed
sensors at the earth, giving full meteorological coverage of
land and oceans. ITOS-1 weighed 690 pounds (313 kilo-
grammes) was 49 inches (1.24 metres) in height and had a
width of 40 x 40 inches (1.02 x 1.02 metres). Its array span was
14 feet (4.3 metres). It carried two automatic picture trans-
mission TVs and two advanced l-inch (2.54 centimetres)
Vidicon camera systems.
A second satellite in this series was launched in December
1970 under the name of NOAA-1, following the name of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the
successor of ESSA. Between 1970 and 1976 four more
satellites were put into orbit: NOAA 2, 3, 4 and 5.
The development of operational polar-orbiting environ-
mental satellites continued and a third generation emerged.
The new satellites were equipped with a very accurate system
for mapping sea-surface temperatures and had the capability
to identify snow and sea-ice. The series started off with the
launch of the TIROS-N on 13 October 1978 and continued
with NOAA-6 to NOAA-9launched between 1978 and 1984.
A pre-operational geosychronous system was developed by
NASA in the early 1970s. The first Synchronous Meteorolo-
gical Satellite (SMS-1) was designed by NASA and built by
the Ford Corporation. It was equipped with a 40-centimetre
telescope for visible and infra-red scanning. SMS also
gathered data from remote weather stations. SMS-2 was
launched in February 1975 and the first operational version a
few months later in the same year. The operational system
was called Geostationary Operational Environmental Satel-
lite (GOES). Six GOES satellites were launched up to 1984 to
provide data from geosynchronous orbit.
USSR
The USSR's first experiments with weather satellites were
carried out with the regular Cosmos satellites. From 1969 to
1980 a series of 30 dedicated Meteor-1 satellites was launched
followed by 11 Meteor-2 satellites from 1975 to 1984.
The Meteor satellites scan the Earth from pole to pole and
store data for transmission on command to 50 receiving
stations.
REMOTE SENSING
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an
object or surface from a distance. Satellites can provide
photographs and images about the Earth's surface and what
lies above or immediately below it. The satellite's sensors can
pick up both optical and infra-red signals and by knowing, for
instance, the temperature of the signals being emitted it is
possible to deduce the state of crops and of large areas of
water. By passing over the same piece of land at regular
intervals a satellite can produce a series of images to show
sequential changes, SEASAT (1978) for instance, covered
95% of the world's oceans every 36 hours, taking more
information in a single day than had been possible in decades.
This information is regularly used to deduce information
about the state of the Earth and of crops (indicating the best
140
time to plant and to cut), data about the oceans indicating
where fish are likely to be present. a variety of information
assisting in forecasts of weather and climate: wave heights,
which are a crucial factor in ocean transportation: and
information about the likelihood of mineral oils and other
geological resources.
Specialist sensing satellites have been developed by the US
and by France. Several other countries have used telecom-
munication satellites to provide some capacity for remote
sensing. The ESA's Spacelab also carried out experiments in
remote sensing.
Remote sensing originally depended on balloons and
aircraft. It was not until the first Landsat was launched in
1972, producing images with resolutions down to 80 metres,
that the potential of using satellites was realized. As well as
the US, the sole operators of Landsat. other countries moved
to set up their own receiving stations. Canada was the first,
then Brazil and Italy.
NAVIGATION
The first dedicated navigation satellite system was the Transit
system, made for the US Navy. This series of satellites
orbited at approximately 1.600 kilometres in polar orbit. The
satellites transmitted continuous signals which could be
picked up by antennas on nuclear-powered submarines so
that the crew could determine the location of a ship with
considerable accuracv.
The current US N;{vy navigation satellite system consists of
nine Navstar satellites, launched between 1978 and 1984. It
may be replaced by a new navigation system called the Global
Positioning System which gives a very accurate performance
for both position location and navigation. The US may allow
other countries to access this sytem.
The Inmarsat convention also gives provisions for the
development of an international navigation satellite system.
Inmarsat has initiated studies to determine the technical and
economic feasibility of such a system.
The navigation satellite system operated by the USSR
consists of Tsikada satellites which service ships, oil rigs and
floating military bases.
SEARCH AND RESCUE
Two satellite systems are equipped with devices to aid the
search and rescue of ships, aircraft, etc., in distress. When a
ship is in danger, or an aircraft crashes, it Emergency
Locator Transmitor (EL T) is automatically activated and
transmits signals on a reserved frequency. The signals are
monitored by the nearest satellite and retransmitted to the
earth. As the satellite moves towards and then away from the
accident, its measurements of the Doppler effect of the ELT's
signals allow the accident's precise location to be known to
within about 20 kilometres. There are two such systems in
operation, operated respectively by the USSR and a group of
other countries which agreed in 1980 to provide a com-
plementary service.
The Satellite Aided Search and Rescue (SARSA T) system
was initiated by Canada, France and the US, who were later
joined by Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and
the UK. It is operated by the US, and uses capacity on the US
NOAA-E weather satellite launched in 1983. It now uses
NOAA-8 and NOAA-9, both of which are equipped with
special repeaters. There are receive-only stations in Canada,
France and the US.
 Applications Satellites
The USSR Space System for Vessels and Aircraft in Receive stations have been set up in Moscow. Archangel and
Distress (COSPAS) was set up by the USSR in 1982. It Vladivostok.
consists of three satellites: Cosmos 1383, 1447 and 1574.

141
 6. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS A-Z
ABU
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
PO Box 1164 Jalan Pantai Bharu, Kuala Lumpur 22-07,
Malaysia
Telephone: (3) 44 35 92 Telex: 32237 ABU
AIR
Asociacion Interamericana de Radiodifusion
Calle Yi, no. 1264. Montevideo.
Uruguay
Telephone: (2) 90 44 56 Telex: 834 AIR UY
APT
Asia-Pacific Telecommunity
5, Chaengwattana Road, Bangkok 5, Thailand
Telephone: 2 233 3434 Telex: 84198 APTELBK TH
ARABSAT
Arab Satellite Communications Organization
PO Box 1038 Riyadh. Saudi Arabia
Telephone: (1) 464 66 66 Telex: 201300 ARBSAT SJ
ASBU
Arab States Broadcasting Union General Secretariat
17, rue El-Mansoura. BP 65. Al-Menzah IV, Tunis, Tunisia
Telephone: (1) 23 S8 18 Telex: 13398 TN
ASETA
Asociacion de Empresas Estatales de Telecomunicaciones del
Acuerdo
Sub-regional Andino. San Ignacio no. 969 y Jonas Guerrero.
Casilla postal 6042. Quito. Ecuador
Telephone: (2) 54 98 55 Telex: 2S60
Association Internationale de Signalisation Maritime
13, rue Yvon Villarceau, F 75116 Paris. France
Telephone: (l) 500 38 60 Telex: 610480F IALASM
ATU
Arab Telecommunication Union
PO Box 2S015, Baghdad. Iraq
Telephone: ( 1) 555 0638 Telex: 2007 A TU IK
CEPT
Conference Europeene des Administrations des Postes et des
Telecommunications
Direction generale des postes et des telegraphes. DK-1530,
Copenhagen V, Denmark
Telephone: I 15 66 10 Telex: 911 1845 CEPTDK TTX DK
Fax: 45 114 50 26
Conference Europeenne des Administrations des Postes et
des Telecommunications
Office de liaison de Ia CEPT. Seilerstrasse 22,
Case postale 1283, CH-3001. Berne, Switzerland
Telephone: 31 62 20 79 Telex: 911089 CEPT CH
Fax: 31 62 20 78
CITEL
Conferencia Interamericana de Telecomunicaciones
Torre Central de Telecommunicaciones, Eje Central Lazaro
Cardenas 567, 0320-Mexico DF
Telephone: (5) 534 16 91 Telex: 1773980 DAITME/170956
SQPAME
CITEL
Conferencia Interamericana de Telecomunicaciones
1889, F Street NW OAS, Washington DC 20006. USA
Telephone: (202) 789 3194 Telex: ITT 440392 OAS UI
RCA 248381 OAS UR
Comite International Radio Maritime
General Secretariat: Pier Head House, Narrow Street,
London El4 8DQ. UK
Telephone: (01) 790 66 04 Telex: 8956139 COMSUP G
Conseil International des Unions Scientifiques
51, Boulevard de Montmorency. F 75016 Paris. France
Telephone: (1) 4525 03 29 Telex: 630553F ICSU
COSPAR
Committee on Space Research Secretariat
51, Boulevard de Montmorency, F 75016 Paris, France
Telephone: (1) 4525 06 79 Telex: 630553F ICSU COSPAR
EBU
European Broadcasting Union
Head Office: Ancienne Route 17. Case postale 193, CH 1211
Geneva 20, Switzerland
Telephone: (22) 9S 77 66 Telex: 289193 UER CH
EBU Technical Centre
32, Avenue Albert-Lancaster, B 1180 Brussels, Belgium
Telephone: (2) 374 58 30 Telex: 21230 A EBUER B, 21939
B EBUER B
ESA
European Space Agency
S-10, rue Mario-Nikis, F 7573S Paris Cedex 15. France
Telephone: (1) 4567 55 78 Telex: 202746 ESA
EUTELSAT
European Telecommunications Satellite Organization
Tour Maine-Montparnasse, 33 Avenue du Maine, F 75755
Paris Cedex 15. France
Telephone: (1) 538 47 47 Telex: 203823 EUSAT
Gulfvision
PO Box 6802. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Telephone: 402 08 06 Telex: 20211S GULFTV SJ
Fax: (1) 403 2912
143
Satellites International
IAAB
Inter-American Association of Broadcasters
Calle 11, no. 1264, Montevideo, Uruguay
Telephone: (2) 90 44 56 Telex: 843 AIR UY
IAF
International Astronautical Federation
250, rue Saint-Jacques, F 75005 Paris, France
Telephone: (1) 4633 78 42
IBI
Intergovermental Bureau for Informatics
PO Box 10253, 23 viale Civilta del Lavoro, I-00144 Rome,
Italy
Telephone: (6) 591 60 41 Telex: 612065 I IBINF
ICC
International Chamber of Commerce
38, cours Albert 1cr. F 75008 Paris, France
Telephone: (1) 4261 85 97 Telex: 650770 INCOMERC Paris
IIC
International Institute of Communications
Tavistock House South, Tavistock Square,
London WC1H 9LF, UK
Telephone: (01) 388 0671 Telex: 24578
Fax: (01) 380 0623
INMARSAT
International Maritime Satellite
Organization
40 Melton Street, London NW1 2EO, UK
Telephone: (01) 387 90 89 Telex: 264604 INMSAT G
INTELSAT
International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
3400, International Drive N .W,
Washington. DC 20008, USA
Telephone: (202) 944 03 33 Telex: (via WUT) 892707
(via WUT) 64290
INTERSPUTNIK
International Organization of Space Communications
2 Smolensky 1/4, Moscow 121099, USSR
Telephone: (95) 244 03 33 Telex: 411288 DISK SU
INTUG
International Telecommunications Users Group
26 Elmfield Road, Bromley, Kent, UK
Telephone: (09) 634 40 00
IPTC
International Press Telecommunications Council
Studio House, Hen and Chickens Court, 184 Fleet Street,
London EC4A 2DU, UK
Telephone: (01) 405 26 08
ITU
International Telecommunication Union
Place des Nations, CH 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Telephone: (022) 34 60 21 Telex: 23000
144
ISO
International Standards Organization
1 rue de Varembe. CH 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Telephone: (022) 34 12 40 Telex: 23887 ISOCH
NANBA
North American National Broadcasters Association
1500 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 315, Canada
Telephone: (613) 731 3111 Telex: 05 34260
OIRT
Organisation Internationale de Radiodiffusion et Television
Technical Centre, Skokansk, 16956 Prague 6,
Czechoslovakia
Telephone: (02) 34 21 639 Telex: 122444/122371
OTI
Organizacion de Ia Television Ibero-Americana
Varsovia 44, piso 40, Mexico
Telephone: (5) 533 1286 Telex: 177 1140/177 7526
PATU
Union panafricaine des telecommunications
Boite postale 8634, Kinshasa 1, Zaire
Telephone: 22 175 Telex: 21049 ZR
SITA
Societe Internationale de Telecommunications
Aeronautiques
Direction generale, 112, avenue Charles-de-Gaulle,
F 92522 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Telephone: (1) 4758 13 22
SWIFT
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Telecommunication
81, Avenue Ernest Solway,
B 1310 La Hulpe, Belgium
Telephone: (02) 219 42 90 Telex: 26532 SWIBRU
UAI
Union Astronomique Internationale
61 avenue de I'Observatoire, F 75014 Paris, France
Telephone: (l) 325 83 58
UNESCO
United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization
7 Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris, France
Telephone: (1) 4568
URSI
Union Radio-Scientifique Internationale
32 avenue Albert Lancaster, B 1180 Brussels, Belgium
Telephone: (02) 374 13 08
URTNA
Union des Radiodiffusions et Televisions Nationales
d'Afrique
101, rue Carnot, Boite postale 3237, Dakar, Senegal
Telephone: 21 16 25 Telex: 650 URTNA SG
SECTION Ill
 Albania

AFGHANISTAN

Government Departments Space Segment

Ministry of Communications Uses Intelsat and Intersputnik.

Kabul
Telephone: 21444 Telex: 297 MOC AF
Earth Station Facilities
Ministry of Communications
Technical Presidency of Radio and TV
Kabul There are plans to install an Intersputnik earth station near
Telephone: 20572 Telex: 297 MOC AF Kabul, which would consist of a Lotus 30m diameter antenna.
Plans for an Intelsat Standard A installation to operate in the
Indian Ocean region, agreed in 1979, have been abandoned.

Broadcasting

People's Radio and TV

PO Box 544, Kabul
Telephone: 25241

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Membership %Share

ITU 192R 0.0318066
Intelsat 1973 0.05
lntersputnik 19Rl $13,000 + an additional
contribution based on
utilization of space
segment

ALBANIA

Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

Direction-General of Posts and Telecommunications Organization Date of Membership %Share

42 rue Myslym Shryi, Tirane ITU 1922 0.0636132
Telephone: 7944 Telex: 2174 GENTEL AB

Direction-General of Radio and Television Space Segment

16 rue Lek Dukagjini, Tirane
Telephone: 7745
None.

Broadcasting

Radiotelevisione Shqiptar
Rruga Ismail Qemali, Tirane
Telephone: 3239

147
Algeria

ALGERIA

Government Departments Space Segment

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications There are no national facilities. Algeria uses Intelsat,
4 Boulevard Salah Bouakouir, Algiers Intersputnik, Inmarsat and Arabsat. Thin-route telephony
Telephone: 611220 Telex: 52020 GENTEL ALGER; 52022 and receive-only TV services are provided via 1 V2 transpon-
SECGEN ALGER ders leased from Intelsat on a pre-eruptible basis. A domestic
satellite system with 19 permanent and one transportable
earth station is planned.
Broadcasting
Earth Station Facilities
Radiodiffusion Television Algerienne
21 Boulevard des Martyrs, Algiers Antenna Date
Telephone: 602350 Telex: 52042 RT A ALGER System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Lakhdaria-1 A IP 25 June 1975
Intelsat Lakhdaria-3 A AP 13 January 1977
Membership of International Organizations Domsat: 15 earth stations, 11m antenna, provide access for
the domestic satellite system, via Intelsat.
Arabsat: one main earth station with an 11-12m diameter
Organization Date of Membership %Share antenna.
ITU 1963 0.2544529 Inmarsat: one coastal earth station with an 11-13m diameter
Intelsat 1973 0.362102 antenna.
Arabsat 1976 0.9 Eutelsat/Eurovision: A transmit/receive earth station, 10-15m
Inmarsat 1979 0.05 diameter antenna, may be built.

ANGOLA

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministerio dos Transportes e Comunica~oes Televisao Popular de Angola

Avenida 4 de Fevereiro No. 42-9°, Luanda Caixa Postal 2604, Luanda
Telephone: (2) 372668 Telex: 3108 MIN TEC AN Telephone: 20531 Telex: 3238 TPA AN

Radio Nacional de Angola

Telecommunications
Empresa Publica de Telecomunica~6es (Eptel)
Caixa Postal 625, Luanda
Telephone: (2) 331032 Telex: 3012 EPTEL AN
Caixa Postal 1329, Luanda
Telephone: 39194 Telex: 3121 EMISSARA AN
Membership of International Organizations

Empresa Nacional de Telecomunica~oes Organization Date of Membership %Share

Caixa Postall321, Luanda ITU 1976 0.0636132
Telephone: (2) 331032 Telex: 3030 DSCTT AN Intelsat 1977 0.124739

148
 Argentina

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Angola uses both Intelsat and Intersputnik. A special

Existing
committee has been set up to carry out a study of a satellite
telecommunications system covering the whole country. This
Antenna Date
domestic system would provide general communications
(telephone, telex, telegraphy), data, radio and television
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Cacvaco-1 A AP 22 July 1974
programmes. A pre-feasibility study began in June 1985 and
Intelsat Cacvaco-2 B A1 13 June 1982
the start of the implementation stage is scheduled for the end
of 1987. Meanwhile, a 'future use' inquiry has been received
by Intelsat for a pre-emptible transponder lease operating in Planned
the Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions, from 1988-1992. Angola is considering joining the Intersputnik system (it is
already a user), and if membership is agreed will install an
earth station.

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Government Department Space Segment

Ministry of Public Works and Communications Uses Intelsat.

StJohn's Street, StJohn's
Telephone: (809) 462 0890 Telex: AK 122 Fax: (809) 462
3249
Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Antigua Broadcasting Service Intelsat StJohn's B A2 12 December 1984
PO Box 1280, StJohn's
Telephone: (46) 20012 Telex: 2090 TELCO AK

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Membership

ITU No
Intelsat No

ARGENTINA
The Secretary of State for Communications controls telecom-
Government Departments munications via two monopolies (see below, Encotel and
Entel), and regulates public and private broadcasting.

Secretaria de Comunicaciones
Direccion General de Asuntos Internacionales Telecommunications
4° Pi so, Corrientes 132, Oficina 71, 1000 Buenos Aires
Telephone: 33 94 51 Telex: 21706
Empresa Nacional de Correos y Telegrafos (Encotel)
Sarmiento 151, Oficina 309, 1000 Buenos Aires
Secretaria de Comunicaciones Telephone: (1) 3113748 Telex: 22045 Fax: (1) 312 5060
Sarmiento 189, 1041 Buenos Aires
Telephone: (1) 392 0367 Encotel operates all telegraphy services.

149
Ascension Island
Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Entel)
Rivadavia 622, 2° Piso, 1002 Buenos Aires Space Segment
Telephone: 49 97 87 Telex: 18511 ENTSI AR
Fax: (1) 311 4385
Uses Intelsat and Inmarsat. Domestic and national services
are provided via Intelsat transponder leases. However, the
Entel is the national telecommunications organization
government plans to replace the country's current Intelsat
responsible for the operation and development of the
transponder leasing with a domestic system called Argentsat
telecommunications networks.
(or Nahuel). In April 1985, it filed with the ITU for two
positions in the geosynchronous orbit, at 80°W and 85°~,
both of which were granted. The system will provide
Broadcasting inter-urban and rural telephony services, national and
regional TV distribution and data transmission. Current plans
envisage a high-power (320-360 watts) system. It IS not
Direccion Nacional del Servicio Oficial de Radiodifusion expected to be in service before 1990.
Ayacucho 1156, 1112 Buenos Aires
Telephone: (1) 821 1120 Telex: 21250 RADIODIF AR

Argentina Televisora Color S.A. Earth Station Facilities

Figueroa Acorta 2977, 1425 Buenos Aires

Existing
Space
Antenna Date
Comision Nacional de Investigaciones Espaciales System Location type Coverage operational
Dorrego 4010, 1425 Buenos Aires Intelsat Balcarce-1 A AP 15 September 1969
Telephone: 772 5474 or 771 5258 Telex: 17511 LANBA AR Intelsat Balcarce-2 A A2 17 March 1972
Intelsat Bosque
Alegre A AI 16 September 1982
(Cordoba)
Membership of International Organizations The Inmarsat coastal earth station has an 11-13m diameter
Atlantic Ocean region antenna.
Organization Date of Membership % Share
ITU 1889 0.7633587
Planned
Intelsat 1973 1.152640
38 earth stations are currently being installed to use the 1Y2
Inmarsat 1979 0.14750
transponders leased from Intelsat. Twenty-one additional
Cite!
earth stations will be built to complete the national system.

ASCENSION ISLAND
Government Department Membership of International Organizations

The Council Acsension Island is not a member of the ITU nor Intelsat
Jamestown, St Helena

Space Segment
Telecommunications

Uses Intelsat.
Cable & Wireless pic
Jamestown, St Helena
Telephone: 247 6222
Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Ascension-2 B A-2 9 February 1981
Radio Ascension
Intelsat English Bay B A-2 9 November 1984
c/o BBC Atlantic Relay Station, English Bay, St Helena

150
 Australia

AUSTRALIA
national system. About 80% of the Australian population
Government Department lives in the narrow eastern and south-eastern coastal parts of
Australia. But about 300,000 Australians live in rural regions
outside the coverage area of the national broadcasting
Department of Transport and Communications stations and conventional telecommunications distribution
PO Box 34, Belconnen, ACT 2616 points and a further 1 million have been unable to receive
Telephone: (62) 641177 Telex: 62025 SECCOM AA satisfactory signals from the ABC's radio and television
Fax: (62) 644 000 services. All of this has changed with the introduction of the
Aussat system in 1985-86.

Telecommunications
Domestic System
Overseas Telecommunications Commission
PO Box 7000, Sydney, NSW 2001 A domestic lease on Intelsat has been used to distribute ABC
Telephone: (2) 230 5000 Telex: 20591 OTCOM AA programmes as well as telephony, etc. However, a domestic
Fax: (2) 230 5617 system is now operational.
The Aussat system is owned and operated by Aussat
Australian Telecommunications Commission Proprietary Ltd, which was established on 6 November 1981
Communications House, 199 William Street, Melbourne, as a wholly-owned government body and is now owned 75%
Victoria 3001 by the Australian government and 25% by Telecom
Telephone: (3) 606 5511 Telex: 30146 TELECOM AA Australia.
The Aussat system was built by Hughes. It consists of two
satellites, Aussat I and 2. An in-orbit spare completes the
system.
Broadcasting
The Aussat system provides the following services:
• Homestead and Community Broadcasting Satellite Service
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) (HCBSS) is the prime purpose. Four 30-watt transponders
Box 487, Sydney, NSW 200 I on each satellite operate in four contiguous spot beams
Telephone: (2) 339 0211 Telex: 26889 covering all Australia. The HACBSS will broadcast ABC
radio and television programmes direct to all those people
beyond the reach of the terrestrial networks (300,000) or
Australian Broadcasting Tribunal located in places of difficult or partial reception
153 Walker Street, N. Sydney, NSW 2060 (1,000,000). The HACBSS was set up by the Australian
Telephone: 922 2900 Telex: ABTEE 26683 government and is run by the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation. The HACBSS will be transmitted from the
state capital of each region- Sydney (Southeast); Darwin
Satellite Operators (Central); Brisbane (Northeast); Perth (Western).
• Remote Commercial Television Service (RCTS) is a
commercial version of HCBSS. Four new licences have
Aussat Pty Ltd been granted to commercial companies (one in each
MLC Centre, 19 Martin Place, Sydney 2000 region).
Telephone: 238 7800 Telex: 26921 AUSSAT AA • long-distance telephony;
• telecommunications and broadcasting services for Papua
New Guinea;
Membership of International Organizations • business communications services like teleconferencing
and high speed digital transmission;
• programme feeds for the Australian Broadcasting Cor-
Organization Date of Membership %Share poration (five 12-watt transponders); .
ITU 1978 4.5801526 • programme feeds (encrypted) for the commercial tele-
lntelsat 1973 3.159546 vision networks (seven 12-watt transponders);
Inmarsat 1979 1.31243 • distance education by the Special Broadcasting Service
(SBS) (two transponders);
• aeronautical, marine and land-based transport com-
munications for the Department of Transport.
Space Segment Although Aussat was conceived as a national satellite it has
always had a regional orientation. A Memorandum of
Understanding was agreed with Papua New Guinea in 1982,
Australia uses both Intelsat and Inmarsat. Aussat is the whereby PNG could access the system directly and lease

151
Austria
capacity. The Aussat board also agreed in 1985 to modify
Aussat 3 so that it could provide better coverage of the south
west Pacific, including New Zealand.
communities may form cooperatives to purchase and install
TYRO earth station antenna with diameters of 2.4-3m. The
signals will then be distributed to individual homes by coaxial
cable or via low-power TV transmitters.

Aussat

Earth Station Facilities

Aussat 1 Aussat 2 Aussat 3
Launch July 1985 November 1985 August 1987
Launcher STS STS Ariane
Existing
Weight 650 kg 650 kg 650 kg Date
Antenna
Design life 7 7 7
System Location type Coverage operational
Orbital 156° E 164° E 160° E
Intelsat Carnavon-2 A PS 1 October 1969
position Ceduna-1 A 15 December 1969
Intelsat I1
Channels 15 15 15
lntelsat Ceduna-2 A IP 22 September 1980
Power 11 transponders 11 transponders 11 transponders Moree-1
Intelsat A PS 23 May 1968
at 12 Watts at 12 Watts at 12 Watts pp
Intelsat Moree-2 A 26 July 1982
4 transponders 4 transponders 4 transponders
at 30 Watts at 30 Watts at 30 Watts
Planned
A basic objective of the HACBSS is to allow reception in
Antenna Date
most of the coverage areas via small and relatively inexpen- Coverage operational
System Location type
sive earth stations owned by individual households. The
Intelsat Sydney-2 A PP December 1987
typical dish will be 1.2-l.Sm in diameter. In addition,

AUSTRIA

Government Departments Space Segment

Bundesministerium Fur Verkehr (Ministry of Transport) Uses Intelsat.

Elizabethstrasse 9, A-1010 Vienna
Telephone: (222) 547 564 10; 515 510 Telex: 111800
Membership of International Organizations
Generaldirektion ftir die Post und Telegraphenverwaltung
Postgasse 8, A-1011 Vienna
Telephone: (222) 52 6611; 512 9462 Telex: 112300 GENT A Organization Date of Membership %Share
Fax: (222) 512 8414 ITU 1866 0.2544529
Intelsat 1972 0.3

Telecommunications Earth Station Facilities

Fernmeldetechnisches Zentralamt Existing

Postfach 111, A-1103 Vienna
Telephone: (222) 78 1511 Telex: 131722 FZAWN A Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Aflenz-1 A AP 10 December 1979
Broadcasting Intelsat Aflenz-3 A IP 12 October 1985

Osterreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) Planned

Wiirzburggasse 30, A-1136 Vienna
Telephone: 8291 Telex: 132397, 132096 ORF DR A Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
intelsat Aflenz-4 A Al July 1990
Radio Austria AG
Renngasse 14, A 1010-Vienna
Telephone: (222) 636 6510 -teleX: 74732 RADAUS A;
74331 RADAUS A Fax: (222) 63 1100

152
 Bahrain

BAHAMAS

Government Department Space Segment

Ministry of Works and Utilities Uses Intelsat.

PO Box 8156, Nassau
Telephone: (32) 2 4830 Telex: 20135 BATEL CO Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Membership %Share

Telecommunications
ITU 1974 0.1272264
Intelsat 1985 0.05
Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (Batelco)
Cite!
PO Box N3048, Nassau
Telephone: 34911 Telex: 20135 BA TEL CO

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
PO Box N1347, Nassau
Intelsat NA A A2 June 1986
Telephone: (32) 2 4623 Telex: 20253 ZNS

BAHRAIN

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministry of Transportation Telecommunications Office Bahrain Television

PO Box 11170, Manama c/o Ministry of Information, see above
Telephone: 25 70 10 Telex: 8989 MINCOM BU
Bahrain Radio
Ministry of Information c/o Ministry of Information, see above
PO Box 253, Manama
Telephone: 243311 Telex: 8399 INFORM BN
Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

Telecommunications
ITU 1975 0.1272264
Intelsat No
Bahrain Telecommunications Company (BATELCO) Inmarsat 1986 0.05 (provisional)
PO Box 14, Manama Arabsat 1976 0.04
Telephone: 270270 Telex: 8205 BTCTCC BN

153
Bangladesh
Planned
Space Segment One land-based mobile earth station is being built for
maritime communications via Inmarsat.
Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Arabsat.

Earth Station Facilities

Existing

Amenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Ras Abn Jarjur-1 A A2 14July1969
Intelsat Ras Abn Jarjur-2 A 1P 9 February 1980
Arabsat Ras Abn Jarjur 11-12m Arabsat1986

BANGLADESH
Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones Organization Date of Joining o/c Share
Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka 2 ITU 1973 0.0318066
Intelsat 1976 0.104614
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka 2
Space Segment

Uses Intelsat.
Telecommunications
Earth Station Facilities
Telegraph and Telephone Board of Bangladesh
Central Office, Telejogajog Bhaban 36/1 Mymensing Road,
Dhakar 27 Existing
Telephone: (2) 316 444 Telex: 642020 BTTB BJ
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Betbunia A IP 24 April1975
Broadcasting Intelsat Talibabad B IP 30 December 1981

Bangladesh Television Planned

Rampura, Dhaka Bangladesh may participate in Insat in the late 1980s and, if it
Telephone: (2) 403 150; (2) 503 342 does, it will build a second earth station at Betbunia, with a
28-channel capacity.

154
 Belgium

BARBADOS

Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining o/c Share

Ministry of Transport, Works and Telecommunications ().0636132
ITU 1967
The Pine, St. Michael
Intelsat 1984 0.05
Telephone: (809) 75 628
Cite!

Ministry of Information and Culture

Culloden Farm, Culloden Road, St. Michael
Telephone: (809) 75628
Space Segment

Telecommunications Uses Intelsat.

Barbados External Telecommunications Ltd

PO Box 32, Bridgetown Earth Station Facilities
Telephone: (809) 42 75 200 Telex: 2262

Cable and Wireless (West Indies) Ltd Existing

PO Box 614, Bridgetown
Telephone: (809) 75200 Telex: 2262 ADMINBAR WB Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Barbados A A1 3 October 1972
Broadcasting

Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation

PO Box 900, Bridgetown
Telephone: (809) 92040 Telex: WB284

BELGIUM

Government Departments Telecommunications

Regie des Telegraphes et des Telephones de Belgique (RTT)

Algemene Dienft der Posterigen (Ministry of Transport)
Leuvensesteenweg 479-493, B-1030 Brussels
Telephone: (2) 735 64 68
42 rue des Palais, B-1030 Brussels
Telephone: (2) 213 41 11 Telex: 29154
Fax: (2) 218 2839

Cabinet du Ministre-President de Ia Communaute Fran~;aise

de Belgique
19AD Avenue des Arts, B-1040 Brussels
Telephone: (2) 217 17 09 Broadcasting

Kabinet van de Gemeenschap- Minister van Kultur Belgische Radio en Televisie (BRT)
Jozef II Straat 30, B-1040 Brussels Omroepcentrum, A Reyerslaan 52, B-1040 Brussels
Telephone: (2) 219 02 37 Telephone: 737 3111 Telex: 22486

155
Belize
Radiodiffusion Television Beige de Ia Communaute Culturelle
Fran"aise (RTBF) Space Segment
Boulevard Auguste Reyers 52, B-1040 Brussels
Telephone: 737 2111 Telex: 21010 RTBF JTV BRU
Uses Intelsat, Entelsat & Inmarsat.

Belgisches Rundfunk und Fernsehzentrum ftir

Deutschsprachige Sendungen Earth Station Facilities
Boulevard August Reyers 54, B-1040 Brussels
Telephone: 737 3449 Telex: 49427 BRFEU B
Existing
Membership of International Organizations
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Organization Date of Joining %Share Intelsat Brussels EO-I AS 1 March 1986 (p)
ITU 1866 1.0546 Intelsat Lessire-1 A AP 3 August 1972
Intelsat 1972 0.745004 Intelsat Lessire-2 A A2 24 October 1983
Eutelsat 1983 4.90524 Inmarsat
Inmarsat 1979 0.33177

Space

Centre d'lnformation Spatiale (CIS)

Route de Ia Croix-Maga 54, B-4860 Pepinster
Telephone: (87) 461139 Telex: 62149 A VIANEWS

BELIZE
Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Defence and Home Affairs Organization Date of Joining %Share

Belmopan ITU 1981 0.0318066

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Independence Hill, Belmopan Space Segment
Telex: 102
Uses Intelsat.
Telecommunications

Earth Station Facilities

Belize Telecommunications Authority
PO Box 603, Belize City
Telex: 246 BT A Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Cable and Wireless Intelsat Belmopan B A2 29 July 1979
PO Box 414, Belize City Intelsat Minitas N A2 October 1986 (p)
Telephone: (02) 45123 Telex: 222 CWADMIN

Broadcasting

Radio Belize
PO Box 89, Belize City
Telephone: (02) 72468

156
 Bermuda

BENIN

Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Transportation et des Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Cotonou ITU 1961 0.0636132
Intelsat 1987 0.050000
Office des Postes et Telecommunications
Cotonou Space Segment
Telephone: 31 20 45 Telex: 5206

Uses Intelsat.
Broadcasting
Earth Station Facilities
Office de Radiodiffusion et Television du Benin
BP 366, Cotonou
Telephone: 312041 Telex: ORTB 5132 Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Abomey-Calavi A AP 13 June 1984

BERMUDA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Transport Via UK.

Hamilton

Space Segment
Telecommunications

Uses Intelsat.
Department of Telecommunications
·Court Street and Front Street, Hamilton
Telephone: (29) 5 5151 Telex: 3633 RADIO BA
Earth Station Facilities
The Bermuda Telephone Co. Ltd.
PO Box 1021, Cedar Avenue, Hamilton 5 Antenna Date
Telephone: (29) 5 1001 Telex: 3201 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat NN (IBS) B AS June 1986
Cable & Wireless pic Intelsat Devonshire- I B Al 21 November 1978
Church Street West, Hamilton 5 lntelsat Devenshire-2 A A2 24 Aprill984
Telephone: (29) 5 4777 Telex: 3222

Broadcasting

ZBM-ZFB Radio and Television

Box 452, Hamilton 5
Telephone: (29) 5 2828 Telex: 3702 ZBM-BA

157
Bhutan

BHUTAN

Government Department Satellite Facilities

Ministry of Communications and Tourism Bhutan has no existing satellite communications facilities and
Department of Posts and Telegraphs, has no plans to install any.
Royal Government of Bhutan,
Tashichho Dzong, Thimpu
Telephone: 2296

Broadcasting

Radio Nyab (The Broadcasting Division of the Ministry of

Communications & Tourism)
PO Box 1, Thimphu

BOLIVIA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Direccion General de Telecomunicaciones Organization Date of Joining %Share

Cajon Postal4475, La Paz ITU 1907 0.0636132
Telephone: (2) 26 87 88 Telex: 2595 GENTEL BV Intelsat 1974 0.123670
Cite!

Telecommunications

Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Entel)

Space Segment
Edificio Entel, Ayacucho S/N, Casilla Postal4450, La Paz
Telephone: (2) 36 74 74 Telex: 2303 ENT GET BV, 2321 Uses Intelsat.
ENTGETBV

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting

Antenna Date
Empresa Nacional de Television Boliviana System Location type Coverage operational
Casilla 900, La Paz Intelsat Tiwanacu A AP 19 December 1978
Telephone: (2) 32 32 92 Telex: 2312 TV BOL

158
 Brazil

BOTSWANA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Works and Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Private Bag 007, Gaborone ITU 1968 0.1272264
Telephone: (31) 55303 Telex: 2414 PULA BD

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Botswana Telecommunications Corporation

PO Box 700, Gaborone Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: (31) 53611 Telex: 2252 TELHQ BD

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting

Radio Botswana Antenna Date

Private Bag 0600, Gaborone System Location type Coverage operational
Telephone: (31) 52541 Telex: 2409 BD Intelsat K'gale B A1 23 January 1980

BRAZIL
<;6es, which is the holding company for both Em bra tel and the
Government Department state telephone companies. It was authorized in 1982 to
contract, install and operate Brasilsat. The Departamento de
Comunicacoes Domesticas via Sate lite (SAT) coordinates the
Ministerio das Comunica~oes
operation of all the earth stations.
Esplanada dos Ministerios, Bloco R, 6° andar, 70-044 Brasilia
Telephone: (61) 223 4992 Telex: 611994 MNCO BR;
611456 MNCO BR
Broadcasting
Departamento Nacional de Telecomunica~oes (Dentel)
Ministerio das Comunica<;6es
Telephone: Esplanada dos Ministerio, 7000 Brasilia DF Associacao Brasileria de Emissoras de Radio e Televisao
(ABERT)
Rue Barao do Flamengo 32, 4° andar, 20000 Rio de Janeiro

TVGiobo
Telecommunications rua Lopes Quintas 303
20000 Rio de Janeiro
Telephone: (21) 294 7732 Telex: 2122795 TVGB BR
Empn:sa Brasiliera de Telecomunica~oes (Embratel)
Avenida Presidente Vargas 1012, 150 Andar, 20 071 Rio de
Janeiro
Telephone: (21) 2832149 Telex: 2168182,2121810 EBTL Space
BR

Embratel is the state owned company set up in 1965 that Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)
operates and develops Brazil's telecommunications and tele- CP 15, 12200 Sao Jose dos Campos
vision networks. It reports to the Ministerio das Comunica- INPE is the Brazilian space research centre.

159
Brazil
EIRP 34dBW
Membership of International Organizations TWTA power (watts) 9.6
Antenna coverage South America
/TV Region 2
Organization Date of Joining %Share Status main
ITU 1877 0.7633587 Primary use Telephony/TV
Intelsat 1973 3.041419 Lease services I H Rede Globo TV
Inmarsat 1979 0.84965
5H Bandeirantes TV
CITEL
ISH Embratel:
occasional video feeds
18V Embratel:
occasional video feeds
Space Segment 24V Embratel:
occasional video feeds

Brazil uses Intelsat and Inmarsat. Brazil's experience with SBTSA2

domestic satellite communications started in 1974 with the Manufacturer Hughes 376
lease of an Intelsat transponder, thus allowing telecom- Orbital Position 70°W
munications to be provided through most of the country's 8.5 Launch Date March 1986
million square kilometres. A few years later it began to plan Launcher Ariane
its own domestic system. The Brazilsat (Brazilian Satellite Design life (years) 8-10
Communications System) contract was signed on 1 July 1982. Number of channels 24
Embratel contracted Spar Aerospace for the supply of two Bands 4/6 GHz
Hughes Aircraft satellites and the associated earth equipment EIRP 34dBW
(including TIC&M stations). The spacecraft were launched TWTA power (watts) 9.6
in February and December 1985 on Ariane III rockets. Antenna coverage South America
Brazilsat-A1 took over seven transponders of video and /TV Region 2
telephony traffic from Intelsat transponder leases (Intelsat Status spare
IV A at 21.5" W) as well as transmissions of the Dede Globo Primary use
and Bandierantes TV networks. Brazilsat-A2 is an in-orbit Lease services
spare. Brazil may lease excess capacity to neighbouring
countries.

Earth Station Facilities

The Brazilsat System
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
SBTSAJ Intelsat Morungaba A A2 July 1986
Manufacturer Hughes 376 Intelsat Natal B AP 11 October 1978
Orbital Position 65°W Intelsat Tangua-1 A AP 22 February 1969
Launch Date February 1986 Intelsat Tangua-2 A AI 4 Aprill975
Launcher Ariane Inmarsat CES 1980
Design life (years) 8-10
Number of channels 24 Forty earth stations have been built, mainly in the Amazon
Bands 4/6 GHz regions, for domestic telephony.

160
 Bulgaria

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
Government Department Space Segment

Department of Communications Uses Intersat.

Telecommunications Department, Bandar Seri Begawan
Telephone: (2) 26171; (2) 42 324 Telex: 2277
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Bandar Seri Begawan Intelsat Telisai-1 B pp 3 September 1979
Negara Brunei Intelsat Telisai-2 A 1P 15 May 1983
Telephone: (2) 23111

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1984 0.12637
A SEAN 1967

BULGARIA
Government Department Membership of International Organizations

National Association of Posts and Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Sofia ITU 1880 0.2544529
Telephone: 871420 Telex: 22846 GENTEL BG Inmarsat 1979 0.10886
Intersputnik 1972 $13,000 plus
additional
Broadcasting contribution
based on
utilization of
Radiodifusion Bulgare space segment
4 Bul. Gr. Tzankov, Sofia
Telephone: 871044 Telex: 22557 RADIO BG
Space Segment
Television Bulgare
2 T. Strachimirov, Sofia
Telephone: 4421 05 Telex: 22581 BT SOF BG Uses Intersputnik & Inmarsat.

161
Burkina Faso

BURKINA FASO

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Transports et des Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Ouagadougou ITU 1962 0.0318066
Telephone: 33 2756 Telex: 5380 Intelsat 1977 0.05

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Direction General de I' Office des Postes et Telecommunications

(ONATEL) Uses Intelsat.
Ouagadougou
Telephone: 33 6476 Telex: 5200 UV
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location tvpe Coverage operational
Radiofusion-Television Burkina
Intelsat Somgarde-1 B A I 1 December 1977
BP 7029, Ouagadougou
Intelsat Somgarde-2 A AP December 1986
Telephone: 33 6801

BURMA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Transport and Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Department of Posts and Telecommunications, 125 ITU 1937 0.1272264
Pansodam Street, Rangoon
Telephone: 77 660 Telex: BM21200

Telecommunications Space Segment

Posts and Telecommunications Corporation Uses Intelsat.

43 Boaunggyaw Street, Rangoon
Telephone: 81566 Telex: BM 2001

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Burma Broadcasting Service Antenna Date

Prome Road, Rangoon
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Rangoon B 1P 1 February 1979
Telephone: 30998

162
 Cameroon

BURUNDI

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Transports, des Postes et Telecommunications

BP 2000, Bujumbura Organization Date of Joining o/c Share
Telephone: 22 2923 Telex: 52 ITU 1963 0.0318066

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Direction Generale des Transports, des Postes et
Telecommunications
BP 2390, Bujumbura Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: 22 5422

Office National des Telecommunications de Burundi (Onate))

BP 60, Bujumbura
Telephone: 22 3196 Telex: 5081; 5082
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
Radiodiffusion du Burundi System Location type Coverage operational
BP 1900, Bujumbura Intelsat Bujumbura-! B lP 10 November 1980
Telephone: 22 3585 Telex: 41 Intelsat Bujumbura-2 A AP 1989

CAMEROON

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Yaounde ITU 1960 0.1272264
Telephone: 22 00 05 Telex: MINPOSTEL 8285 KN; Intelsat 1983 0.242399
MINPOSTEL 8284 KN

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Organization of International Telecommunications
BP 1517, Yaounde
Telephone: 23 40 65 Telex: INTELCAM 8320 KN Uses Intelsat. No national system at present. However, there
are plans by Comsat General on behalf of the ministry to
lease some Intelsat transponder capacity to interlink with
Direction des Telecommunications Standard Z stations.
Yaounde
Telephone: 22 35 50 Telex: MINPOSTEL 8285KN

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting
Antenna Date
National Television System Location type C01·erage operational
BP 1900, Bujumbura Intelsat Douala A AP December 1987
Telephone: 23742 Telex: BDI 5119 Intelsat Zamengoe A AP 13 September 1973

163
Canada

CANADA

Government Department Space

Telesat Canada
Department of Communications 333 River Road, Ottawa, Ontario KIL SB9
Journal North Building, 300 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario Telephone: (613) 746 5920 Telex: 05341S4
KIAOCS
Telephone: (613) 922 0220 Telex: 053 3342 COMTEL OTT
Spar Aerospace Ltd
Fax: (613) 592 1231 6303 Airport Road, Suite 403 Mississauga, Ontario L4V IRS
Telephone: (4I6) 67S 9750 Telex: 06968923
Telecommunications
Spar Aerospace Ltd
Satellite and Aerospace Systems Division, 31025
TransCanada Highway, St Anne de Bellevue, Quebec H9X
CRTC IRS
IOO Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, Ontario KIA ONZ Telephone: (5I4) 475 2150 Telex: 05822792
Telephone: (613) 997 0313 Telex: 0534253
David Florida Laboratory
Telecom Canada Communications Research Centre, Department of
410 Laurier Avenue West, Room 1140, Box 2I40, Station D, Communications, PO Box 11490 Station H, Ottawa, Ontario
Ottawa, Ontario, KIP 6H5 K2HSS2
Telephone: (613) 560 3340 Telex: 053 4934 TCTS ADMIN
OTT ComdevLtd
I55 Sheldon Drive, Cambridge, Ontario
Teleglobe Canada Telephone: (519) 6222300 Telex: 610 366 3164
6SO Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2S4
Telephone: (5I4) 2S9 7272 Telex: 9IOO TGLOBE CA
Fax: (5I4) 2S9 70S3
Space Segment
CNCP Telecommunications
3300 Bloor Street West, Suite I200, West Tower, Toronto, With a population of 25 million spread across such vast
Ontario MSX 2W9 territories, Canada has long recognized the potential benefits
Telephone: (4I6) 232 6229 Telex: 06969695 CNCPFA TOR of space technology. Four early research satellites were
launched in 1962, I965, I969 and I971: the Alouette and ISIS
satellites. Canada has continued to pioneer satellite services.
In I972, Canada became the first country to operate a
Broadcasting domestic telecommunications system with a satellite in
geostationary orbit. The satellite was named Anik, the
Eskimo word for brother. Additional services and channel
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation capacity were provided with the launches of Anik-A2 (I973),
1500 Bronson Avenue, PO Box S47S, Ottawa, Ontario KIG and Anik-A3 (I975).
315 Later, Canada and the US combined their expertise to
Telephone: (613) 7241200 Telex: 062I7796 design and develop the Communications Technology Satel-
lite, Hermes. At the time of its launch in I976, Hermes was
CTV the world's most powerful satellite and the first to operate in
42 Charles Street East, Toronto, Ontario M4Y IT A the 14/I2 GHz frequency bands. The use of these bands
Telephone: (4I6) 92S 6000 Telex: 02267S allowed the use of smaller (2-3 metre diameter) and less
expensive ground stations.
The research begun with Hermes continued with Anik-B,
launched in 197S. This hybrid satellite both in the 6/4 GHz
Membership of International Organizations frequency bands, like Anik-A, and the 14/I2 GHz bands, like
Hermes. The Department of Communications (DOC) spon-
sored a number of pilot projects with the Hermes and Anik-B
Organization Date of Joining %Share
satellites including:
ITU I 90S 4.5SOI526
• Communications services at 6/4 GHz: TV, radio, two-way
lntelsat I973 2.3IS574
voice (FM/FDMA, FM/SCPC and PM/TDMA), telecon-
Inmarsat 1979 4.37929
ferencing, facsimile and data.

I64
 Canada

• Experimental communications services at 14112 GHz: One Status Main

and two-way video, one and two-way audio, video and audio Primary use Telephony/TV
broadcasts, data, facsimile, medical (ECGs, EEGs x-ray) Lease services
transmissions and other data.
To provide a fully commercial service, Canada then built its
Anik-C3
own satellite, the Anik-D series. Anik-01, launched in 1982,
Type FSS
was the first satellite built by a Canadian prime contractor,
Orbital position 117SW
Spar Aerospace Ltd. The Anik-D series will replace the A November 1982
Launch date
and B series. The two D satellites operate only in the 4/6 GHz
Launcher NASA
band.
Design life (years) 10
In addition, the Anik-C series satellites were launched in
Number of channels 16
1982, 1983 and 1985. Each spacecraft has 16 channels and
TWTA power (watts) 15
uses the 12/14 GHz band. The combination of spot-beam Canada
Antenna coverage
antenna patterns, higher transmit power and use of the 14112
/TV region 2
GHz bands means Anik-C satellites are able to work with
Status Main
much smaller earth stations than those needed by more
Primary use Telephony
conventional, lower frequency satellites. 1 Atlantic Television
Lease services
Because of their smaller size, and because higher oper-
2 TVEC
ational frequencies don't interfere with existing terrestrial 3 Premier Choix, AIPT,
microwave communications, Anik-C earth terminals can be
telephony
easily placed in city centres, or mounted on the rooftops of
4 The Knowledge
individual homes. Anik-C can deliver a high quality TV Network, La Sette
picture to a consumer earth terminal equipped with a dish 5 Provincial Alberta
antenna about 1 metre in diameter, making it ideal for direct Access, TV Ontario
broadcast satellite services.
6 Telephony
7 Telephony
Anik-B 8 First Choice, Radio
Type FSS Quebec, telephony
Orbital position 109°W
Launch date December 1978
Design life (years) 7 Anik-Dl
Number of channels: C-band 12 Type FSS
Ku-band 6 Orbital position 104SW
TWTA power (watts): C-band 10 Launch date August 1984
Ku-band 20 Launcher NASA
Antenna coverage: C-band North America Design life (years) 10
Ku-band 25% of Canada Number of channels 24
lTV region 2 TWTA power (watts) 11.5
Status Main Antenna coverage North America
Primary use Telephony /TV region 2
Lease services 8 Inuit Indian TV Status Main
NB: 12 channels are Primary use TV
inactive Lease services 1B The Sports Network
2B CTV/The Global
Network
Anik-Cl 3B MuchMusic
Type FSS 4A CBC
Orbital position 107.5 w 4B CHCH-TV (S), radio
Launch date April1985 5A WDIV-TV (CBS) (S)
Design life (years) 10 6A CBC North, radio
Number of channels: C-band 16 7B TCTV-TV (S), radio
TWTA power (watts): C-band 15 SA CBC North, radio
Antenna coverage: C-band Canada 8B CBC Parliamentary
lTV region 2 Network, CBC North,
Status In storage radio
Primary use 9A CBC Network feeds,
Lease services Cl is for sale or lease radio
9B CITY-TV (S), radio
Anik-C2 lOA CBC North feeds,
Type FSS radio
Orbital position 112.5 w lOB CBTV-TV, radio
Launch date 1983 llA WTVS-TV (PBS) (S)
Design life (years) 10 liB BCTV-TV (S), radio
Number of channels: C-band 16 12A WJBK-TV (NBC)
TWTA power (watts): C-band 15 (S), radio
Antenna coverage: C-band Canada 12B CBC Parliamentary
/TV region 2 Network, radio

165
Cape Verde

Anik-D2 (MSAT) system for Canada by 1990. The programme is to be

Type FSS undertaken in coooperation with the US, as an industry-led
Orbital position 111SW joint endeavour involving NASA, the Department of Com-
Launch date November 1984 munications (Canada). Telesat Canada and a US satellite
Launcher NASA operator.
Design life (years) 10 The estimated use of MSA T will be distributed as follows:
Number of channels 24 Transport (I 77<) ~ trucking. railway, shipping, aviation,
TWTA power (watts) 11.5 busing; Minerals. oiL gas ( 137<) ~exploration, exploitation;
Antenna coverage North America Services ( 13%) ~maintenance of hydro, telecom. pipelines,
ITU region 2 roads; Forestry ( !2o/c) ~ forest management. harvesting;
Status Operational (as from Government (10%) ~law enforcement. coast guard, ambu-
November 1985) lance, fire fighting. fisheries, pollution monitoring, etc.
Lease services Not known Construction (57<) ~ large projects in remote areas; Others
(30%) ~ agriculture, fishing. manufacturing. public com-
munications.

Telesat
Earth Station Facilities

In 1986 Telesat signed a contract with Spar for two powerful Antenna Date
Ku-bond satellites, El and E2, to be launched in 1990. System Location type Cmwage operational
Intelsat Des Laurentides A Al 11 August 1979
Intelsat Lake Cowichan-1 A pp 24 August 1972
Intelsat Lake Cowichan-2 A pp I May 1984
M-SAT Intelsat Mill Village I A A2 24 October 1966
lntelsat Mill Village 2 A AP 29 October 1969
Intelsat Mill Village 3 N AS 30 January 1981
The Canadian government announced in March 1985 its Intelsat Mill Village 4 A A2 20 June 1984
support of a commercial mobile communications satellite Inmarsat - CES

CAPE VERDE

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministerio dos Transportes e Comunica~;oes Organization Date of Joining %Share

Caixa postal15, Praia ITU 1976 0.0318066
Telephone: 614124 Telex: 60 MTC Intelsat 1983 withdrew
1983

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Empresa dos Correios e Telecomunica~;oes
Caixa Postal220, Praia
Telephone: 613126 Telex: 87 PUBLICO CV Uses Intelsat.

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Radio Nacional Antenna Date

BP 940, Praia System Location type Coverage operational
Telephone: Bangui Telex: 2355 Intelsat Varzea B AP 26 January 1983

166
 Central African Republic

CAYMAN ISLANDS

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Via UK.
Executive Council.
George Town, Grand Cayman
Space Segment
Telecommunications
Uses Intelsat.
Cable & Wireless (West Indies) Ltd
Fort Street (PO Box 293), Grand Cayman
Telephone: 2 611 Earth Station Facilities

Antenna Date
Broadcasting System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Grand Cayman B A2 21 August 1980
Radio Cayman
PO Box 1110, George Town, Grand Cayman
Telephone: 97799

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Government Department Space Segment

Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications Uses Intelsat.

Bangui
Telephone: 610211; 612946 Telex: MINIPOSTEL 5304 RC
Earth Station Facilities
Telecommunications
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Direction General des Telecommunications Intelsat M'poko B A1 15 February 1983
Office Centrafrican des Postes et Telecommunications,
Avenue Des Martyrs, Bangui
Telephone: 614301 Telex: DIRTEL 5245

Broadcasting

Radiodiffusion-Television Centrafricaine
BP 940 Bangui
Telephone: 2355

167
Chad

CHAD

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Boite postale 154, N'Djamena ITU 1960 0.0318066
Telephone: 2250 Telex: MINIPT 5254 KD Intelsat 1977 0.05

Telecommunications Space Segment

Direction Generale de I' Office des Postes et Uses Intelsat.

Telecommunications
Boite postale 154, N'Djamena
Telephone: 2233 Telex: ONPTT 5254 KD
Earth Station Facilities
Societe des Telecommunications Internationales du Chad (TIT)
BP 1132, N'Djamena An earth station at Goudji (Intelsat Standard B) has been out
Telephone: 3120 Telex: TIT 5248 of operation since 1979.

Broadcasting

Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne

BP 892, N'Djamena

CHILE
Compania de Telefonos de Chile
Government Department San Martin 50, Santiago
Telephone: (2) 86616 Telex: 240955 CTCH CL
Ministerio de Tran~portes y Telecomunicaciones
Amumltegui 139, Santiago ITT Comunicaciones Mundiales SA
Telephone: (2) 69 131 Telex: 34 1156 Huerfanos 1546, Casilla 3767, Santiago
Telephone: (2) 71 30 05 Telex: 440629 ITTCZ

Telecommunications Texcom Ltd

Avenida Bulnes 79, Oficina 67, Santiago
Telephone: (2) 83 154
Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones SA (Entel)
Casilla 4254, Santiago
Telephone: (2) 712121 Telex: 540562 ENTEL CB Transradio Chilena
Campania de Telecomunicaciones, Bandera 168, Casilla
Other telecommunications operators: 2107, Santiago
Telephone: (2) 7140 24 Telex: 340 260 PBVTR CK
All America Cable & Radio Inc.
Huerfanos 1546, Casilla 3767, Santiago
Telephone: (2) 713025 Telex: 1200 ITTCHILE CC

168
 China

Broadcasting Space Segment

Subsecretaria de Telecomunicaciones Entel has an Intelsat transponder lease, and also uses
Amunategui 139, Santiago. Inmarsat.
Postal Address: Clasificador 120, Correa 21. Santiago
Telephone: 726503 Telex: 40200
Earth Station Facilities
Membership of International Organizations
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Organization Date of Joining %Share Intelsat Longovilo-1 A AP 22July1968
ITU 1908 0.2544529 Intelsat Longovilo-2 A A2 7 October 1977
Intelsat 1973 0.578405
Inmarsat 1981 0.05
Cite!

CHINA

Government Department & Telecommunications Space Segment

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Chinasat

13 West Chang An Road, Beijing Ministry of Aeronautics, PO Box 848. Beijing
Telephone: 660540 Telex: 210126
National Academy of Space Technology
PO Box 2417, Beijing
Broadcasting
China launched its first experimental satellite on 26 April
1970. Since then, it has launched about 17 satellites. The first
CCTV
Chinese geosynchronous communications satellite (STW-1)
Fuxingmenwai, Beijing
was launched on 8 April 1984 and positioned at 125°E.
Telephone: 868471 Telex: 22653 CCTV
China has continued to develop spacecraft and has negoti-
ated with suppliers in Canada, Japan, US and Europe. There
Central People's Broadcasting Station are separate plans for telecommunications and broadcasting.
Hsi chang An Chieh 3, Beijing Meanwhile, the government has taken an Intelsat lease, and
is constructing earth stations in each province and auton-
omous republic.
Membership of International Organizations China has its own launch facilities.

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1920 2.5445292
Intelsat 1981 0.496820
Inmarsat 1979 0.39061

169
Colombia

The STW System Earth Station Facilities

STW-1 Antenna Date

Type FSS System Location trpe Co\'erage operational
Orbital position 124°E Intelsat Beijing-! A pp 14June1973
Launch date April1984 Intelsat Beijing-2 A IP 15 March 1974
Launcher Intelsat Beijing-3 A II 10 March 1982
Design life (years) 3 Intelsat Shanghai A pp 5 September 1973
Number of channels: C-band 2
TWTA power (watts) 4.4
Antenna coverage China
/TU region 3
Status Experimental
Primary use Communications experiments

STW-2
Type FSS
Orbital positian 103°E
Launch date February 1986
Launcher
Design life (years) 3
Number of channels: C-band 2
TWTA power (watts) 4.4
Antenna coverage China
ITU region 3
Status Experimental
Primary use Communications experiments

COLOMBIA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministerio de Comunicaciones Organization Date of Joining o/r: Share

Edificio Murillo Toro, Carreras 7y 8x Calle 13, Bogota DEl ITU 1914 0.2544529
Telephone: (1) 415532 Telex: 44284 MINCOCO Intelsat 1974 1.1
Cite!

Telecommunications
Empresa National de Telecomunicaciones (Telecom)
Calle 23 No 13-49, Bogota DE
Telephone: (1) 420660 Telex: 44280 ENTP CO
Departamento Administrativo de Aeronautica Civil
Aeropuerto elDorado, Bogota DE
Telephone: 669200 Telex: 44844, 44620 DAAC CO
Space Segment
Uses Intelsat.
Colombia does not have a national system. However,
Telecom has leased three Intelsat transponders. Plans for a
national system have been abandoned and the Condor system
for the Andean countries is a priority.

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting

Antenna Date
Instituto Nacional de Radio y Television System Location type Coverage operational
Avenida elDorado, Bogota DE Intelsat Choconta-1 A AI 17March 1970
Telephone: 446782 Telex: 44311 INRA CO Intelsat Choconta-2 A AP 9 June 1981

170
 Cook Islands

CONGO

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining CfC Share

Office National de~ Po~tes et Telecommunication de Ia ITU 1960 0.1272264
Republique Populaire du Congo (ONPT), Brazzaville Intelsat 1977 0.05
Telephone: 81 16 86 Telex: OFI POSTEL 5208 KG

Space Segment
Telecommunications

Uses Intelsat.
Office of International Telecommunications (Intelco)
Brazzaville
Telephone: 81 16 86
Earth Station Facilities .

Broadcasting Antenna Date

System Location type Corerage operational
Intelsat Mougouri A AP 27 April 1978
Radiodiffusion-Television Congolaise
BP 2241, Brazzaville
Telephone: 81 24 73

COOK ISLANDS

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Post Office Via New Zealand

Rarotonga
Telex: 62010 CO MDIV RG

Space Segment
Telecommunications
Uses Intelsat.
Cable & Wireless pic
PO Box 47, Avarua, Rarotonga
Telephone: 6822 26171 Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Antenna Date

System Location type Corerage operational
Intelsat Avarua B PP 28 February 1980
Cook Islands Broadcasting and Newspaper Corporation
PO Box 126, Avarua, Rarotonga
Telephone: 20100

171
Costa Rica

COSTA RICA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministerio de Informacion y Comunicacion Organization Date of Joining 7c Share

Secretaria de Information y Comunicacion, Apartado 7-1980, ITU 1932 0.0636132
1000 San Jose Intelsat 1973 0.05
Telephone: 24 14 07 Telex: 2374 SIN COM CR Comtelca
Cite!
Inca tel
Telecommunications

Direccion Nacional de Comunicaciones Space Segment

Apartado 10-006, 1000 San Jose
Telephone: 23 97 66 Uses Intelsat.

Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE)

Apartado 10-032, 1000 San Jose Earth Station Facilities
Telephone: 20 77 20 Telex: 2225

Antenna Date
Radiografica Costarricense SA (Racsa)
Apartado 54, San Jose System Location type Coverage operational
Telephone: 33 55 55 Telex: 1015 RACSADIV CR Intelsat Tarbaca A A1 24 November 1981

Broadcasting

Sistema Nacional de Radio y Television Cultural

Apartado 7-1980, 1000 San Jose
Telephone: 2374 SINCOM CR

CUBA
Radio Corporation of Cuba
Government Department Apartado 1130, Havana
Telephone: 68211 Telex: 511185
Ministerio de Comunicaciones
Plaza de Ia Revolucion •Jose Marti', Havana 6 Western Union Telegraph Company
Telephone: 74980 Telex: 51945 CCO MINSTRO Osibpo 351, Havana
Telephone: 69901 Telex: 571140

Telecommunications
Broadcasting

Empresa Telecomunicaciones Internationales

Zanja y San Francisco, Havana Instituto Cubano de Radiodifusion Television Nacional
Telephone: 70 2212 Calle M No 312, Vedado, Havana

172
 Czechoslovakia

Membership of International Organizations Space Segment

Organization Date of Joining o/c Share Uses Intelsat. No domestic system at present. The govern-
ITU 1918 0.1272264 ment has plans for its own system, and has registered a launch
lntersputnik 1972 $13.000plus date of 1989. No details are available at this time.
additional
contribution
based on Earth Station Facilities
utilization of
space segment
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Caribe B A1 14 August 1979

CYPRUS

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Communications and Works Organization Date of Joining 7c Share

Nicosia ITU 1961 0.0636132
Telephone: (021) 40 2278 Telex: 3678 MINCOM CY Intelsat 1974 0.153
Eutelsat 1985 0.96709

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Cyprus Telecommunications Authority
121 Prodromos Avenue, PO Box 4929, Nicosia
Telephone: (021) 77 111 Telex: 3288 CYTA ADM CY Uses Intelsat.

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation Antenna Date

Broadcasting House. PO Box 1824, Nicosia System Location type Coverage operational
Telephone: (021) 22231 Telex: 2333 Intelsat Makarios-1 A AP 5 May 1980
Intelsat Makarios-1 B 1P 13 October 1982

CZECHOSLOVA KIA

Government Department Broadcasting

Federal Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Ceskoslovensky Rozhlas

Olsanska 5, CS-12502 Prague Vinoradska 12, CS 12099 Prague
Telephone: (2) 7141111 Telex: 111410 PTTC Telephone: (2) 2115 Telex: 121059 CRPA C

Ceskoslovenska Televize
Gorkeho nam. 29-30, CS-11150 Prague I
Telephone: (2) 2201 54 Telex: 121800 TVPG C

173
Denmark

Membership of International Organizations Space Segment

Organization Date of Joining o/c Share Uses Intersputnik.

ITU 1920 0.5089058
Intersputnik 1972 $13,000 plus
additional
contribution Earth Station Facilities
based on
utilization of
space segment Provided by Intersputnik.

DENMARK

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministry of Public Works Danmarks Radio

Frederiksholms Kanal27, DK-1220 Copenhagen TV Byen, DK-2860 S0berg
Telephone: ( 1) 126242 Telephone:(!) 671233 Telex: 27123 NUKDR DK, 15217
PRDRDK

Telecommunications
Membership of International Organizations
Generaldirektoratet for Post-Og Telegrafrvaesenet
Tientgensgade 37, DK-1530 Copenh_agen Organization Date of Joining '7c Share
Telephone: (1) 156610 Telex: 22323 ITU 1866 1.2722646
Fax: (1) 156610 ext. 3028 Intelsat 1974 0.384163
Inmarsat 1979 1.66142
Eutelsat 1984 3.27016
Telecommunications Direktoratet
Anker Heegards Gade 4, DK-1503 Copenhagen
Telephone: (1) 11 33 77 Telex: 27277 TELDIR DK

Space Segment
Central Telecommunications Services
Farvergade 17, DK-1007 Copenhagen
Telephone: (1) 11 66 05 Telex: 22999 TELCOM DK Uses Intelsat. No domestic system, although Denmark has
leased capacity on both Intelsat and Eutelsat satellites.
Det Store Nordiske Telegraf-Selskab
Kongens Nytbrv 28, DK-1050 Copenhagen
Telephone: (1) 12 00 88 Telex: 22371 GNTC Earth Station Facilities

Statens Telerad (Danish Telecommunications Council)

Denmark uses the Nordic Standard A earth station at Tanum,
Kristianiagade 8, DK-2100 Copenhagen
Sweden.
Telephone: (1) 42 35 00

174
 Egypt

DIEGO GARCIA

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Armed Forces Radio and Television Service Antenna Date

US Navy Broadcasting Service Detachment Three, Box 14, System Location type Corerage operational
US Naval Support Facility, FPO San Francisco, CA 96685, Intelsat Diego Garcia B AS 16 November 1982
USA

Space Segment

Uses Intelsat.

DJIBOUTI

Government Department Space Segment

Office des Postes et Telecommunications

Uses Intelsat.
Boulevard de Ia Republique, Djibouti
Telephone: 350669 Telex: 5808 DJ DION OPT
Fax: 35 57 57

Earth Station Facilities

Telecommunications
Antenna Date
Djibouti International Telecommunications (STID) System Location type Corerage operational
Boulevarde de Ia Republique, Djibouti Intelsat Ambouli B IP 26June 1980

EGYPT

Government Department Broadcasting

Broadcasting and TV Federation

National Authority for Wire and Wireless Communications
22 Ramses Street, Cairo Television Building, Cairo
Telephone: (2) 749 664 Telex: 92466 ETV UN; 92152
Telephone: (2) 388 88
KARADUN

Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining 0t Share

National Telecommunications Organisation (ARENTO)
ITU 1876 0.2544529
PO Box 2271, Cairo
Intelsat 1973 0.69
Telephone: (2) 744909 Telex: 92100 RADMSR UN
Inmarsat 1979 0.0996
Fax: (2) 760434

175
El Salvador

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Uses Intelsat and Inmarsat. Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Maadi-1 A AP 17 July 1978
Intelsat Maadi-2 A IP 12 June 1984
Inmarsat Maadi-3 CES 1986
Meteosat APT 1982

ELSALVADOR

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Administracion Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Antel) Uses Intelsat.

Edificio Administracion de Ante!, Centro de Govierno,
San Salvador
Telephone: 22 44 84 Telex: 20252 Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Izalco A A1 26 August 1978
Asociacion Salvadorena de Empresarios de Radiodifusion
Ap. Postal210, San Salvador

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1927 0.0636132
Intelsat 1977 0.05
Cite!
Comtelca
Inca tel

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

Government Department & Telecommunications Telecommunications

Ministro de Comunicaciones Direccion General de Correos y de Telecomunicaciones

Malabo Malabo
Telephone: 240

176
 Falkland Islands

Broadcasting Space Segment

Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial Uses Intelsat.

Apt. 195. Malabo. Isla Bioko
Telephone: 382

Earth Station Facilities

Membership of International Organizations
Antenna Date
Organization Date of Joining <7c Share System Location type Coverage operational
ITU 1970 0.0318066 Intelsat Bat a B A1 1986

ETHIOPIA

Government Department & Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority (ETA) Organization Date of Joining 7c Share

PO Box 1047. Addis Ababa ITU 1932 0.0318066
Telephone: (I) 150500 Telex: 210 GENTEL ET Intelsat 1973 0.089209

Broadcasting Space Segment

Ethiopian Television Service

Uses Intelsat.
PO Box 1020. Addis Ababa
Telephone: 116 701
Earth Station Facilities
Voice of Revolutionary Ethiopia
PO Box 1364. Addis Ababa
Telephone: 115 933 Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Sululta-1 A AP 5 July 1979
Intelsat Sululta-2 B 1P 1986

FALKLAND ISLANDS

Government Department Broadcasting

The Chief Secretary Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station

Executive Council, Stanley Broadcasting Studio. Stanley
Telephone: 90

Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

General Post Office The Falkland Islands are not a member of the ITU or
Port Stanley Intelsat.
Telephone: 135

177
 Fiji

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Uses Intelsat. Amenna Date

System Location trpe Corerage operational
Intelsat Stanley B A2 29 November 1983

FIJI

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Department of Posts and Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining 'k Share

PO Box 40, Suva ITU 1971 0.0636132
Telephone: 210360 Telex: 2104 PO SUVA FJ Intelsat 1978 0.05

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Fiji International Telecommunications Ltd (Fintel)

PO Box 59, Suva Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: 3129 33 Telex: 2116 FINTEL FJ
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
Fiji Broadcasting Commission System Location type Coverage operational
Broadcasting House, 69 Gladstone Road, Suva Intelsat Suva-1 A PP 23 Aprill976
Telephone: 22621 Telex: 2142 FBC SV FJ Intelsat Suva-2 B PP March 1987

FINLAND

Government Department Posti Ja Telehallitus (Administration of Posts and

Telecommunications)
Radio Osasto, Yattuniemenkatu 8, PO Box 529, SF 00101
Liikenneministerioe (Ministry of Transport and Helsinki
Communications) Telephone: (0) 69661 Telex: 124545 RADOS SF
Erelae,planadi 16, PO Box 235, SF 00131 Helsinki
Telephone: (0) 17361 Telex: 125472 LIMIN SF
Broadcasting

Telecommunications Oy Yleisradio (YLE)

General Directorate of Posts and Telecommunications
PO Box 528, SF 00101 Helsinki
Telephone: (0) 1951 Telex: 124557
Fax: (0) 195 4820
Kesakatu 2, PL 95, SF 00251 Helsinki 25
Telephone: (0) 441141 Telex: 124735
MTV
Ilmallantorg 2, SF 00240 Helsinki 24
Telephone: (0) 15001 Telex: 121544

178
 France

Membership of International Organizations Earth Station Facilities

Organization Date of Joining '/r Share Finland uses the Nordic earth station at Tanum. Sweden.
ITU 1920 1.2722646
Intelsat 1973 0.092776
Inmarsat 1979 0.14750
Eutelsat 1985 2.7211\1

Space Segment

Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Entelsat. No domestic system,

but Finland is a partner in Tele-X (see Sweden).

FRANCE
Canal Plus
Government Department 78 rue Olivier de Serres. 75015 Paris
Telephone: (1) 4533 7474 Telex: 201141
Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications
20 avenue de Segur, 75700 Paris Cedex FR3- Societe Nationale France Regions 3
Telephone: (1) 4566 2222 Telex: 250310 GENTEL 5 avenue du Recteur Poincare, 75782 Paris Cedex 16
Fax: (1) 4654 5379 Telephone: (1) 4230 2424 Telex: 200082

Radio France
Telecommunications 116 avenue du President J.F. Kennedy, 75786 Paris Cedex 16
Telephone: (1) 4524 2424 Telex: 200002
Direction Generate des Telecommunications (DGT)
20 avenue de Segur, 75700, Paris • Television Fran~>aise 1
15-19 rue Cognacq-Jay, 75330 Paris Cedex 07
Telephone: (1) 4555 3555 Telex: 260003
Service des affairs internationales (SAl)
38-40 rue du General-Leclerc, F 92131 Issy les Moulineaux
Telephone: 566 22 22 Telex: GENTE X 200773 F Telediffusion de France (TdF)
Fax: (1) 4538 7068 21-27 rue Barbes, BP No 518, F 92542 Montrouge
Telephone: 6571115 Telex: DIR TDF 250738 F
Fax: (1) 4654 3201
Centre National d'Etudes des Telecommunications
38-40 rue du General Leclerc, 92131 Issy les Moulineaux
Telephone: ( 1) 4638 4444 Telex: 250317

Secretariat d'Etat aux techniques de Ia communication Satellite and Launch Vehicle Manufacturers
35 rue St Dominique, 75700 Paris
Telephone: ( 1) 4550 3250
Aerospatiale
37 blvd de Montmorency, 75781 Paris Cedex 16
France Cables et Radio (FCR) Telephone: (1) 45244321 Telex: 620059
124 rue Reamur, F-75091 Paris
Telephone: 4221 7171 Telex: FCR X 220731
Aerospatiale
Space and Ballistics Division, BP 96, 78133 Les Mureaux.
Paris Cedex 16
Broadcasting Telephone: (3) 4750123 Telex: 698850 F

Antenne 2 Alcatel Thomson Espace

Societe Nationale Antenne 2, 5-7 rue de Montessuy, 75330 11 avenue Dubonnet, 92407 Courbevoie Cedex
Paris Cedex 07 Telephone: (1) 47744710 Telex: 613175 ALTHESP F
Telephone: (1) 4555 9290 Telex: 204061\ Fax: (1) 47744798

179
France

Alcatel Thomson Espace not only in Europe but in many other countries including
Industrial Plant, 26 avenue JF Champollion, Z1 Thibaud, China and India. It was operational from 1967-72.
PO Box 1187, 31037 Toulouse France has launched the Telecom series of satellites as
Telephone: (61) 41 5777 successors to the Symphonie series. The Telecom system is
Manufacturer of satellite payloads and subsystems. the only national satellite communications system in Europe.
(Eutelsat and Intelsat provide the vast majority of telecom-
Arianespace munications capacity required by the European PTTs.)
1 rue Soljenitsyne, 91000 Evry There are currently two Telecom satellites in orbit,
Telephone: 6087 6000 Telex: 692392 ARESP F Telecom-I and Telecom-II. They were launched in 1984 and
Operators of the Ariane launch system. 1985, respectively. Telecom-II, the last of the series, is
expected to be launched in 1987/8.
Crouzet The satellites are used for: occasional transmission of TV
25 rue Jules Vedrines, 26027 Valence Cedex signals; TDMA (time division multiple access) business
Telephone: (75) 79 85 11 Telex: 345807 communications as part of Eutelsat's Satellite Multi-Service;
Fax: 55 22 50 French military communications.

Matra Telecom I
Space Branch, 10 avenue Kleber, 75116 Paris Type FSS
Telephone: (1) 450152 20 Telex: 613039 MATFIN F Orbital position 8°W
Fax: (1) 4501 82 42 Launch date August 1984
Launcher Ariane
Matra Design life (years) 7
Headquarters, 4 rue de Presbourg, 75116 Paris Number of channels C-band: 4
Telephone: (1) 4723 5404 Telex: 698077 Ku-band: 6
Fax: (1) 4501 82 42 TWTA power (watts) C-band: 8.5
Matra satellites include Eutelsat 1 - F1-F3 and Telecom Ku-band: 20
1A-1B. Matra manages the SPOT observation satellite Antenna coverage C-band: Atlantic Ocean Region
programme. Consortia: Satcom International. Ku-band: France
ITU region 1
ThomsonCSF
Status Main
Division Tubes Electroniques, 38 rue Vauthier, BP 305,
Primary use Telephony
921302 Boulogne Bilancourt
Services 1 Agence d'Images TV
Telephone: (1) 4604 8175 Telex: 204780 TCSF F
Francaise
2 Occasional video
Space Research 3 Occasional video
5 Worldnet
Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales 6 Canal J
2 Place Maurice Quentin. 75001 Paris NB: 4 of the 6 K-band
Telephone: 4508 75 00 transponders have been
CNES is the national space research centre. leased by Eutelsat for SMS.

Remote sensing Telecom 2

Type FSS
Spot Image Orbital position 5°W
18 avenue Edouard Belin, 31055 Toulouse Launch date May 1985
Telephone: 61 27 31 31 Launcher Ariane
Satellite: SPOT Design life (years) 7
Number of channels C-band: 4
Ku-band: 6
Membership of International Organizations TWTA power (watts) C-band: 8.5
Ku-band: 20
Organization Date of Joining %Share Antenna coverage C-band: Atlantic Ocean Region
ITU 1866 7.6335877 Ku-band: France
Intelsat 1973 5.642236 ITU region 1
Inmarsat 1979 2.51454 Status Spare for F1
Eutelsat 1984 16.35080 Primary use TV/international
Services business services
3 Occasional video/audio
4 Occasional video
Space Segment 5 Occasional video/audio
6 Occasional video/audio
France has a comprehensive aerospace industry and has
developed several projects: on a national basis; bilaterally France is also a partner with Germany, FR, in a joint venture
with Germany, FR, and through the European Space to construct two DBS satellites: TDF (France) and TV-SAT
Agency. Its first major spacecraft was Symphonie, developed (Germany, FR). Both satellites have been postponed several
jointly with Germany, FR, which provided numerous tests times but should be launched in 1987/8. The French satellites

180
 Gabon
will have four TV channels transmitting at about 230 watts in
the 12 GHz band. French Guiana
There are also plans for a national Videosat system
providing specialized telecommunications services at 1-3 GHz
and 12 GHZ. Two satellites will be placed at 32° east and
Antenna Date
37.5° west, and used for telephony and video. However, the System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Tron Biran-1 A AP 6 May 1974
plans are not confirmed.
Intelsat Tron Biran-2 B AS 4 October 1984
France was the major partner in the consortium set up by
the European Space Agency to develop the Ariane rocket.
French interests have the major share in Arianespace, the
company that operates the launcher. Martinique

Antenna Date
Earth Station Facilities System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Trois Islets A AP 21 January 1972

Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
New Caledonia
Intelsat Bercenav-en-Othe I A AP 13 March 1978
Intelsat Bercena~-en-Othe 2 A II 19 July 1980
Intelsat Bercena~-en-Othe 3 C AP I September 1981 Antenna Date
Intelsat Bercenay-en-Othe 4 A II 24 March 1983 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Pleumer-Bodou-1 A AS 28June 1965 Intelsat L'Ile Non A pp 21 July 1976
Intelsat Pleumer-Bodou-2 A AS 3 November 1969
Intelsat Pleumer-Bodou-3 A AI 22 January 1974
Intelsat Pleumer-Bodou-4 A IP 24 May 1976
Intelsat Pleumer-Bodou-6 A A2 16 January 1984 Polynesia
Intelsat Pleumer-Bodou-7 A AI 15 January 1985
lntelsat Rambouillet-1 c AI 15 January 1985
Antenna Date
The French administration also operates several earth stations in the French System Location type Coverage operational
overseas territories. Intelsat Papenoo B pp 2 May 1978

GABON
Radio Television Gabonaise
Government Department BP 150, Libreville

L 'Office des Postes et Telecommunications de Ia Republique Membership of International Organizations

Gabonaise
Libreville Organization Date of Joining %Share
Telephone: 722701 Telex: OFPOSTEL 5220 GO ITU 1960 0.1272264
Intelsat 1973 0.05
Inmarsat 1984 0.07496
Telecommunications

Direction des Telecommunications Space Segment

Libreville
Telephone: 72 27 03 Telex: OFPOSTEL 5220 GO Uses Intelsat and Inmarsat. Gabon bought an Intelsat
transponder in 1986 (the first African country to do so).
Telecommunications Internationales Gabonaises (TIG)
BP 2261, Libreville
Telephone: 722756 Telex: TIG 5200 GO Earth Station Facilities

Antenna Date
Broadcasting System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Franceville A AP December 1987
Radiodiffusion Television Gabonaise Intelsat N'Koltang-1 A AP 14 June 1973
BP 10150, Libreville, and BP 776 Franceville Intelsat N'Koltang-2 B Al 7 May 1981

181
Gambia

GAMBIA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Telecommunications Department Organization Date of Joining o/c Share

Banjul ITU 1974 0.0318066
Telephone: 722 Telex: 2212 GV, 2300

Telecommunications Space Segment

Gam tel Uses Intelsat.

PO Box 387, Banjul
Telephone: 722 Telex: 2201
Earth Station Facilities
Cable & Wireless pic
Mercury House, Telegraph Road, PO Box 266, Banjul Antenna Date
Telephone: 407 Telex: 2201 C&W GV System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Banjul B A1 17 April1978

Broadcasting

Department of Information and Broadcasting

Banjul
Telephone: 230 Telex: 2204 GV

GERMANY (DDR)

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministerrat der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik Organization Date of Joining %Share

Ministerium fiir Post und Fernmeldewesen, lTU 1973 0.7633587
Mauerstrasse 69-75. 1066 Berlin Intersputnik 1972 $13,000 plus
Telephone: (02) 231 2101 Telex: 112558 MPF DD additional
contribution
based on
Deutsche Post der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik utilization of
Institut fiir Post und Fernmeldewesen, space segment
Oranienburgerstrasse 70, 1040 Berlin
Telex: 1122 54 IPF DD
Space Segment
Broadcasting
Uses Intersputnik.

Staatliches Komitee fur Rundfunk heim Ministerrat der DDR

State Broadcasting Committee, Nalepastrasse 18-50, 1160 Earth Station Facilities
Berlin
Antenna Date
Fernsehen der DDR System Location type Coverage operational
1199 Berlin Adlershof, Rudower Chaussee 3 lntersputnik 1976
Telephone: (2) 673 3116 Telex: 112558

182

GERMANY (FRG)
Government Department & Telecommunications
Bundesministerium fiir das Post und Fernmeldewesen
Adenauerallee 81, D 5300 Bonn
Telephone: (228) 141 Telex: 8861101 BPM D
Fax: (228) 14 88 72
Deutsche Forschungs und Versuchsanstalt fur Luft und
Raumfahrt (DFVLR)
E. V. Linder Hoe her, 5000 Cologne 90
Telephone: (2203) 60 11 Telex: 8874410
Fernmeldetechnisches Zentralamt (ZMT)
Am Kavalleriesand 3, D-6100 Darmstadt
Telephone: (6151) 831 Telex: 419511 FTZ D
Fax: (6151) 834791
De beg
Funkverkehrsabrechnung Behringstrasse 120, D-2000
Hamburg 50
Telephone: (40) 882 51 Telex: 211925
Fax: (40) 882 5490
Broadcasting
ARD Deutsches Fernsehen
Arnulfstrasse 42, D 8000 Munich 2
Telephone: (89) 59001 Telex: 521070
Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)
Rundfunkplatz 1, D 8000 Munich 2
Telephone: (89) 59 001 Telex: 52107 0 BRM D
Deutschlandfunk (DLF)
Raderberggurtel40, D-5000 Cologne 51
Telephone: (0221) 37071 Telex: 8881262 DLF D
Deutsche Welle (DW)
Raderberggurte1 50, Postfach 100 444, D-5000 Cologne 51
Telephone: (0221) 3890 Telex: 888485 DWD
Hessischer Rundfunk (HR)
Bertramstrasse 8, Postfach 3111, D-6000 Frankfurt (Main)
Telephone: (0611) 1551 Telex: 411127 HRA D
Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NRD)
Rothernbaumchausse 132-34, D 2000 Hamburg 13
Telephone: (40) 4131 Telex: 219891 NOR
Germany (FRG)
Radio Bremen
Heinrich Hertz Strasse 13, D 2800 Bremen 33
Telephone: (0421) 23841 Telex: 245181 RB D
Saarlandischer Rundfunk (SR)
Funkhaus Halberg, Postfach 1050, 06600 Saarbrucken
Telephone: (0681) 6021 Telex: 4428969 SRF D
Sender Freies Berlin (SFB)
Masurenallee 8-14, 1000 Berlin 19
Telephone: (030) 3081 Telex: 182813 SFB D
Suddeutscher Rundfunk (SDR)
Neckarstrasse 230, Postfach 837, D 7000 Stuttgart 1
Telephone: (0711) 2881 Telex: 723456 SDRS D
Sudwestfunk (SWF)
Hans Bredow Strasse, Postfach 820, D 7570 Baden Baden
Telephone: (07221) 2761 Telex: 0787810 SWF D
Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)
Appellhofplatz 1, D 5000 Cologne 51
Telephone: (0221) 22(ll Telex: 8882575 WDR D
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)
Postfach 4040, D 6500 Mainz
Telephone: (06131) 701 Telex: 418 7661 ZDF D
Satellite Manufacturing Consortium
Eurosatellite GmbH
Steinsdorfstrasse 13, D 8000 Munich 22
Telephone: 89221303 Telex: 529 463 EDS
Fax: (89) 22 3814
Eurosatellite is the prime contractor for: TV SAT; TDF 1
& 2; Tele-X.
Members: MBB (see below); AEG (see below);
Aerosp<ltiale (see France); Alcatel Thomson Espace (see
France); ETCA (see France).
Satellite and Launch Vehicle Manufacturers
AEG
ANT Nachrichtentechnik GmbH
Gerberstrasse 33, D 7150 Backnang
Telephone: 7191131 Telex: 7244060
Fax: 7191 13 32 13
Satellites: Intelsat IV; OTS; Kopernikus; ECS; runs
transmission facilities of TV Sat development and production
of DFS Kopernikus.
183
Ghana

Dornier System GmbH

Postfach 1360, D 7990 Friedrichshafen 1 Space Segment
Telephone: (7545) 81 Telex: 734 209 0 DOD
Fax: (7545) 81
Manufacturers of on board and ground space equipment. Germany FR has developed several satellite projects
nationally, bilaterally with France and through the European
Space Agency. It has collaborated with France in developing
ERNO Space Systems Group the TV-SAT (Germany, FR) and TDF (France) DBS
Postfach 801169, D 8000 Munich 80 spacecraft. TV -SAT is scheduled to be launched in 1988 and
Telephone: (89) 60001 Telex: 5287620 MBB D will provide four TV channels.
Fax: (89) 6000 8150 Germany's first operational telecommunications satellites
Satellites: TV Sat; TDF 1; DFS Kopernikus; Intelsat V and are scheduled to be launched in 1988/9. They are known as
VI. the 'Deutsche Fernmelde Satelliten' (DFS) or 'Kopernikus'.
Two satellites will be launched by Ariane and provide TV.
ERNO Space Systems Group telephone and data. They will operate in the 11-14 and 20-30
Postfach 105909, Hunefeldstrasse 1, D 2800 Bremen 1 GHz bands.
Telephone: (421) 5391 Telex: 2455 48 ERNO D
Fax: (421) 539 4400
Satellites: TV Sat; TDF 1, DFS Kopernikus; Intelsat V and Earth Station Facilities
VI; ECS.
Alllenna Date
Messerschmitt-Boelkow Blohm GmbH (MBB) System Location type Coverage operational
Postfach 801169, D 8000 Munich 80 Intelsat Fuchsstadt-1 A 1P 23July1985
Telephone: (89) 60001 Telex: 5287620 MBB D Intelsat Fuchsstadt-2 A AP 11 November 1985
Fax: (89) 60 00 8150 Intelsat Raisting-2 A AI 10 October 1969
Intelsat Raisting-3 A AP 25 August 1972
Intelsat Raisting-4 A 1P 18 May 1981
Membership of International Organizations Intelsat Raisting-5 A A2 9 June 1981
Intelsat Shoenfeld B A1 1986
Intelsat Usingen-1 C AP 14 June 1981
Organization Date of Joining %Share Intelsat Usingen-2 C AP 1986
ITU 1866 7.6335877
Intelsat 1973 4.098193
Inmarsat 1979 1.64795
Eutelsat 1984 10.78754

GHANA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Transport and Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

PO Box 38, Accra ITU 1957 0.0636132
Intelsat 1973 0.05

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Posts and Telecommunications Corporation
Accra
Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: 22000 Telex: 2010 ENG HQ ACCRA

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Ghana Broadcasting Corporation Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Broadcasting House, PO Box 1633, Accra
Intelsat N'Kutunse A AP 23 July 1981
Telephone: 21161 Telex: 2114

184
 Grenada

GREECE
Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Administration of Posts and Telecommunications, 49 Ave ITU 1866 0.2544529
Syngrou, Athens Intelsat 1973 0.813135
Telephone: (1) 921 5279 Telex: 216369 YSYG GR Inmarsat 1979 1.41143
Fax: (1) 3216029 Eutelsat 1984 3.18043

Telecommunications Space Segment

Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (OTE) Uses Intelsat & Inmarsat.

15 Stadiou Street, Athens 124
Telephone: (1) 882 8333 Telex: 219797 OTE GR
Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Amenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Nemea A 11 December 1987
Ellinki Radiophonia Tikeorassis (ERT) Intelsat Thermopylae-1 A 1P 21 April1970
Box 19, Aghia Paraskevi Attikis, Athens Intelsat Thermopylae-2 A AP 27 September 1972
Telephone: (1) 659 5970 79 Telex: 216066 ERT GR Intelsat Thermopylae-3 A A2 7 September 1982

GRENADA
Government Department Broadcasting

Ministry of Health and Telecommunications Television Grenada

The Carenage, StGeorge's Scotts Street, St. George's
Telephone: 3177 Telex: 3418

Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Communications and Works
St. George's
Telephone: 2181 Organization Date of Joining %Share
ITU 1981 0.318066

Space Segment

Telecommunications
Cable & Wireless (West Indies)
Mercury House, The Carenage, St. George's
Telephone: 2200 Telex: WB 411
Uses lntelsat.
Earth Station Facilities
An Intelsat standard N station, linking with the Atlantic
satellite, was opened at Des on 17 February 1986.

185
Guatemala

GUATEMALA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministerio de Comunicaciones y Obras Publicas Organization Date of Joining 'k Share

Ciudad de Guatemala ITU 1914 0.0636132
Telephone: (2) 83766 Intelsat 1979 0.05

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Empresa Guatemalteca de Telecommunications (Guatel)

7 A Avenida 12-39 zona 1, Ciudad de Guatemala Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: (2) 85898 Telex: 5333 GEGUAT GU

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting
Antenna Date
Direccion General de Radiodifusion y Television Nacional System Location type Coverage operational
SA Avenida 13-18, Zona 1, Ciudad de Guatemala Intelsat Quetzal A AP 3 July 1981

Radio Television Guatemala S.A.

30A A venida 3-40, Zona 11, Apartado 1367, Ciudad de
Guatemala

GUINEA

Government Departments Space

Space Telecommunications Centre

Ministere de l'lnformation et du Tourisme Conakry
Conakry
Telephone: 437 41 Telex: 640
Membership of International Organizations
Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications
Conakry Organization Date of Joining %Share
Telephone: (4) 41216 Telex: 2154 ITU 1959 0.0318066
Intelsat 1980 0.05

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Direction Generate des Telecommunications
Conakry Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: (4) 412 05 Telex: 607

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting
Antenna Date
Radiodiffusion Nationale System Location type Coverage operational
BP 391, Conakry Intelsat Wonkigong B Al 27 October 1980

186
 Guyana

GUINEA BISSAU

Government Department & Telecommunications Space Segment

Secretario de Estado dos Correios e Telecomunica~oes International satellite circuits are currently provided through
CP 200, Bissau Senegal or the Republic of Guinea. There is a HF radio link
Telephone: 212 914 Telex: 240 PUBLICO BL with the Cape Verde Republic.

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Radiodifusion Nacional Antenna Date

CP 191, Bissau System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Bissau B AP June 1987

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1976 0.0318066

GUYANA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

The Ministry of Works and Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Georgetown ITU 1967 0.0636132

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Guyana Telecommunications Corporation
PO Box 10628, Georgetown Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: 0279 Telex: 2208 GTC COM GY; 2216
GYTELCOGY
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Guyana Broadcasting Corporation Al 26 January 1979
Intelsat Georgetown-! B
PO Box 10760, Georgetown
Telephone: (02) 6923115

187
Haiti

HAITI

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Conseil National des Teh~communications (Conatel) Organization Date of Joining %Share

BP 2002, Port au Prince ITU 1927 0.0318066
Telephone: 20300 Telex: CON A TEL 2030353 Intelsat 1974 0.168004

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Telecommunications d'Haiti S.A.M.

Blvd Jean Jacques Dessalines, BP 814, Port au Prince Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: 22200 Telex: 3490285
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
Television Nationale d'Haiti System Location type Coverage operational
BP 13400 Delmas, Delmas 31, Port au Prince Intelsat Sabourin A A1 23 April1976

HONDURAS

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Direccion General de Comunicaciones Organization Date of Joining %Share

Tegucigalpa DC ITU 1925 0.0636132
Intelsat 1980 0.05
Comtelca
Ministereo de Comunicaciones
Edificio Caminos bo Ia Balsa, Comayaguela DC Cite I
Inca tel

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Empresa Hondurena de Telecomunicaciones (Hondutel)
Apartado Postal1794, Tegucigalpa DC Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: 222000 Telex: 1220 HONDUTEL HT

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting
Antenna Date
Compania Televisora Hondurena SA System Location type Coverage operational
Apartado Postal 734, Tegucigalpa DC Intelsat Lempira-1 B A2 1 December 1982
Intelsat Lempira-2 A A1 25 April1985

188
 Hungary

HONG KONG

Government Department Broadcasting

General Post Office Radio Television Hong Kong

Hong Kong Broadcasting House, Broadcast Drive, PO Box 70200,
Telephone: (5) 267 1111 Telex: 65958 GPOHK HX Kowloon Central Post Office
Fax: (5) 868 0094 Telephone: 3-370211 Telex: 45568

Membership of International Organizations

Via UK.
Telecommunications

Hong Kong Telephone Co. Ltd. Space Segment

PO Box 479, Hong Kong
Telephone: (5) 288 111 Telex: 83338 TELCO HX
Fax: (5) 740 048 Uses Intelsat.

Communication Services Ltd

PO Box 9872, Hong Kong Earth Station Facilities
Telephone: (5) 828 8111
Antenna Date
Cable & Wireless (HK) Ltd System Location type Coverage operational
GPO Box 597, New Mercury House, 22 Fenwick Street, Intelsat Hong Kong-1 A Il 6 September 1969
Wanchai Intelsat Hong Kong-2 A Il 19 October 1971
Telephone: (5) 28 31 11 Telex: 73240 CWADM Intelsat Hong Kong-3 A IP 23 February 1983
Fax: 123 40014 Intelsat Hong Kong-4 A pp 23 May 1983

HUNGARY

Government Department Broadcasting

Central Administration of Posts and Telecommunications Magyar Televizio

Budapest 1540 V Szabadsag Ter 17, Budapest 1810
Telephone: (061) 350350 Telex: 221193 GENTEL H Telephone: 113200 Telex: 225568 TVINT H

Magyar Radio
Telecommunications VIII Brody Sandor utca 5-7, Budapest 1800
Telephone: 338300 Telex: 225362 MRHIR H; 225188
MARAD H
Posta Kosponti Taviro Hivatel (Central Posts and Telegraph
Office)
V. Varoshaz utca 18, PF 1 1364, Budapest
Telephone: (01) 180 050

189
Iceland

Membership of International Organizations Space Segment

Organization Date of Joining %Share Uses Intersputnik.

ITU 1866 0.2544529
Intersputnik 1972 $13.000 plus
additional
contribution Earth Station Facilities
based on
utilization of
space segment Not known.

ICELAND

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Iceland uses Intelsat and leases some lntelsat capacity.
PO Box 270. 121 Reykjavik
Telephone: (91) 26000 Telex: 2000 GENTEL IS
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Rikisutvarpid-Sjonvarp (Icelandic State Broadcasting Service) Intelsat Skyggnir-1 A AP 25 September 1980
Laugaugavegur 176, Reykjavik

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1906 0.0636132
Intelsat 1974 0.180
Eutelsat 1985 0.05

INDIA

Government Department Telecommunications

Ministry of Communications Department of Telecommunications

Sardar Patel Bhavan, Parliament Street, New Delhi 100 001 Bar Tar Bhavan, Parliament Street, New Delhi 110 001
Telephone: 35 02 52 Telex: 314422 Telephone: 38 12 09 Telex: 031 61639

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Overseas Communications Service

Shastri Bhavan. New Delhi 100001 Videsh Sanchar Bhavan, Mahatma Ghandi Road, Bombay
400 023
Telephone: 23 86 37.22 271819 Telex: OCS HQ BY 2429

190
 India

In April 1982, India's first operational communications

Broadcasting satellite, Insat-1A, was launched by NASA. The satellite
failed in September 1982. The second satellite in the Insat-1
All India Radio (AIR) series, the 1B, was launched on 31 September 1983. Insat 1C
Akashvani Bhavan, Parliament Street, New Delhi 110 001 has been built and is scheduled for launch in 1988.
Satellites in the Insat-1 series have 12 transponders, and
Telephone: 38 22 36 Telex: 31 2225 DAIR IN
weigh 535 kg. They are used by various Indian agencies such
as: All India Radio, for networking radio programmes; the
Doordarshan (Television) India Post and Telegraph Department, for telecommunications
Directorate General, Mandi House. New Delhi 110001 traffic; the Indian Meteorological Department, for meteoro-
Telephone: 38 7768 Telex: 4413 logical warning systems; and Doordarshan Television for
networking and direct broadcasting of television.

Space lnsat JB
Manufacturer Ford Aerospace
Orbital position 74° E
INSAT Launch date September 1983
Department of Space, Government of India, New Delhi 52, Launcher NASA
1/Bajh Design life (years) 7
Number of channels C-band 12
S-band 2
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) TWTA power (watts) C-band: 4.5
Ahmedabad 380 053 S-band: 50
Telephone: 443296 EIRP: C-band 32dBW
S-band 42dBW
Antenna coverage Indian Subcontinent
Membership of International Organizations ITUregion 3
Status Main
Primary use Telephony,
Organization Date of Joining '7c Share Direct Broadcasting
ITU 1869 2.5445292 Services S-band:
Intelsat 1973 1.()6 Doordarshan
Inmarsat 1979 0.51869
Since 1979, India has used an Intelsat ocean transponder for
part of its domestic telecommunication links. The system uses
two main stations in New Delhi and Madras and five remote
Space Segment stations in Port Blair, Nicobar, Kavaratti, Leh and Aizwal. In
1982, following the failure of Insat-1A, two full Intelsat
transponders were leased until Insat-1B became fully oper-
The first Indian satellite was the experimental Aryabhata ationaL One transponder on Statsionar-6 was leased for TV
(named after a fourth century astronomer) which the USSR distribution for the same reason.
launched on 19 April 1975. After several experiments the
satellite stopped functioning.
Later, India used two foreign satellites to carry out
experiments in domestic services. The Franco-German Sym- Earth Station Facilities
phonie satellite was used to conduct experiments with fixed,
mobile and emergency earth stations. A more important
experiment, the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment Antenna Date
(SITE), was provided by NASA's Application Technology·
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Ahmed A I1 27 December 1976
Satellite (ATS-6) repositioned above the Indian Ocean. With
Intelsat Vikram-1 A 1P 21 February 1971
2,400 television sets in as many Indian villages, SITE
Intelsat Vikram-2 A I1 June 1988
programmes were broadcast on educational and general
Inmarsat Belepur CES I 1985
matters.

191
Indonesia

INDONESIA
Republic announced its decision to develop and operate a
Government Department communications satellite system. The Hughes Aircraft Com-
pany was commissioned to design and construct the
spacecraft (two HS 3330 satellites) and two base stations on
Ministry of Communications the island of Java, one at Jakarta and one at Surabaya.
Directorate General of Posts and Telecommunications, Jalan Another four earth stations were built by ITT and Ford
Kebon Sirih 37, Jakarta Aeronautics. On 8 July 1976, NASA launched the first
Telephone: (21) 346000 Telex: 44407 POSTEL IA Indonesian satellite, Palapa-A1, and the system was officially
opened on 16 August 1976. A2 was launched on 10 March
1977. The system was used solely for domestic television and
Telecommunications telephone traffic until23 June 1978 when a lease contract was
signed between Indonesia and the Philippines for Domsat-
phil, the Philippine Satellite Telecommunications Company,
Perum Telekomunikasi (Perumtel) to use Palapa for domestic purposes in the Philippines. Later
Jalan Cisanggarung 2, Bandung Thailand and Malaysia signed similar agreements.
Telephone: 59100 Telex: 28200 DIRUTTEL BD At the extraordinary meeting of the fourth Assembly of
and Parties of Intelsat, held in Manila on 2-3 April 1979, it was
J alan Kebon Sirih 37, Jakarta agreed that Palapa's second generation, the Palapa-B series,
Telephone: (21) 345083 could be used as a regional system (the second such system,
Telex: 4407 POSTEL IIA after Eutelsat). The satellite system remains wholly-owned by
the Indonesian government and operated on its behalf by
Perumtel. So far, four member countries of the Association
Broadcasting of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have entered into
agreements with Permute! to lease some capacity. They are:
Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.
Radio Republik Indonesia The Palapa-B satellites, also built by the Hughes Corpora-
Jalan Merdeka Barat 4-5, Jakarta tion, are nearly twice as powerful as the first generation,
Telephone: (21) 377 508 (both of which have been retired). Capacity has doubled to 24
transponders. Palapa-Bl was successfully launched in June
1983. Palapa-B2 was launched on 6 February 1984 but a
Televisi Republik Indonesia
failure in one of the rockets caused it to remain in a useless
Pusat Senayan, Jakarta
orbit. A replacement B2P was launched successfully in March
Telephone: 582 160
1987.

PALAPA-A PALAPA-B
Membership of International Organizations
Manufacturer Hughes Hughes
Orbital position 83° E, 77o E 108° E, ll8° E
Organization Date of Joining %Share Launch date 1976, 1977 1983, (1984), 1987
ITU 1949 0.2544529 Launch vehicle Delta STS
Intelsat 1973 0.498731 Design life (years) 7 8
A SEAN 1967 Frequency bands 3.7/4.2 GHz 3.7/4.2 GHz
Transponders 12 24
Power 5 watts 10 watts
EIRP 32 (Indonesia) 34 (Indonesia)
Space 27 (ASEAN) 32 (ASEAN)

PT Indonesia Satellite Corporation (PT Indosat)

Jalan Merdeka Barat 21, Jakarta
Telephone: (21) 344 266 Telex: 44383 INDSAT IA

Space Segment

In 1972 the President of the Republic of Indonesia proposed

the implementation of a communications system via satellite
as a means of upgrading the standard of living in Indonesia's
26 provinces spread over 13,677 islands. In February 1975 the

192
 Iran

Estimated Transponder Requirements up to 1990 Earth Station Facilities

User Up to 1978 Up to 1990
(transponder) (transponder) Antenna Date
INDONESIA System Location type Coverage operational
Perumtel 6 9 Intelsat J atiluhur-1 A PP 19 September 1969
T.V.R.I. 1 2 Intelsat J atiluhur-2 A 1P 15 July 1979
Hank am 1 1

Sub total 8 12

ASEAN:
Philippines 1 V2 3V2
Thailand 3
Malaysia 1 V2
Occasional
ASEAN TV

Sub total 1V2 9

Grand total 9V2 21

Source: 1ndosat

IRAN

Government Department Space Segment

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
Directorate General of Telecommunications, Dr Shariati
Avenue PO Box 931, 16314 Teheran
Telephone: 84 36 12 Telex: 212444 PTT IR
Telecommunications
Uses Intelsat and Inmarsat. Transponder capacity is leased
from Intelsat for domestic telecommunications and television
distribution. TCI is planning a national satellite system
(ZOHREH) and has registered orbital slots at 26°, 34°, 47°
and 41 o East. TC1 has also agreed to purchase two transpon-
ders on an Intelsat satellite at 60° east.

Earth Station Facilities

Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI)
Imam Khomeini Square, Teheran
Telephone: 21 8111 Telex: 212 694 NCPB IR Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Shahid Dr Ghandi 1 A 1P 4 October 1969
Broadcasting Intelsat Shahid Dr Ghandi 2 A AP 22 August 1975
lntelsat (not known) A 1988
Inmarsat (not known) CES lOR 1987
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Inmarsat (not known) CES AOR 1987
PO Box 98-200, Teheran

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1869 0.2544529
Intelsat 1973 0.937963
Inmarsat 1984 0.05001

193
Iraq

IRAQ

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Ministry of Information Uses Intelsat, Intersputnik, Inmarsat and Arabsat.

Baghdad

Posts Telegraphs and Telephones State Organisation Earth Station Facilities

Baghdad
Telephone: 718 0400 Telex: 212002 COMGEN IK
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Dujail-1 A 1P 15 March 1976
Broadcasting
Intelsat Dujail-2 A AP 14 September 1976
Intelsat Dujail-3 B A Planned for 1987
Broadcasting Service of the Republic of Iraq Intersputnik Baghdad
Iraqi Broadcasting and Television Establishment, Salihiya,
Baghdad

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1928 0.0636132
Intelsat 1973 0.405501
Inmarsat 1980 0.05
Arabsat 1976

IRELAND
Government Departments Broadcasting

Department of Posts and Telegraphs Radio Telefis Eireann (RTE)

General Post Office, O'Connell Street, Dublin 1 Donnybrook, Dublin 4
Telephone: 74 8888 Telex: 25116 GTEL EI Telephone: 69 3111 Telex: 5268 RTEL El, 5344 RTNS EI

Department of Communications
Kildare Street, Dublin 2 Satellite Companies
Telephone: (1) 71 8211 Telex: 25323 PTHQEI
Atlantic Satellites
15 Kildare Street, Dublin 2
Telecommunications Telephone: (1) 606900 Telex: 90696 PDF EI

Telecom Eireann
St Stephens Green, Dublin 2
Telephone: (1) 714444 Telex: 91119 TEHQ EI

194
 Israel

Membership of International Organizations Earth Station Facilities

Organization Date of Joining %Share Antenna Date

ITU 1923 0.5089058 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat 1984 0.133182 Intelsat Elfordstown A A2 12 April1984
Eutelsat 1985 0.21934

Space Segment

Uses Intelsat and Entelsat. The Department of Posts has

issued a licence to Atlantic Satellites which plans to operate a
satellite system capable of providing direct broadcast services
to Ireland and UK and telecommunications to Europe and
North America. The company expects its satellites. which will
be built by Hughes. to be operational in 1989.

ISRAEL

Government Department Space Segment

Ministry of Communications Uses Intelsat for occasional use and has also purchased two
Directorate General. 91999 Jerusalem Intelsat transponders. There are plans for a national satellite
Telephone: 230222 Telex: 26381 GENTEL IL system (AMS) consisting of two spacecraft providing services
at 3.4/3.95 GHz. 11112 GHz and 20/60 GHz. They will be
colocated at 15° East.
Telecommunications

Earth Station Facilities

BEZEQ- The Israel Telecommunications Corporation Ltd
PO Box 1088, Jerusalem 81010
Telephone: (2) 240 660 Telex: 25225 BEZEQ IL Antenna Date
Fax: (2) 241 102 System Location tvpe Coverage operational
Intelsat Emeq Ha'ela 1 A AP 26 May 1972
Intelsat Emeq Ha'ela 2 A AI 1 May 1982
Broadcasting Intelsat Emeq Ha'ela 3 B Il 7 July 1980

Israel Broadcasting Authority

PO Box 7139, Jerusalem

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining o/c Share

ITU 1948 0.2544529
Intelsat 1984 0.557462

195
Italy

ITALY

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministero delle Poste e Telecomunicazione Organization Date of Joining %Share

Direzione Generate, Ufficio Relazioni Internazionali, Viale ITU 1886 (10 units)
America, 00100 Rome Intelsat 1971 2.56
Telephone: 542 2277 Telex: 612 451 POSTGEN URI Eutelsat 1983 11.44556
Fax: (6) 542 2264 and Viale Europe 147,00100 Rome Inmarsat 1979 1.03731
Telephone: (6) 54601
Telex: 614000 GAB PT I
Space Segment
Telecommunications
Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Entelsat. Italy's first satellite,
Azienda di Stato per i Servizi Telefonici Sirio, was launched in 1977. Telespazio used it for many
Viale Europe 160, 00100 Rome experiments in cooperation with several Italian entities
Telephone: (6) 54601 Telex: 610045 ASST I including RAI and the Carriere della Sera newspaper for
remote printing. On 24 March 1983 Sirio was moved from its
initial position at 15° W, to a new site at 65° E where it was
ltalcable SpA used jointly by the Italian and Chinese entities.
Via Calabria 46, 00187 Rome Telespazio has plans for an operational national system
Telephone: (6) 47701 Telex: 611146 ITCDG I (Italsat), consisting of one satellite at 13° East, but it is
Fax: (6) 679 9858 unlikely to be launched before 1990. Meanwhile, Italy will
use one of the two transponders on the ESA 's experimental
Societa Italiana Per L'Esercizio Telefonico pa (SIP) Olympus satellite to provide broadcast television. A new
Via Flaminia 189, 00196 Rome organization, Satellite di Radiodiffusione Italiano (Sarit) has
Telephone: (6) 36881 Telex: 610467 SIPGEN I been set up to administer the Olympus transponder which
should become available in 1988.

Compagnia Generate Telemar

Viale Tiziano 19, 00196 Rome Earth Station Facilities
Telephone: 396 1200 Telex: 572121 TELEMAR

Societa Italiana Radio Marittima Antenna Date

Piazzale Guilio Bouhet 25, 00144 Rome System Location type Coverage operational
Telephone: 591 0441 Telex: 610293 SIRM Intelsat Fucino-1 A A1 17 August 1967
Intelsat Fucino-2 A 1P 24July 1970
Intelsat Fucino-3 A AP 18 April1980
Telespazio SpA Intelsat Fucino-4 c AP 14 January 1985
Via Alberto Bergamini 50, 00159 Rome Intelsat Lario 1 A A2 19 January 1977
Telephone: (6) 439 0768 Telex: 610654 Intelsat Lario 2 A I1 7 March 1985
Telespazio holds the Italian monopoly for space Intelsat Sicily A A1 1988
telecommunications and is responsible for links with satellites Intelsat Vicenza B AS 14 June 1985
from Intelsat, Eutelsat and Inmarsat. Inmarsat Fucino CES January 1985

Broadcasting

Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI)

Direction Generate, Viale Mazzini 14, I 00195 Rome
Telephone: (6) 38781 Telex: 614432 RAI RM

Fininvest Group Television Division

Via Rovani 2, 20132 Milan
Telephone: (2) 216 21 Telex: 31697 CANL 5 I

196
 Jamaica

IVORY COAST

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

01 Bolte Postale 8635, Abidjan 01, Abidjan ITU 1960 0.2544529
Telephone: 34 73 15 Telex: 23550 MINIPOSTEL lntelsat 1973 0.264921
ABIDJAN

Ministere de l'Information Space Segment

Abidjan
Telephone: 32 06 88 Telex: 23501 MININFO ABIDJAN
Uses Intelsat.

Telecommunications
Earth Station Facilities
Societe de Telecommunications Internationale de Ia Cote
d'lvoire (lntelci) Antenna Date
BP 1838, Abidjan OL System Location type Coverage operational
Telephone: 32 49 85 Telex: 23790 INTELCI ABIDJAN lntelsat Abidjan-1 A A1 10 August 1972
Intelsat Abidjan-2 A AP 5 November 1980
Office National des Telecommunications (ONT)
01 Bolte Postale 1838, Abidjan 01, Abidjan 17
Telephone: 34 60 00 Telex: 23790 ONT ABIDJAN

Broadcasting

Radiodiffusion Television Ivoirienne (RTI)

Abidjan
Telephone: 43 90 39 Telex: 22293 DIRETELE ABIDJAN

JAMAICA
Government Departments

Ministry of Public Utilities, Communications and Transport The Jamaica Telephone Co Ltd
47 Half Way Tree Road, PO Box 21, Kingston 5
Telecommunications Services, Post Office Headquarters, PO
Telephone: (809) 926 9700 Telex: 2184 TELCO JA
Box 7000, Kingston
Telephone: (809) 922 2400 Telex: 2133 POTELSKN JA
Post Office Broadcasting
Telecommunications Services
PO Box 700, Kingston
Telephone: (809) 922 9430 Telex: 2133 POTELSKN JA Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation
5 South Odean Avenue, PO Box 100, Kingston 10
Telecommunications Telephone: (809) 926 5620

Jamaica International Telecommunications Ltd (Jamintel) Radio Jamaica Ltd

15 North Street PO Box 138, Kingston PO Box 23, 32 Lyndhurst Road, Kingston 5
Telephone: (809) 922 6031 Telex: 112 JAMINTEL JA Telephone: (809) 926 1100

197
Japan

Membership of International Organizations Earth Station Facilities

Organization Date of Joining %Share Antenna Date

ITU 1963 0.0636132 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat 1973 0.382145 Intelsat Prospect Pen 1 A AI 15 December 1971
Cite! Intelsat Prospect Pen 2 N AS 10 December 1981

Space Segment

Uses Intelsat.

JAPAN
NTV (Nippon Television)
Government Department 14 Nibancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102
Telephone: (3) 263 6008 Telex: 24723 Fax: (3) 265 2111
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
No 3-2 Kasumigaseki 1-chome, Chiyoda ku, Tokyo 100 TV Tokyo (Channe112)
Telephone: (3) 504 4757 Telex: J 29100 4-3-12 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105
Telephone: (3) 432 1212 Telex: 4321280 Fax: (3) 432 1407

Telecommunications TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System)

5-3-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107
Telephone: (3) 580 311 Telex: 24883 Fax: (3) 582 5550
Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co Ltd (KDD)
3-2 Nishi Shin juku 2-chome, Shin juku ku, Tokyo 160
Telephone: (3) 347 7111 Telex: J 22500 FUJI TV NETWORK INC.
KDD is the Intelsat signatory and provides overseas 3-1 KA WADA-CHO, ICHIGA YA, SHINJUKU-KU,
telecommunications. TOKYO 162
Telephone: (3) 353 1111 Telex: 22560 Fax: (3) 358 8038
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT)
No 1-6 Uchisaiwai cho 1 chome, Chiyoda ku, Tokyo 100 Membership of International Organizations
Telephone: (3) 509 3256 Telex: 2225300 NIT HQ J
NIT is the public telecommunications corporation of
Organization Date of Joining %Share
Japan. ITU 1879 7.6335877
Intelsat 1973 3.330332
Inmarsat 1979 7.44036
Space Administration

National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) Satellite Manufacturers

2-4-1 Hamamatsu-cho, Minato ku, Tokyo 105
Telephone: (3) 4356111 Telex: J 28424
Hitachi Ltd
1-23-2 Kanda Suda-cho, Chiyoda Ku, Tokyo 101
Telephone: (03) 212 1111
Broadcasting
Mitsubishi Corporation (Melco)
Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) Aerospace Department, 6/3 Marunouchi 2-chome, Chiyoda
2-2-1 Jinnan, Shibuya ku, Tokyo ku, Tokyo 10091
Telephone: (3) 456111 Telex: RADIO NHK J 22377 Telephone: (03) 210 2121 Telex: 222275

TV ASAHI NEC Corporation

2-2 Oyodo-Minami, Oyodo, Osaka 33-1 Shiba 5 chome, Minato ku, Tokyo 108
Telephone: (6) 458 5321 Telex: 63680 Telephone: (03) 454111 Telex: NECTOK J 22686

198
 Japan
BS-2A (Yuri)
Space Segment Orbital position 110° E
Launch date January 1984
Launcher NASDA
Japan's space programme began when a meteorological Design life (years) 5
satellite was launched on 14 July 1977 by NASA. Later that Number of channels: C-band 3
year the first communications satellite was launched, the Ku-band -
CS-1A or ·sakura'. CS-lA and CS-18 were experimental Antenna coverage: C-band All Japan
satellites with a design life of three years. An experimental
Ku-band 3
broadcasting satellite, 8SE, was launched in 1978. /TV region Main
In 1983 the next generation of two CS- spacecraft wa; Status Television
launched to provide an operational service. Their main Primary use NHK TV, Tokyo
function is to provide telecommunications to Japan's many Services Various communications
remote islands. When the CS-2 series ends in 1987/8.
NASDA plans to continue with CS-3, also consisting of two
spacecraft. CS-3A and CS-38 are planned to be launched in BS-2B (Yuri)
1988. Orbital position 110° E
In 1984, Japan launched its (and the world's) first oper- Launch date February 1986
ational direct broadcast satellite. 8S-2A or Yuri (after the Launcher NASDA
Japanese word for 'lily'). The satellite has three transponders, Design life (years) 5
two of which failed soon after launch. A second Yuri (8528) Number of channels: C-band 3
was launched in February 1986 and has worked much better. Ku-band -
Japan has several applications satellites: GMS-3 (launched Antenna coverage: C-band All Japan
1984) for meteorology; EXOS-C (launched 1984) for space Ku-band 3
research; and MOS-1 (launched 1986) for marine observa- /TV region Main
tion. Status Television
When Japan's telecommunications sector was opened to Primary use NHK TV, Tokyo
competition in April 1985. it became possible for private Services Various communications
entities to launch and operate communications satellites. The
Japanese Satellite Communications Corporation (JSC) a joint
venture of C. Itoh, Mitsui and Hughes, received approval
from the Ministry of Telecommunications to offer basic Earth Station Facilities
communications services over a private system. The launches
are scheduled for December 1987 and April 1988.
Japan has its own launch facilities which are operated by
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
NASDA at Tanegashina.
Intelsat Ibaraki I A PS 26 March 1968
Intelsat Ibaraki 2 A PS 21 September 1971
CS-2A (Sakura-2A)
Intelsat Ibaraki 3 A PP 15 December 1983
Orbital position 132° E
Intelsat Okinawa 8 PS 1986
Launch date February 1983
Intelsat Yamaguchi 2 A IP 6 October 1980
Launcher NASDA
Intelsat Yamaguchi 3 A II 14 February 1985
Design life (years) 3
Inmarsat Yamaguchi CES
Number of channels: C-band 2
Inmarsat Ibaraki CES
Ku-band 6
Antenna coverage: C-band All Japan
Ku-band Main island
/TV region 3
Status NK
Primary use Telephony
Services Various communications

CS-2B (Sakura-2B)
Orbital position 136° E
Launch date August 1983
Launcher NASDA
Design life (years) 3
Number of channels: C-band 2
Ku-band 6
Antenna coverage: C-band All Japan
Ku-band Main island
/TV region 3
Status NK
Primary use Telephony
Services Various communications

199
Jordan

JORDAN
Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Amman ITU 1947 0.1272264
Intelsat 1973 0.298781
Arabsat 1976
Telecommunications

Telecommunications Corporation Space Segment

PO Box 1689, Amman
Telephone: (6) 38301 Telex: 21221 JORTEL JO
Uses Intelsat.

Broadcasting
Earth Station Facilities

The Hashemite Kingdom Broadcasting Service

PO Box 909, Amman Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Baga-1 A 1P 28 December 1971
Jordan Television Corporation Intelsat Baga-2 A AP 30 August 1979
PO Box 1041, Amman

KAMPUCHEA

Government Department and Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Phnom Penh ITU 1952 0.1272264
The Ministry may be contacted via the Permanent Mission
to ESCAP, 486 Thetsabarn Nimit Nua Road, Lard Yao,
Bangkhan, Bangkok 9, Thailand
Telex: 23008 Satellite and Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting None.

Voice of the People of Kampuchea

28 Av. Sandech Choun Nath, Phnom Penh

200
 Kiribati

KENYA

Government Department and Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Organization Date of Joining %Share

PO Box 30025, Nairobi ITU 1964 0.0636132
Intelsat 1983 0.374390
Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation
PO Box 30301, Nairobi
Telephone: (2) 27401 Telex: 2245 DIRPOSTS Space Segment
Fax: (2) 330170

Uses Intelsat.
Telecommunications

Earth Station Facilities

Kenya External Telecommunications Company (Kenextel)
PO Box 30301, Nairobi
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Broadcasting Intelsat Longonot -1 A 1P 11 August 1970
Intelsat Longonot-2 A AP 24 December 1980

Voice of Kenya
PO Box 30456, Harry Thuku Road, Nairobi
Telephone: 334567 Telex: 22244

KIRIBATI

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Communications None.

PO Box 487, Betio Tarawa
Telephone: Betio 610 (via Sydney)
Space Segment
Telecommunications
Uses Intelsat.
Telecommunications Headquarters
Post Office, Bairiki Tarawa
Telephone: Bairiki 007 (via Sydney) Telex: 24 Earth Station Facilities

Antenna Date
Broadcasting System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Bairiki B PP 27 May 1985
Intelsat Christmas Island B PP 10 January 1981
Radio Kiribati
PO Box 78, Bairiki, Tarawa

201
Korea, PDR

KOREA,PDR

Government Department Space Segment

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Uses Intelsat and Intersputnik.

Pyongyang
Telephone: 36 344 Telex: 5214 MINPT KP.
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Korean Central Broadcasting Station Intelsat Pyongyang A 1P 1 October 1985
Chason Chungan Pangsong. Korean Central Broadcasting
Committee, Pyongyang

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining % Share

ITU 1975 0.0636132
Intersputnik 1983 $13,000 plus
additional
contribution
based on
utlization of
space segment

KOREA

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministry of Communications Korean Broadcasting System

84-4 Sejong-ro, Chrongro Ku, Seoul110 1-799 Yoido dong, Youngdungpo-gu. Seoul150
Telephone: (2) 750 2300 Telex: K 22099 Telephone: (2) 7803 502 Telex: 24599

Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)

Telecommunications 31, Yoido-dong. Youngdungpo-gu
Telephone: (2) 724 2000 Telex: 22203
Korea Telecommunication Authority (KT A)
[as for Ministry]

202
 Kuwait

Membership of International Organizations Earth Station Facilities

Organization Date of Joining 'lr Share Amenna Date

ITU 1952 0.2544529 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat 191\2 0. 720852 Inte1sat Boeun-1 A PP 28 March 1985
Inmarsat 191\5 0.35064 Intelsat Boeun-2 A II March 1988
Intelsat Kum San A 1P 29 August 1977

Space Segment

Uses Intelsat and Inmarsat.

KUWAIT

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Ministry of Communications Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Arabsat.

Kuwait
Telephone: 819033 Telex: US PTT 22197 KT
Earth Station Facilities
Telecommunications
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Mobile Telephone Systems Co (KSC) Intelsat Umm Al-Aish I A A2 28 October 1969
PO Box 22244, Safat Intelsat Umm Al-Aish 2 A AP 21 February 1977
Telephone: 24 55 222 Telex: 30444 HA TEF KT Intelsat Umm Al-Aish 3 A 1P l!June!981
InmarsatUmm Al-Aish 1 CES AOR
InmarsatUmm Al-Aish 2 CES !OR
Broadcasting Arabsat Umm Al-Aish 1

Kuwait Broadcasting and Television Service

Ministry of Information. PO Box 193

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1959 0.2544529
Intelsat 1973 0.989464
Inmarsat 1979 0.62240
Arabsat 1976 8.2

203
Laos

LAOS
Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Ministere des Transports et des Postes Uses Intersputnik.

Avenue Lang Xang, Vientiane
Telephone: 2740 Telex: 4491; 4492
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
System Location
Intersputnik Vientiane
National Radio of Laos
BP 310, Vientiane

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1952 0.1272264
Intersputnik 1981 $13,000 plus
additional
contribution
based on
utilization of
space segment

LEBANON
Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications Uses Arabsat and Intelsat.

Directorate Generale des Telecommunications, Ave Sami El
Solh, Beirut
Telephone: 38 98 00 Telex: MIMI PT 23700 LE Earth Stations

Ministere de l'lnformation
Beirut Lebanon has two Intelsat Standard A stations at Arbaniyeh
but both were damaged on 7 May 1983 and are not in service.
There are separate stations for Arabsat, Eutelsat and the UN.
Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1924 0.0636132
lntelsat 1975 0.086501
Arabsat 1976 6.3

204
 Liberia

LESOTHO

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Maseru 100 ITU 1967 0.0318066

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Lesotho Telecommunications Corporation

PO Box 1037, Maseru 100 Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: (1) 324 211 Telex: 4236 LTCHQ LO
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
Lesotho National Broadcasting Corporation
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Ha Sofonia B A2 23 February 1984
PO Box 552, Maseru 100
Telephone: (1} 313 561 Telex: 340 BB

LIBERIA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Monrovia ITU 1927 0.0636132
Telephone: 222111 Telex: 4551 MINPOSTEL Inmarsat 1980 0.10672

Telecommunications Space Segment

Liberia Telecommunications Corporation

Uses Intelsat and Inmarsat.
Telecommunications Building, Lynch Street, Mail Bag 9039,
Monrovia
Telephone: 222222 Telex: 4330 TELECOM 1
Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Antenna
System Location type Coverage
Intelsat Sinkor B A1
Liberian Broadcasting Corporation
Inmarsat Sinkor CES AOR
PO Box 594, Monrovia

205
Libya

LIBYA

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

General Post and Telecommunications Company Uses Intelsat and Arabsat.

Tripoli
Telephone: 605 406 Telex: 20000 BARIDAM LY
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Col'erage operational
Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah Broadcasting Intelsat Tripoli-2 A AP 11 August 1980
Corporation Intelsat Tripoli-3 A 1P 29 August 1980
Sharia El Fatah, PO Box 333, Tripoli

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining o/c Share

ITU 1953 0.3816793
Intelsat 1975 0.149600
Arabsat 1976 18.2

LIECHTENSTEIN

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Regierung des Furstentums Liechteinstein, FL 9490 Vaduz Organization Date of Joining o/c Share
66317 ITU 1963 0.1272264
Telephone: 77855 IPRDZ FL Intelsat 1973 0.05
Eutelsat 1983 0.05

Telecommunications Space Segment

see Switzerland. Uses Intelsat and Entelsat, via Switzerland.

206
 Macao

LUXEMBOURG
Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of State Organization Date of Joining %Share

Hotel de Bourgogne, 4 rue de la Congregation, L 1352 ITU 1866 0.1272264
Luxembourg Intelsat 1973 0.05
Telephone: 47 86 54 Telex: 2790 Eutelsat 1982 0.21934

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Direction des Postes et Telecommunications

Sa Avenue Monterey, L 2020 Luxembourg In the mid-1980s a US-inspired project, Coronet, was set up
Telephone: 47651 Telex: 3540 GENTL LU to use Luxembourg's state resources to operate a Europe-
Fax: (35) 2 475110 wide telecommunications satellite to distribute TV to cable
systems. That project was eventually cancelled to be replaced
by SES on broadly similar lines. SES will use an RCA
satellite, called Astra, to be launched in 1988 into an orbital
Broadcasting slot of 19° E.

Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Telediffusion (CLT)

L 2828 Luxembourg Earth Station Facilities
Telephone: 47661 Telex: 3453 TELE LU
SES is building an earth station at Betzdorf to provide TT &C
and uplink facilities for Astra.
Satellite Operator

Societe Europeene des Satellites (SES)

63 Avenue de la Liberte, L-1017 Luxembourg
Telephone: 49 94 711 Telex: 60229 SES AT LU
Fax:499471219

MACAO
Government Department Telecommunications

Ministerio dos Comunica~oes Companhia de Telecomunicacoes de Macau (Telemac)

Macau PO Box 868, Macau
Telephone: 578000 Telex: 88399 TMMAC OM
Direc~ao dos Servi~os de Correios e Telecomunica~oes
Largo do Senado, Macau
Telephone: 574 991 Telex: 88230 CTTMA OM

207
Madagascar

Broadcasting Space Segment

Emissora de Radiodifusao de Macau Uses Intelsat.

rua Francisco, Xavier Pereira 157-a, Macau
Telephone: 7534
Earth Station Facilities

Membership of International Organizations: Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Macau B lP 2May1984

via Portugal.

MADAGASCAR

Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining o/c Share

Antananarivo ITU 1961 0.0636132
Telephone: 26121 Telex: 22250 MIN PTT MG Intelsat 1973 0.05

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Societe des Telecommunications Internationales de Ia

Uses Intelsat.
Republique Malagasy (Stimad)
BP 763, Antananarivo
Telephone: 22402 Telex: 22398
Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Philibert Tsiranana A 1P 23 March 1972
Madagascar Radio and Television
PO Box 442, Antananarivo

MALAWI

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministry of Transport and Communications Malawi Broadcasting Corporation

PB 322, Lilongwe 3 PO Box 30133, Chichiri, Blantyre 3
Telephone: 730 122 Telex: 4736

Membership of International Organizations

Telecommunications
Organization Date of Joining o/c Share
Postmaster General ITU 1965 0.0318066
PO Box No 537, Blantyre Intelsat 1984 0.05
Telephone: 620 977 Telex: 4100 POST GEN MI, 4422
POSTSERVMI

208
 Maldives

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Malawi makes occasional use of Intelsat. Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Kanjedza-1 B 1P 3 December 1976
Intelsat Kanjedza-2 A AP 25 February 1981

MALAYSIA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Jabatan Telekom Malaysia (JTM) Organization Date of Joining %Share

Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts, Wisma ITU 1958 0.7633587
Damansara, Jalan, Semantan 50668 Kuala Lumpur Intelsat 1973 0.682881
Telephone: (03) 255 6687 Telex: ENTEP MA 30777 A SEAN 1967

Telecommunications Space Segment

Jabatan Telikom Malaysia uses Intelsat and Palapa. Perumtel leased an

c/o Bukit Mankamah, Kuala Lumpur 05 01
Intelsat transponder from 1975 to 1980, until it got access to
Telephone: (03) 22 94 94 Telex: GENTEL MA 90000, 90048
Palapa.
Fax: (3) 755 7316

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting

Antenna Date
Radio Television Malaysia (RTM)
System Location type Coverage operational
Department of Broadcasting, Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur
Intelsat Kuantan A PP 16 March 1970
2210
lntelsat Melaka A 1P 28 August 1980
Telephone: (3) 44 5333 Telex: 31383 (TV); 30283 (radio) Palapa Kuantan
Palapa Kota Kinabula
Britarafon Sdn Bhd
c/o PO Box 10233, Kuala Lumpur 01 02
Telephone: (3) 248 2470 Telex: MA 31167

MALDIVES

Government Departments Telecommunications

Department of Information and Broadcasting Cable and Wireless Ltd

Ghaazee Building, Male 2005 Male
Telephone: 2252 Telex: 66085 Telephone: 2805 Telex: 66000 CW MALE MF

Department of Posts and Telecommunications

Marine Drive, Male 2002
Telephone: 3344 Telex: 66005 TELECOM MF

209
Mali

Broadcasting Space Segment

Voice of Maldives Uses Intelsat.

'Moonlight Higun', Male
Telephone: 2841
Earth Station Facilities
Membership of International Organizations
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Organization Date of Joining %Share Intelsat Maldives B 1P 9June1977
ITU 1967 0.0318066

MALI

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Office des Postes et Teh~communications de Ia Republique de Organization Date of Joining %Share

Mali ITU 1960 0.0318066
Bamako Intelsat 1976 0.086374
Telephone: 222235 Telex: 993 OFI POSTELEX BAMAKO

Space Segment
Telecommunications

Uses Intelsat.
Societe de Telecommunications Internationales du Mali (TIM)
BP 273, Bamako
Telephone: 2259 33
Earth Station Facilities

Antenna Date
Broadcasting System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Sullymanbougoul 1 B A1 15 December 1976
Intelsat Sullymanbougoul 2 B AP 19 September 1977
Radiodiffusion Nationale du Mali
Intelsat Sullymanbougoul 3 A A1 1986
BP 171, Bamako

MALTA

Government Department Telecommunications

Office of the Prime Minister Telemalta Corporation

Auberge de Castille, Valletta Spencer Hill, Marsa
Telephone: 25 231 Telephone: 60 77 70 Telex: (406) 1286 TMFON MW, (406)
1311 PTGMMW
Ministry for Parastatal and People's Investments
Lascaris, Valletta
Telephone: 24411 Telex: (406) 1108 PARMIN MT; (406)
1108 P ARMIN MT

210
 Mauritania

Broadcasting Space Facilities

Malta Broadcasting Authority Malta has no facilities at present and does not use Intelsat or
Attard Buildings, National Road, Blata I Bajda Eutelsat. However, an Intelsat Standard B station is being
built to access the Atlantic path.
Xandir Malta
PO Box 82, Gwardamanga
Telephone: 25051 Telex: (406) 1443 XANDIR MW

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1965 0.0636132
Eutelsat 1985 0.05

MAURITANIA

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Office des Postes et Telecommunications de Ia Republique Uses Intelsat and Arabsat.

lslamique de Mauritanie
Nouakchott
Telephone: 52340 Telex: 600 MTN Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Toujounine A AP 24 October 1985
Radiodiffusion Nationale de Ia Republique Islamique de
Mauritanie
BP 200, Nouakchott

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1962 0.0636132
Intelsat 1973 0.05
Arabsat 1976 0.02

211
Mauritius

MAURITIUS
Government Department~ Space Segment

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Uses Intelsat.

Edith Cabell Street, Port Louis

Telecommunications Department Earth Station Facilities

Edith Cabell Street, Port Louis
Telephone: 082 001 Telex: 4000 DIRTEL IW
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Cassis B 1P 8 December 1975
Telecommunications

Cable & Wireless pic

Mercury House, Cassis, PO Box 44, Port Louis
Telephone: 080221 Telex: 4203

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1969 0.0636132

MEXICO
Departamento de Informacion y Estadistica
Government Department Guanajuato No 125, 7° piso, Mexico 7

Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transport Televisa SA

Direccion General de Telecomunicaciones, Depart de
Asuntos Internacionales, Avenue Lazaro Cardenas 567,
Mexico 03028 DC
Telephone: (5) 658 4352 Telex: 177 3980 DAITME
Av. Chapultepec 18, Mexico 7 DF
Telephone: 585 3333
Membership of International Organizations

Telecommunications
Organization Date of Joining %Share
ITU 1908 0.2544529
Telefonos de Mexico SA Intelsat 1973 1.818184
Parque Via 198, Mexico 5, DF Cite!
Telephone: 1771233 TELME Telex: 1771233

Broadcasting

Camara Nacional de Ia Industria de Radio y Television

Paseo de Ia Reforma 445,9° piso, Mexico 5

212
 Monaco
Morelos-2 (SMS)
Space Segment Manufacturer Hughes (376)
Orbital position 116SW
Launch date November 1985
Mexico has its own national space system (Morelos) and also Launcher NASA
uses Intelsat. Until Morelos became operational in 1986, Frequency band 4/6 GHz, 12/14 GHz
Mexico leased capacity on both Intelsat and Westar. Number of channels C-band 12
The Morelos system (named after a hero of Mexican Ku-band 4
independence) consists of two satellites, one operational and TWTA power (Watts) C-band 7
one in-orbit spare. Additional spacecraft are planned. A key Ku-band 20
feature of the system is the large number of earth stations (up ITU region 2
to 6,000). Status In-orbit space
Primary use Telephony
Morelos-1 (SMS)
Manufacturer Hughes (376)
Orbital position 113SW
Launch date June 1985 Earth Station Facilities
Launcher NASA
Design life (years) 10
Frequency band 4/6 GHz; 12/14 GHz Antenna Date
Number of channels C-band 12 System Location type Coverage operational
Ku-band 4 Intelsat El Triunfo A PP June 1986
TWTA power (Watts) C-band 7 Intelsat Industrial B AS 15 May 1986
Ku-band 20 Hermosillo
Antenna coverage Central America Intelsat Iztapalapa-5 B AS 15 May 1986
ITU region 2 Intelsat Tulancingo-1 A Al 13 January 1969
Status Main Intelsat Tulancingo-2 A AP 9 January 1981
Primary use Telephony/TV
Services 12 XEW-TV, Mexico City
14 XHITM-TV, Mexico
City
22 XHDF-TV, Mexico City
24 XETV, Tijuana/San
Diego

MONACO

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Direction Generale des Postes et Telecommunications Uses Intelsat and Eutelsat.

16 Boulevard de Suisse, Monte Carlo 98030
Telephone: (93) 30 33 71 Telex: 469796 GENTEL CARLO
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
None.

Radio Tele Monte Carlo

16 Boulevard Princesse Charlotte, BP 128, Monte Carlo
Telephone: (93) 50 5252 Telex: 469926 RADIO CARLO

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1908 0.0636132
Intelsat 1973 0.05
Eutelsat 1984 0.05

213
Mongolia

MONGOLI A

Government Department and Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Communications Organization Date of Joining % Share

Ulan Bator ITU 1964 0.0636132
Telephone: 22 145 Intersputnik 1972 $13,000 plus
additional
contribution
based on
utilization of
space segment

Broadcasting
Space Segment
Ulan Bator Radio
State Committee for Information, PO Box 365, Ulan Bator Uses Intersputnik.

MOROCCO
Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Postes et des Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Direction des Telecommunications, Boulevard Moulay AI ITU 1956 0.2544529
Hassan, Rabat Intelsat 1973 0.257424
Telephone: (7) 62091 Telex: GENTEL B 31001 M; Arabsat 1976 0.05
GENTEL C 31948 M

Ministere de I'Information Space Segment

Rabat
Telephone: (7) 64871 Telex: RADIO MAR 31010 M
Uses Intelsat and Arabsat. Leases an Intelsat transponder for
domestic use.
Telecommunications

Earth Station Facilities

Office National des Postes et Telecommunications
c/o Direction des Telecommunications, Boulevard Moulay AI
Hassan, Rabat Antenna Date
Telephone: (7) 62091 Telex: GENTEL B 31001 M; System Location type Coverage operational
GENTEL C 31948 M Intelsat Sehouls A AP 29 December 1969
Arabsat
Eutelsat
Broadcasting

Radiodiffusion Television Marocaine (RTM)

1 rue el Brihi, BP 1042, Rabat
Telephone: (7) 648 71 Telex: RADIO MAR 31010 M

214
 Nauru

MOZAMBIQUE

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministerio dos Correios, Telecomunica.;oes e Aviacao Organization Date of Joining %Share

Maputo ITU 1975 0.0636132
Telephone: 74 31 31 Telex: 6595 MCTAC MO

Telecommunications Space Segment

Telecomunica.;oes de Mo.;ambique Uses an Intelsat lease for domestic service and occasional
CP 25, Maputo international use.
Telephone: 27590 Telex: 6509 DGTDM MO

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting
Antenna Date
Radio Mo.;ambique System Location t)pe Coverage operational
CP 2000, Maputo Intelsat Boane A AP 13 September 1974
Telephone: 34041/7 Telex: 0992 6340 MORADIO

NAURU

Government Department Space Segment

Director of Telecommunications Uses Intelsat.

Republic of Nauru
Telephone: 3324 Telex: NRU IMC ZV 33086
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Nauru Broadcasting Service Intelsat Nauru B PP 16 December 1975
Nauru
Telephone: 582

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1969 0.318066

215
Nepal

NEPAL
Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Singha Our bar, Kathmandu ITU 1957 0.0318066
Telephone: 214134

Department of Broadcasting Space Segment

His Majesty's Government of Nepal, PO Box 634, Singha
Durbar, Kathmandu
Uses Intelsat.

Telecommunications
Earth Station Facilities
Nepal Telecommunications Corporation
Singh a Durbar, Kathmandu Antenna Date
Telephone: 215444 Telex: NP 201 TELCOM System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Sagarmatha B IP 13 October 1982

Broadcasting

Radio Nepal
PO Box 634, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu
Telephone: 410732

NETHERLANDS
Government Department
Ministerie van Welzijn Volksgezondheid en Cultuur (Ministry
of Welfare, Public Health and Culture)
Steevoordelaan 3/10, 2284 EH Rijswijk
Telephone: (70) 94 92 33 Telex: 316880
Direction des Lignes a Grande Distance et des Liaisons
Radioelectriques
Berkenweg, 3818 Ia Amersfoort
Telephone: 69 91 11 Telex: 79467 DKRUS NL
Radio Holland BV
Jan Rebelstraat 20, 1007 AB Amsterdam Osdorp
Telephone: 101972 Telex: 13166 RHOL NL

Telecommunications
Space
Department of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones (PTT)
BP 30000, 2500 GA The Hague Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programmes (NIVR)
Telephone: (70) 43 43 43 Fax: (70) 43 32 93 PO Box 35, Kluyverweg 1, 2600 AA Delft
Telephone: (15) 78 80 25 Telex: 3890
Staatsbedrijf der Posterijan, Telegraphic en Telefonic (PTT)
PTT Centrale Directie, Headquarters, Kortenaerkade 12,
2518 AX The Hague
Telephone: (70) 75 91 11 Telex: 31111

216
 New Zealand

Broadcasting Space Segment

Nederlands Omroep Stichting (NOS) Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Eutelsat. There are no plans for a
PO Box 10, 1200 JB Hilversum national system.
Telephone: (35) 77 91 11 or 28 11 10 Telex: 43479,43189
NOSAZNL
Earth Station Facilities
Stichting Radio Netherland
Wereldomroep, PO Box 222, 1200 JG Hilversum
Telephone: 16151 Telex: 43336 WOMR NL Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Burum-1 A AP 7 August
Membership of International Organizations Intelsat Burum-2 A A1 23 June 1978
Intelsat Burum-3 A IP 3 October 1984
Intelsat Burum-4 A II 8 January 1985
Organization Date of Joining %Share Inmarsat CES
ITU 1866 2.5445292 Eutelsat
Intelsat 1973 1.128008
Inmarsat 1979 2.56013
Eutelsat 1985 5.45359

NEW ZEALAND

Government Department Space Segment

Post Office Headquarters Uses Intelsat and Inmarsat.

Wellington
Telephone: (4) 73 8444 Telex: GENTEL NZ 3381
Fax: (4) 731399 Earth Station Facilities

Telecommunications Alllenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Arrival Heights B PS February 1988
Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Intelsat Chatham HeightsB PS December 1987
7-27 Waterloo Quay, Wellington Intelsat Rangiora B P 3 March 1986
Telephone: (4) 73 84 44 Intelsat Warkworth-1 A PP 15June1971
Intelsat Warkworth-2 A PP 2 October 1984
Intelsat Wellington B P 3 March 1986
Broadcasting Inmarsat

Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand

Bowen State Building, Bowen Street, PO Box 98, Wellington
Telephone: 721777 Telex: NZ 31031

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1978 0.5089058
Intelsat 1973 0.402584
Inmarsat 1979 0.11216

217
Nicaragua

NICARAGUA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Direcci6n General de Telecomunicaciones y Correos de Organization Date of Joining %Share

Nicaragua ITU 1926 0.1272264
Apartado de Correos 232, Managua Intelsat 1973 0.05
Telephone: (2) 7 1134 Telex: 2248 Comtelca
Inca tel

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Empresa Nicaraguense de Telecomunicaciones (Enitel)
Apartado postel2664, Managua
Uses Intelsat and Intersputnik.
Telephone: 51812 Telex: 1458

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Antenna Date
Direccion de Medios de Comunicacion
System Location type Coverage operational
Apartado 209, Managua
Intelsat Managua A A1 28 November 1972
Telephone: 24823
Intersputnik Managua

Satellite Operator

Nicatelsat
Compafifa Nicaraguense de Telecomunicaciones por Sate lite
( CNTS), Apart ado de Correos 4567, Managua
Telephone: (2) 25737 Telex: 2448

NIGER

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministere des Postes et Telecommunications Office de Radiodiffusion Television du Niger (ORTN)

Niamey BP 361, Niamey
Telephone: 72 25 97 Telex: 5209 OSPOSTEL NI Telephone: 72 22 72

Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

Office des Postes et Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Nianey ITU 1960 0.0318066
Telephone: 72 2000 Telex: 5209 OFPOSTEL Intelsat 1980 0.05

218
 Norway

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Uses Intelsat for leased capacity (domestic) and occasional Antenna Date
use (international). System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Gondel B 1P 19 September 1977
Intelsat Karma A Al 28 October 1981

NIGERIA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Private Mail Bag No 12655, GPO Marina, Lagos ITU 1961 0.5089058
Telephone: 655055 Telex: 21065 TRAFCON NG Intelsat 1975 1.230844

Telecommunications Space Segment

Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd (NITEL)

Uses Intelsat, including three transponders leased for domes-
Necom House 15, Marina, PO Box 173, Private Mail Bag No. tic services. No immediate plans for a national system
12742, Lagos although the government has registered three orbital slots:
Telephone: (1) 65 9666 20°E, 16°E, 14°E.

Nigerian External Telecommunications (NET)

Private Mail Bag PO No 12742, Necom House 15, Marina, Earth Station Facilities
Box 173, Lagos
Telephone: (1)659666 Telex: 11001 NETADNG
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Broadcasting Intelsat Enugu-2 A A2 1986
Intelsat Kujama A A1 16 November 1982
Intelsat Lanlate-1 A 1P 26 March 1971
Nigerian Television Authority Intelsat Lanlate-2 A AP 15 January 1976
15 Awolowo Road, SW Ikoyi, PMB 12036, Lagos
Telephone: 614916 or 614966

NORWAY

Government Department Telecommunications

Ministry of Communications Norwegian Telecommunications Administration (Televerket)

PO Box 8010 Dep, N Oslo 1 PO Box 6701, St Olavs Plass, N Oslo 1
Telephone: (2) 11 90 90 Telex: 17498 SDEP N Telephone: 48 89 90 Telex: 71203 GENTL N
Fax: (2) 488720

219
Oman

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK) For Intelsat, Norway uses the joint Nordic station in Sweden
Bjornstjerns, Bjornsons Plass 1, Oslo 3 for international traffic and its own station at Eik for the
Telephone: (2) 46 98 60 Telex: 76820 RRUTL N Norsat service.
Fax: (2) 457176; (2) 457177 For Inmarsat, it has used the joint Nordic coast earth
station (CES) at Eik in Norway since February 1982. It
operated in the Atlantic Ocean region until February 1983. In
Membership of International Organizations accordance with a joint agreement with the UK, the Eik CES
then handled traffic in the Indian Ocean region while
Goonhilly (UK) carried the Atlantic Ocean region traffic.
Organization Date of Joining %Share There is also an agreement with Telecom Singapore for the
ITU 1866 1.2722646 use of their CES in the Pacific Ocean region. This tripartite
Intelsat 1973 0.382246 agreement makes it possible to offer customers global
Inmarsat 1979 14.24488 coverage at reasonable charges.
Eutelsat 1984 2.50247 For Eutelsat (F-2), Norway is building ground stations in
Nittedal and Stavanger.

Space Segment

Norway uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Eutelsat. It has leased a

half-beam Intelsat transponder since 1976 to service oil
platforms in the North Sea. The service is called Norsat. It
has been a member of several joint Nordic projects for a
Nordic satellite system. It is currently involved with Sweden's
Tele-X project, as is Finland. Tele-X is scheduled to be
launched in 1988.

OMAN
Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Information and Youth Affairs Organization Date of Joining %Share

PO Box 600, Muscat ITU 1972 0.1273264
Telephone: Telex: MB 3265 Intelsat 1975 0.509837
Inmarsat 1980 0.05
Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones
Arabsat 1976 0.6
PO Box 3338, Ruwi, Muscat
Telephone: 70 38 7Q Telex: 5625 MIN PTT ON
Space Segment

Telecommunications
Uses Intelsat, including a leased transponder, Inmarsat and
Arabsat.
General Telecommunications Organisation
PO Box 3789, Muscat
Telephone: 69 78 82 Telex: 3400 GENTEL MB Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat AI Hajar A lP 24 June 1976
Oman Television Intelsat Masirah B lP
PO Box 600, Muscat Inmarsat AI Hajar CES lOR
Telephone: 603 222 Telex: 3454 Arabsat AI Hajar

220
 Panama

PAKISTAN

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Ministry of Communications Uses Intelsat and Inmarsat. There are plans for a national
Telegraph and Telephone Department, Islamabad satellite system, with two spacecraft at 38°E and 4l E 0

Telephone: 43910 Telex: 5824 DGIBA PK providing K-band service.

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Antenna Date

Broadcasting House, Constitution Avenue, Islamabad System Location type Coverage operational
Telephone: 66338 Telex: RP 883 Intelsat Deh Mandro 1 A 1P 4 October 1972
Intelsat Deh Mandro 2 B AS 14 June 1984
Intelsat Mallach A 11 May 1986
Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1947 0.5089058
Intelsat 1973 0.393
Inmarsat 1985 0.05

PANAMA

Government Department and Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

Instituto Nacional de Telecomunicaciones Organization Date of Joining %Share

Apartado Postal9A-659, Panama 9A ITU 1914 0.1272264
Telephone: 64 2117 Telex: 2920 GER INTL PG Intelsat 1975 0.05
Fax: 64 57 43

Departamento de Telecomunicaciones Maritimas Space Segment

Apartado Postal5245, Panama 5
Telephone: 271166 Telex: 2537,2597,2718SECNAVESPG
Uses Intelsat. May participate in a regional system.

Broadcasting
Earth Station Facilities
Asociacion Panamena de Radiodifusion
Apartado 7387, Panama Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Direccion Nacional de Medios de Comunicacion Social Intelsat U tibe-1 A A2 7 September 1968
Apartado 3422, Panama 1 Intelsat Utibe-2 A AP 20 April1981

221
Papua New Guinea

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Posts and Telecommunications Corporation Uses lntelsat and Aussat.

PO Box 1349, Boroko
Telephone: 27 4111 Telex: PNGXTEL NE 22254
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
National Broadcasting Commission Intelsat Port Moresby-1 B PP 12 March 1985
PO Box 1359, Boroko Intelsat Port Moresby-2 A pp 1989

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1975 0.1272264
Intelsat 1983 0.05

PARAGUAY

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones Teledifusora Paraguaya SA

Asuncion PO Box 247,993 Ascuncion
Telephone: 32823 Telex: 5109 PY

Television Cerro Cora

Telecommunications Avenida Carlos Antonio Lopez 572, Ascunci6n
Telephone: 84222 Telex: 370 PX
Administracion Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Antelco)
Casilla Correo 2042, Asuncion
Telephone: 21 94 216 Telex: 412 PY DAI ANTELCO

Instituto Paraguyo de Telecomunicaciones

E. Victor Haedo y Harnandarias, Casilla Correo 1047,
Asuncion
Telephone: 93219 Telex: 245 PY lPT

Administracion Nacional de Telecomunicaciones

Administracion General, Casil\a Correo 84, Asuncion
Telephone: 44001

222
 Philippines

PERU

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones Organization Date of Joining %Share

Direcci6n General de Telecomunicaciones, Av. 28 de Julio ITU 1915 0.0636132
No 800, Lima Intelsat 1973 0.748993
Telephone: (14) 31 92 06; 23 07 52 Telex: 25511 DIGECOM A seta
PE Cite!

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Entel)

Las Begonias No 475, San Isidro, Lima 27 Uses Intelsat, including a lease since 1978.
Telephone: (14) 424300 Telex: 25522

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting
Antenna Date
Empresa Nacional de Radiodifusion (Enrad) System Location type Coverage operational
Oficina Central de Informaciones, Jose Galvez 1040, Lima Intelsat Lurin-1 A AP 3 July 1969
Telephone: 71 53 83 Intelsat Miguel Colina Marie A A1 2 August 1984
Intelsat Morro Solar B A 1986

PHILIPPINES
Globe Mackay Cable and Radio Corporation
Government Department ITT Building, United Nations Avenue, PO Box 770, Manila
RP 2801, Ermita Metro Manila
Ministry of Transport and Communications
Telephone: (2) 506081 Telex: ITT 40005 PM GM CR
Corner of Panay Avenue and Scout Reyes Streete, Quezon
City National Telecommunications Commission
Telephone: (2) 981160 Telex: 63912 NTC PN David Gutierrez Building, Scout Reyes Corner, Panay Ave,
Quezon City 3008
Telephone: (2) 98 11 60

Philippine Global Communications Inc.

Telecommunications
Capitol Wireless Inc.
106 Alvarado Street, Legaspi Village, Box 776 MCC, Makati
Metro Manila
Telephone: (2) 818 05 11 Telex: 4899 CWI HQ PS
Eastern Telecommunications Philippines
Electra House, 115 Esteban Street, Legaspi Village, Box 126
MCC, Makati Metro Manila
Telephone: (2) 816 0001 Telex: 63322 ET PIR M PN
8755 Paseo de Roxas, CC Box 960, Makati Metro Manila
3117
Telephone: (2) 87 99 71 Telex: 2222 ENG PH
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company
PLDT Building, Legaspi Village, Box 952 MCC, Makati
Metro Manila
Telephone: 890423 Telex: 3576 PLD PH
Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
106 Alvarado Street, Legaspi Village, Makati Metro Manila
Telephone: 8180511 Telex: (758) 2217 PTT HQ PU

223
Poland

Broadcasting Space Segment

GTV-4 Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Palapa (leased capacity).

Bohol Avenue, Quezon

Channe17 Earth Station Facilities

RBS Building, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, Diliman,
Quezon
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Pinugay-1 A PP 28 April1968
Membership of International Organizations: Intelsat Pinugay-2 A lP 6December1971
Inmarsat
Organization Date of Joining %Share
ITU 1912 1.4
Intelsat 1973 0.644842
Inmarsat 1981 0.09960

POLAND

Government Department Space Segment

Ministerstwo Lacznosci Uses Intelsat, Intersputnik and Inmarsat.

Department Sluzby Telekomunikacyjnej, 00940 Warsaw
Telephone: (22) 26 10 71 Telex: 813362 A ML PL
Earth Station Facilities

Telecommunications
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Glowny Urzad Telekomunikacji Intelsat Psary A AP 6 October 1982
Barbary 2, 00686 Warsaw Intersputnik Psary
Telephone: (22) 2123 74 Telex: 813598 Inmarsat CES

Broadcasting

Polskie Radio i Telewizja

ul. Woronicza 17, 00950 Warsaw
Telephone: 44 32 51 Telex: 81533

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1921 0.5089058
Inmarsat 1979 0.51869
lntersputnik 1972 $13,000 plus
additional
contribution
based on
utilization of the
space segment

224
 Portugal

PORTUGAL

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Conselho de Administra.;ao de Correios e Telecomunica.;oes Organization Date of Joining %Share

de Portugal (CTP) ITU 1866 0.2544529
Rua de San Jose 20, 1100 Lisbon Intelsat 1973 0.682498
Telephone: (1) 370051 Telex: 13351 Inmarsat 1979 0.09619
Fax: (1) 32 09 36 Eutelsat 1982 3.05082

Telecommunications Space Segment

Direc.;ao Geral Telecomunica.;oes Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Eutelsat.

Edificio as Telecomunicacoes, Rua do Conde de Redondo
79, 1192 Lisbon Bodex
Telephone: (1) 57 40 30 Telex: 12520 GENTLS P, 14050 Earth Station Facilities
INTELXP
Antenna Date
Companhia Portuguese Radio Marconi (CPRM) System Location type Coverage operational
Apartado 2778, 1119 Lisbon Codex Intelsat Cintra-1 A AP 16 May 1974
Telephone: (1) 52 41 91 Telex: 12384 CPRM P Intelsat Cintra-3 A lP 21 July 1983
Fax: (1) 54 12 58

Serna Electronicas - Sociedade de Electronics Maritima e

Aeronautics SARL
Avenide 24 de Julho No 60, Lisbon 2
Telephone: (1) 67 60 87

Broadcasting

Radiodifusao Portuguesa E P
A venida Duarte Pacheco 5, 1000 Lisbon
Telephone: (1) 65 40 41 Telex: 12538 RDP P

Radiodifusao Portuguesa EP (RTP)

Avenida 5 de Outubro 197, 1097 Lisbon CODEX
Telephone: (1) 73 17 74 Telex: 14527 RTP P

225
Qatar

QATAR

Government Department Qatar Television

Secretary of State for Communications and Transport
PO Box 3416, Doha
Telephone: 425 851 Telex: 4468 GENTEL DH
PO Box 1836, Doha
Telephone: 864 575 Telex: 4040 TEE VEE DH
Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

Telecommunications ITU 1973 0.1272264
Intelsat 1976 0.324020
Arabsat 1976 5.0
Telecommunications Department
PO Box 2633, Doha
Telephone: 424 031 Telex: 4468 GENTEL DH
Space Segment
Qatar National Telephone Service (QNTS)
PO Box 14, Doha Uses Intelsat and Arabsat.
Telephone: 22341 Telex: 4013

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Qatar Television and Broadcasting Service (QBS) Intelsat Doha-1 A 1P 10 March 1976
Ministry of Information, PO Box 1414 Intelsat Doha-2 A A2 17 October 1984
Telephone: 864 111 Telex: 4229 Arabsat Doha-3

ROMANIA

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications Radioteleviziunea Romana

B-Dul Dinicu Golescu 38, 77113 Bucharest PO Box 111,60-62 Str. Nuferilor, Bucharest
Telephone: 401737 Telex: 10633 DCI R Telephone: 793290 Telex: 11251

Telecommunications

Department of Posts and Telecommunications

B-Dul Dinicu Golescu 38, 77113 Bucharest
Telephone: 182366 Telex: 11372

226
 Rwanda

Membership of International Organizations Earth Station Facilities

Organization Date of Joining %Share Antenna Date

ITU 1866 0.1272264 System Location type Coverage operational
Intersputnik 1972 $13,000 plus Intelsat Cheia-1 A AP 14 February 1977
additional Intelsat Cheia-2 A IP 18 December 1979
contribution Intersputnik Cheia-3
based on
utilization of
space segment

Space Segment

uses Intelsat and Intersputnik.

RWANDA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Minstere des Postes et des Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

BP 270, Kigali ITU 1962 0.0318066
Telephone: 5304

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Le Directeur General des Telecommunications

BP 1332, Kigali Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: 6777 Telex: 573

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting

Antenna Date
Radiodiffusion de Ia Republique Rwandaise System Location type Coverage operational
PB 83, Kigali Intelsat Kicukiro B lP 18 March 1982
Telephone: 5665 Telex: ORINFOR 557

227
St Lucia

STLUCIA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations:

Ministry of Communications and Works None.

Castries
Telephone: 281
Space Segment
Telecommunications
None.

Cable and Wireless (West Indies) Ltd

The Voice Building, Bridge Street, PO Box 111, Castries Earth Station Facilities
Telephone: 2201 Telex: WB 311

Uses the Intelsat A station in Barbados.

Broadcasting

St Lucia Broadcasting Corporation

Morne Fortune, PO Box 660, Castries

SAN MARINO

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Direzione Generale Poste e Telecomunicazione Uses Intelsat and Eutelsat via Telespazio (Italy).
San Marino
Telephone: 541 991 349
Earth Station Facilities
Membership of International Organizations
None. Uses Telespazio (Italy.)

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1977 0.0636132
Eutelsat 1985 0.05

228
 Saudi Arabia

SAO TOME E PRINCIPE

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Direccao dos Correos e Telecomunica~;oes de Republica Organization Date of Joining %Share

Democratica de Sao Tome e Principe ITU 1976 0.0318066
CP 141, Sao Tome
Telephone: 212 22500
Space Segment
Telecommunications
Uses Intelsat.
Empresa Nacional de Telecomunica~;oes (Enatel)
CP 141, Sao Tome
Telephone: 212 22500 Telex: 233 Earth Station Facilities

Antenna Date
Broadcasting
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat San Marcal B AP 21 October 1980
Radio Nacional de Sao Tome et Principe
Avenida Marginal12 de Julho, CP 44, Sao Tome
Telephone: 212 22875 Telex: 217 RADIO ST

SAUDI ARABIA

Government Department and Telecommunications Satellites

Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones Arab Satellite Communications Organization (ASCO)
Riyadh PO Box 1038, Riyadh
Telephone: (1) 40 21550 Telex: 201220 PTT SJ Telephone: 4646666 Telex: 201300 ARABSAT
Fax: (1) 476 6752

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

Broadcasting ITU 1949 2.5445292
Intelsat 1973 3.106999
Saudi Arabian Broadcasting Service Inmarsat 1983 0.55668
PO Box 570, Riyadh Arabsat 1976 26.6

229
Senegal

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Arabsat. An Intelsat lease Antenna Date

provides domestic services. Saudi Arabio has plans for two System Location type Coverage operational
Ku-band satellites (SAB5) located at 17° East. However, the Intelsat Jeddah-4 A AI 1986
plans remain tentative. Intelsat Jeddah-5 A 11 June 1986
Intelsat Riyadh- I A lP 29 October 1975
Intelsat Riyadh-4 A A2 29 February 1980
Intelsat Taif A AP 22 March 1976
Inmarsat CES
Arabsat Riyadh
Arabsat Jeddah

SENEGAL

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministere de I' Information et des Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Dakar ITU 1960 0.2544529
Telephone: 2310 65 Telex: 263 MINIMFOPT SG Intelsat 1973 0.05

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Office des Postes et Telecommunications

Dakar Uses Intelsat.
Telephone: 23 1015 Telex: 3257 OFIPOST SG
Earth Station Facilities
Societe Nationale de Telecommunications (SON ATEL)
BP 69, Dakar
Telephone: 214242 Telex: 950 TELESEN SG, 1296 Antenna Date
TELESEN SG Fax: 22 14 92 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Gandoul A AP 7 March 1972

Broadcasting

Office de Radiodiffusion-Television du Senegal

58 Boulevard de Ia Republique, or BP 1765, Dakar
Telephone: 21 56 89 Telex: 634 SG

SEYCHELLES

Government Department Telecommunications

Ministry of Education and Information Cable and Wireless pic

PO Box 321, Union Vale, Mahe Mercury House, Victoria Road, PO Box 4, Mahe
Telephone: 22541 Telex: 2305 MINED SZ Telephone: 22 221 Telex: 2210 CWEXEC

230
 Singapore

Broadcasting Space Segment

Radio Television Seychelles Uses Intelsat.

Box 321, Union Vale, Victoria, Mahe
Telephone: 22541 Telex: 2320 SAP SZ
Earth Station Facilities

Membership of International Organizations Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Bon Espoir B IP 27 June 1976
None.

SIERRA LEONE

Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

General Post Office Organization Date of Joining %Share

Freetown ITU 1961 0.1318066
Telephone: 23333 Telex: 3485 GENTEL SL

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Space Segment

Lightfoot Boston Street, Freetown
Telephone: 40597
Uses Intelsat.

Telecommunications
Earth Station Facilities
Sierra Leone External Telecommunications Ltd
PO Box 80, Freetown Antenna Date
Telephone: 22804 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Wilberforce-! A Al December 1987
Intelsat Wilberforce-2 B A1 10 August 1979
Broadcasting

Sierra Leone Television

Freetown
Telephone: 40597

SINGAPORE

Government Department and Telecommunications Broadcasting

Telecom Authority of Singapore (Telecoms) Singapore Broadcasting Corporation

Comcentre, 31 Exeter Road, Singapore 0923 Caldecott Hill, Thomson Road, Singapore 1129
Telephone: 7343344 Telex: RS 33311 Fax: 732 84 28

231
Solomon Islands

Membership of International Organizations Earth Station Facilities

Organization Date of Joining %Share Antenna Date

ITU 1965 0.2544529 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat 1973 1.4 Intelsat BukitTimah A 1P 28 March 1986
Inmarsat 1979 2.27367 Intelsat Sentosa-1 A 1P 10 August 1971
ASEAN 1967 Intelsat Sentosa-2 A PP 9July1974
Inmarsat Singapore CES POR 1 November 1982
Palapa October 1983
Space Segment

Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Palapa.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

Government Department Membership of International Organizations:

Ministry of Transport and Communications None.

Posts and Telecommunications Division, General Post
Dakar
Telephone: 23 10 65 Telex: 263 MININFOPT SG Space Segment

Telecommunications Uses Intelsat.

Solomon Islands International Telecommunications Ltd Earth Station Facilities

(Soltel)
PO Box 148, Honiara
Telephone: 21576 Telex: 66301 SOLTEL Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
lntelsat Honiara B pp 13 December 1978
Broadcasting

Solomon Island Broadcasting Corporation

PO Box 654, Honiara
Telephone: 20051 Telex: HQ66406

SOMALIA

Government Department Telecommunications

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications The Director General of Posts and Telecommunications
Mogadishu Mogadishu
Telephone: 29005 Telex: 754 MINPOSTEL SM Telephone: 24 001 Telex: 754

232
 South Africa

Broadcasting Space Segment

Somali Broadcasting Service Uses Intelsat and Arabsat.

Ministry of Information and National Guidance, Private
Postbag, Mogadishu
Telephone: 2455 Earth Station Facilities

Membership of International Organizations Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Kaaraan B lP 1 October 1979
Organization Date of Joining %Share
ITU 1962 0.0318066
Intelsat 1981 0.05
Arabsat 1976 0.3

SOUTH AFRICA

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Department of Foreign Affairs and Information Uses Intelsat.

Union Buildings 60A, Pretoria 0002

Postmaster General Earth Station Facilities

Telecommunications Commercial Division, Private Bag X74,
Pretoria 0001
Telephone: ( 12) 293 2111 Telex: 322889 Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Pretoria-! A AP 2 December 1975
Intelsat Pretoria-2 A lP 19 March 1976
Broadcasting Intelsat Pretoria-3 A A2 14 December 1979

South African Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcasting Centre, PO Box 8606, Johannesburg 2000
Telephone: (11) 7140111 Telex: 424116 SA

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1910 1.271510
Intelsat 1973 0.2544529

233
Spain

SPAIN
Government Departments Televisio de Cataluya (TV3)
Diagonal652, Barcelona
Telephone: (3) 205 02 64
Ministerio de Transportes, Turismo y Comunicaciones
Gabinete de Ordenacion de las Telecomunicaciones, Calle de Sociedad Espanola de Radiodifusion (SER)
Alcala 54, Madrid 14 Gran Via 32, 28013 Madrid
Telephone: (1) 2313300 Telex: 44100 JNTE
Fax: (1) 733 3684
Membership of International Organizations
Secretaria General de Comunicaciones
28070 Madrid
Telephone: (1) 221 65 00 Organization Date of Joining %Share
ITU 1866 0.7633587
Intelsat 1973 1.962657
Inmarsat 1979 1.30846
Telecommunications Eutelsat 1985 4.62608

Compania Telefonica Nacional de Espana (CTNE)

Apartado 753, Gran Via 28, Madrid 13 Space Segment
Telephone: 2327570 Telex: 27320 CTNE E

Direccion General de Correos y Telegrafos Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Eutelsat.

Palacio de Comunicaciones, 28070 Madrid
Telephone: (1) 221 6500 Telex: 27728 Fax: (1) 429 4621
Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Radiotelevision Espanola Intelsat Aguimes A A1 3 April1971
Paseo de Ia Castellana 118, Madrid 25046 Intelsat Buitrago-1 A A1 11 January 1968
Telephone: (1) 4116646 Telex: 47092 Intelsat Buitrago-2 A 1P 13 April1970
Intelsat Buitrago-3 A AP 31 August 1973
Intelsat Buitrago-5 A A2 15 April 1982
Radiotelevision Espanola Intelsat Rota B A 1 October 1986
Prado del Rey, Madrid 24 Intelsat Torre jon B A 1 September 1986
Telephone: (1) 218 6529 Telex: 27366 Intelsat Zaragoza B A 1 November 1986
Inmarsat CES AOR
Euskal Telebista Eutelsat Guadalajara
Durango (Vizcaya)
Telephone: (4) 681 6600 Telex: 319023

Television de Galicia SA
San Marcos AP 707, Santiago de Compostela (Ia Cornua)
Telephone: (81) 56 5141 Telex: 86297

234
 Sudan

SRI LANKA

Government Department Space Segment

Postmaster General and Director of Telecommunications Uses Intelsat and Inmarsat.

Colombo 1

Earth Station Facilities

Telecommunications
Antenna Date
Overseas Telecommunications Service System Location type Coverage operational
PO Box 235, OTS Building, Duke Street, Colombo 1 Intelsat Padukka A 1P 20 December 1975
Telephone: 26592 Telex: 21110 MUX COLOMBO Intelsat Trincomalee B 1P 1 December 1984
Inmarsat CES
Sri Lanka Telecommunications Headquarters
PO Box 503, Colombo 1
Telephone: 23559 Telex: 21477 TELECOM CE

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation

PO Box 574, Torrington Square, Colombo 7
Telephone: 92281

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1897 0.1272264
Intelsat 1973 0.05
Inmarsat 1981 0.06556

SUDAN

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministry of Transport and Communications Broadcasting Service of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan
Khartoum PO Box 572, Omdurman
Telephone: 72 168

Membership of International Organizations

Telecommunications
Organization Date of Joining o/c Share
Sudan Telecommunications Corporation ITU 1957 0.0318066
Khartoum Intelsat 1973 0.;288474
Telephone: 72168 Telex: 22299 ENTEL K Arabsat 1976 2.1

Posts and Telegraphs Public Corporation

Khartoum
Telephone: 70000

235
Suriname

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Uses Intelsat and Arabsat. The PTT leases an Intelsat Antenna Date
transponder for domestic service, called Sudosat. System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Umm Haraz-1 A AP 21 November 1974
Intelsat Umm Haraz-2 B Al 25 August 1985

SURINAME

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Telecomunicatiebedrijf Suriname Uses lntelsat.

Heiligenweg, PO Box 1839, Paramaribo
Telephone: 73944 Telex: LATEL SN B1
Fax: 77 800; 10 555 Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Santo Boma-1 B A1 31 July 1979
Surinaamse Televisie Stichting Intelsat Santo Boma-2 A AP December 1987
PO Box 535, Cultuurtuinlaan, Paramaribo
Telephone: 73100

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1976 0.0636132

SWAZILAND

Government Department and Telecommunications Space Segment

Directorate of Posts and Telecommunications Uses Intelsat.

PO Box 125, Mbabane
Telephone: 42341,43131 Telex: 2033 WD, 2019
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Swaziland Television Broadcasting Corporation Intelsat Ezulwini B A2 7 July 1983
PO Box A 146, Mbabane
Telephone: 42761

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1970 0.0636132

236
 Sweden

SWEDEN
Government Departments Satellite Manufacturers

Ministry of Communications
Ericsson Radio Systems AB
Vasagatan 8-10,5-103 33 Stockholm
Box 1001, S 43120 Molndal
Telephone: (8) 763 1000 Telex: 17328
Telephone: (31) 67 1000 Telex: 20905 ERICRA S
Fax: (31) 87 66 39
Ministry of Education Satellites: TV SAT, TD F, ECS
Box 10333, Stockholm
Telephone: (8) 7631895 Telex: 13285 MINEDUC S
Saab Space AB
Box 13045, S 40251 Goteborg
Telecommunications Telephone: (31) 37 00 00 Telex: 21652 SAABRA S
Fax: (31) 21 08 00
Satellites: TV SAT, TDF-1
Swedish Telecommunications Administration (Televerket)
S 12386 Farsta
Telephone: (8) 713 1000 Telex: 14970 Swedish Space Corporation
Fax: (8) 713 3333 Tritonvagen 27 S 171, Soina 54
Telephone: 898 0200 Telex: 17128 SPACECO
Svensk Marin Radio, AB Satellite: Tele-X
Andreegatan 21, S 41463 Goteborg
Telephone: 1241 50 Telex: 21452 SMRADIO S
LuxorAB
Box 901, S 59129 Motala
Broadcasting Telephone: 14128000 Telex: 5578 LUXOR S (141) 57120

Sveriges Radio
Membership of International Organizations
S-105 10 Stockholm
Telephone: (8) 784 0000 Telex: 10000
Fax: (8) 784 1500 Organization Date of Joining %Share
ITU 1866 2.5445292
Sveriges Television AB Intelsat 1973 0.664878
Oxenstiernsgatan 20, S 10510 Stockholm Inmarsat 1979 0.65244
Telephone: 784 0000 Telex: 10000 SRCENT S Eutelsat 1984 5.45359
Sveriges National Radio
Oxenstiernsgatan 20, S 10510 Stockholm
Telephone: (8) 784 0000 Telex: 10000 Space Segment
Fax: (8) 784 1500

Sveriges Local Radio AB Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Eutelsat. The Swedish govern-
S-10127 Stockholm ment has been an active supporter of plans for a Nordic
Telephone: (8) 22 98 00 Telex: 11850 satellite system and is now instrumental in the Tele-X project
Fax: (8) 52 1813 in which the Swedish Board for Space Activities has the
controlling share in partnership with Norway and Finland.
Tele-X is a multipurpose satellite with the emphasis on two
Space channels of high-power television distribution at 12 GHz.

Swedish Board for Space Activities

Box 4006, S 17104 Solna Earth Station Facilities
Telephone: (8) 733 6480 Telex: 17128 SPACECO S
Fax: (8) 98 70 69
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Notelsat
Intelsat Tanum-1 A A1 22 November 1971
Marievik 1A, S 11743 Stockholm
Telephone: (8) 763 0204 Telex: 5413 906 TELSATS Intelsat Tanum-2 A AP 6 February 1981

237
Switzerland

SWITZERLAND

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Department of Transport, Communications and Energy Organization Date of Joining %Share

Bundeshaus Nord, CH 3003 Bern ITU 1866 2.5445292
Telephone: (31) 614111 Telex: 33179 EA V CH Intelsat 1973 1.234140
Fax: (31) 62 25 49 Eutelsat 1985 4.34692

Telecommunications Space Segment

Direction Generale de l'Entreprise des Postes, Telephones et Uses Intelsat and Eutelsat. Plans for a private DBS system,
Telegraphes called Telsat, have been abandoned.
Viktoriastrasse 21, CH 3030
Telephone: (31) 62 1111 Telex: 32011 PTI CH
Fax: (31) 62 60 39
Earth Station Facilities
Radio Suisse SA
Case Postale 31,3000 Berne 14 Antenna Date
Telephone: 659111 Telex: 32192 System Location type Coverage operational
Fax: (31) 65 94 01 Intelsat Leuk-1 A 1P 9 January 1974
Intelsat Leuk-2 A AP 29 January 1980
lntelsat Leuk-3 A AI 5 February 1984
Broadcasting Eutelsat 1985

Societe Suisse de Radiodiffusion et Television (SSR)

Giacomettistrasse 3, CH 3000 Berne 15
Telephone: (31) 43 9111 Telex: 32116 SSR CH
Fax: (31) 62 56 24

SYRIA

Government Department and Telecommunications Broadcasting

Syrian Telecommunications Establishment Directorate Directorate General of Syrian Broadcasting and Television
General Place des Ommanyades, Damascus
Saadallah Jabiri Street, Damascus Telephone: 211200 Telex: 411233 GENRAD
Telephone: 21 9000 Telex: 411015 GENTEL

238
 Thailand

Membership of International Organizations Earth Station Facilities

Organization Date of Joining %Share Antenna Date

ITU 1924 0.1272264 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat 1973 0.122415 Intelsat Sednaya A lP 30 March 1978
Arabsat 1976 1.7

Space Segment

Uses Intelsat and Arabsat.

TANZANIA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Tanzania Posts and Telecommunications Corporation Organization Date of Joining %Share

PO Box 22, Dares Salaam ITU 1962 0.0318066
Telephone: 31155 Telex: 410 54 TANPOSTEL Intelsat 1978 0.098839

Telecommunications Space Segment

External Telecommunications Services

Uses lntelsat.
PO Box 22, Dares Salaam
Telephone: 31155 Telex: 41054 EXTELCOMS
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Radio Tanzania
Intelsat Mwenge 1 B 1P 4 September 1979
PO Box 9191, Dares Salaam
Intelsat Mwenge 2 A AP 1986
Telephone: 633429 Telex: 41201 SA UTI

THAILAND

Government Department Telecommunications

Ministry of Communications The Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT)

Posts and Telegraph Department, Soi Sailom, Phaholyothin
Road, Bangkok 4
Telephone: (2) 279 1009 Telex: 82503 POSTEL TH
New Road, Bangkok 50
Telephone: (2) 573 5470 Telex: 80006 INTL CAT TH
Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT)
302-4 Soi 4, Siam Square, Bangkok
Telephone: 251 6348

239
Togo

Broadcasting Space Segment

Bangkok Broadcasting & TV Co Ltd Uses Intelsat (with a leased quarter transponder for domestic
998-1 Phaholyothin Road, Box 4-56, Bangkok service) and Palapa ( P/4 transponders). There are plans for a
Telephone: 2781255 Telex: 82730 domestic satellite system, called Ramsat, for the 1990s.

Bangkok Entertainment Co Ltd

1126/1 New Petchburi Road, Bangkok Earth Station Facilities
Telephone: 253 9970 Telex: 82616 BECOM TH
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Membership of International Organizations Intelsat Si-Racha 1 PS
A 8 April1968
Intelsat Si-Racha 2 A 1P 1 April1970
Date of Joining Intelsat Si-Racha4 A PP 22 February 1985
Organization %Share
ITU 1883 0.3816793
Intelsat 1973 0.424225
A SEAN 1967

TOGO

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministere de !'Equipment des Mines et des Postes et Organization Date of Joining %Share
Telecommunications ITU 1961 0.0636132
Lome
Telephone: 213801 Telex: 5245 POSTEL TO
Space Segment
Telecommunications
Uses Intelsat.
Secretariat General des Postes et Telecommunications
Lome
Telephone: 214401 Earth Station Facilities

Antenna Date
Broadcasting System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Cacavelli A AP 31 May 1978
Radiodiffusion-Television Togolaise
BP 434, 3286 Lome
Telephone: 215357

240
 Trinidad and Tobago

TONGA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Telegraph and Telephone Department Organization Date of Joining %Share

PO Box 46, NukuAlofa ITU 1972 0.0318066
Telephone: 21257 Telex: 66225 GENTEL TS

Space Segment
Telecommunications

Uses Intelsat.
Tongo Telecommunications Commission (TTC)
PO Box 46, NukuAlofa
. Telephone: 21 257
Earth Station Facilities
Cable & Wireless
NukuAlofa Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Nuku'alofa B PP 18 June 1978
Broadcasting

Tonga Broadcasting Commission

PO Box 36, NukuAlofa
Telephone: 21555

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministry of Public Utilities and National Transportation National Broadcasting Service

16-18 Sack ville Street, Port of Spain 17 Abercromby Street, Port of Spain
Telephone: (809) 52691 Telephone: 32618 Telex: VOICE TRIN 3222 WG

Radio Trinidad
Telecommunications llB Maraval Road, Port of Spain
Telephone: 21151 Telex: BROADCAST 3239 WG
Trinidad and Tobago Telephone Co. Ltd.
PO Box 917, 54 Frederick Street, Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago Television Co Ltd
Telephone: 34211 Television House, Maraval Road, Port of Spain
Telephone: (809) 62 24 141
Trinidad and Tobago External Telecommunications Company
(Textel)
PO Box 3, Port of Spain
Telephone: 53852 Telex: 9002, 9003 TEXTEL WG

241
Tunisia

Membership of International Organizations Earth Station Facilities

Organization Date of Joining %Share Antenna Date

ITU 1965 0.2544529 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat 1973 0.05 Intelsat Matura Point A AI 1 November 1971

Space Segment

Uses Intelsat.

TUNISIA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministere des Transports et des Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

3 bis, rue d'Angleterre, Tunis ITU 1956 0.2544529
Telephone: (I) 66 00 88 Intelsat 1973 0.05
Inmarsat 1983 0.05
Arabsat 1976 0.6
Telecommunications

Direction Generate des Telecommunications Space Segment

Boulevard du 9 Avril, La Kasbah, Tunis
Telephone: 662443 Telex: GENTEL 15350 TN
Uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Arabsat.

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Radiodiffusion Television Tunisienne Antenna Date

71 avenue de Ia Liberte, Tunis type Coverage operational
System Location
Telephone: 28 73 00 AP 7 November 1984
Intelsat Dkhila A

TURKEY

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministry of Transport Turkiye Radio Televizyon Kurumu (TRT)

Atatiirk Bulvari 125, Bakanliklar, Yenisehir, Ankara Navzat Tandogan Caddesi 2, Kavaklidere, Ankara
Telex: 46280 Telephone: 181130 Telex: (607) 423 74 TRANTR

Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

Directorate General Organization Date of Joining %Share

PIT, Ankara 116580 ITU 1866 0.2544529
Telephone: 42400 PIT Telex: ( 607) 42400 PIT TR Intelsat 1974 0.227404
Fax:(4l)l26935 Eutelsat 1985 0.92721

242
 Uganda

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Uses Intelsat and Eutelsat. Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Ankara-1 A AP 20 April1979
Intelsat Ankara-2 A lP June 1987

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Executive Council None.

Grand Turk

Space Segment
Telecommunications
Uses Intelsat.
General Post Office
Grand Turk
Telex: 212 TUR CAICOS TQ Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Radio Turks and Caicos Intelsat Grand Turk B A2 9 June 1983
PO Box 69, Grand Turk
Telephone: 2500 Telex: 8212 GOVTCI TQ

UGANDA

Government Departments Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Power, Posts and Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

PO Box 7270, Kampala ITU 1963 0.0318066
Telephone: (41) 30 070 Telex: 61098 POWERCOM Intelsat 1980 0.05
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
PO Box 7142, Kampala
Telephone: (41) 54 461 Telex: 61084 KNOWLEDGE Space Segment

Telecommunications Uses Intelsat.

Uganda Posts and Telecommunications Corporation

Kampala, PO Box 7171 Earth Station Facilities
Telephone: (41) 30540 Telex: 61027 UGASAT; 61064
UGESTEL; 61050 POST GEN
Both Intelsat stations at Mpoma and Ombachi are
non-operational.
Broadcasting

Uganda Television
PO Box 4260, Kampala

243
United Arab Emirates

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

Director of Telecommunications, PO Box 900, Abu Dhabi ITU 1972 0.2544529
Telephone: (2) 65 1900 Telex: 22668 COMMSAD EM; lntelsat 1976 1.736693
22138 MlNlCOM EM lnmarsat 1983 0.07461
Arabsat 1976 6.6

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Emirates Telecommunications Corporation Ltd
Head Office, PO Box 3838, Abu Dhabi
Telephone: (2) 28 3333 Telex: 22135 ETCHO EM Uses lntelsat, lnmarsat and Arabsat.

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Radio Television Dubai Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
PO Box 1695, Abu Dhabi
lntelsat Abu Dhabi A A2 29 April1978
Telephone: 470255 Telex: 45605 DRCTV EM
lntelsat Dubai A lP 16 September 1975
lntelsat Ras Al-Khaimah A I1 29 April1977
UAE Television Arabsat
PO Box 637, Abu Dhabi lnmarsat CES lOR
Telephone: 34550 Telex: 22557 EM

UNITED KINGDOM

Government Department Telecommunications

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Office of Telecommunications (Oftel)

Telecommunications Division, 1 Victoria Street, London Atlantic House, Holborn Viaduct, London EC1N 2HQ
SWlHOET Telephone: 822 1604
Telephone: (1) 215 5157 Telex: 8811074
Fax: (1) 222 2629
Radiocommunications Division, Waterloo Bridge House, Telecommunications Operators
Waterloo Road, London SE18UA
Telephone: (1) 275 3000 Telex: 261 969
Fax: (1) 928 5740 British Telecom pic
2-12 Gresham Street, London WC2V 7AG
Home Office Telephone: (1) 357 3000 Telex: 883051 BTHQ G
55 Queen Anne's Gate, London SWl Fax: (1) 357 2671
Telephone: (1) 213 3000
British Telecom International
Holborn Centre, 120 Holborn, London EC1N 2TE
Telephone: (1) 936 2000 Telex: 21501 BTl G
Fax: (1) 831 9959

244
 United Kingdom
Cable & Wireless pic
Mercury House, 110-124 Theobalds Road, London WClX Space Segment
8RX
Telephone: (l) 242 4433 Telex: 23181 CANDW G
The UK uses Intelsat, Inmarsat and Eutelsat. Until recently,
British Telecom had a monopoly of all national and interna-
Mercury Communications Ltd tional services. However, in 1982 full licences to operate both
90 Long Acre, London WC2E 9NP international and domestic services were given to British
Telephone: (1) 838 2449 Telecom (BTl} and Mercury Communications, and both
organizations maintain a number of ground stations.
The UK (in the pre-1982 form of the British Telecom-
Broadcasting munications monopoly) has generally preferred to develop
communications satellite services through global and regional
bodies rather than on a national basis. As a result, there are
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) no national satellites and no national telecommunications
Broadcasting House, London W1A 1AA satellites in the fixed service are likely for some time. There
Telephone: (1) 580 4468 Telex: 265781 BBC HQ G are plans to launch a high power direct broadcast satellite
system. However, the IBA has licensed a private company,
British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) to provide three chan-
Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) nels of direct broadcast television. The satellite, supplied by
70 Brompton Road, London SW3 lEY Hughes, is scheduled to be launched in 1989. Meanwhile, BTl
Telephone: (1) 584 7011 Telex: 24345 IBALON G has several leased transponders on Intelsat and Eutelsat, as
well as on SES's Astra (Luxembourg).
Space
Earth Station Facilities
British National Space Centre (BNSC)
Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW14QU Antenna Date
Telephone: (1) 2113000 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Goonhilly 1 A AS 28 June 1965
Intelsat Goonhilly 2 A Al 26 November 1968
Satellite Manufacturers Intelsat Goonhilly 3 A 11 6 August 1972
Intelsat Goon hilly 4 c AP 4March 1983
Intelsat Goonhilly 6A A AP 10 October 1985
British Aerospace
Space and Communications Division, Argyle Way,
Intelsat Goonhilly 6C c AP 1986
Intelsat Goonhilly 7 B AS 15 September 1983
Stevenage, Herts SG1 2AS Intelsat Madley 1 A IP 19 November 1978
Telephone: 438 3134 56 Telex: 82130 Intelsat Madley2 A A2 27 March 1980
Satellites: Olympus, Marecs, ECS, Intelsat VI, Skynet IV. Intelsat Madley3 A IS 4 September 1981
Intelsat Madley 5 c Al 19 September 1984
Ferranti Electronics Ltd Intelsat Thameside 1 c Al 1986
Microwave Division, Microwave House, First Avenue, Intelsat Thameside 3 c AP 7 August 1984
Poynton Industrial Estate, Cheshire SK12 lNE Intelsat Whitehill! c 11 23 May 1985
Telephone: (625) 871611 Telex: 666786 FERPOY G Intelsat Whitehill2 B 11 1986
Intelsat Whitehill3 B A2 1 September 1986
Eutelsat Thameside
Marconi Defence Systems Ltd Eutelsat Thameside
The Grove, Stanmore, Middlesex Inmarsat
Telephone: (1} 954 2311 Telex: 22616

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1871 7.633587
Inmarsat 1979 19.28267
Intelsat 1984* 13.068645
Eutelsat 1985 16.35
*The date refers to the signature of British Telecom pic to the operating
agreement. Previously, the UK government had been represented by the Post
Office and British Telecom.

245
United States of America

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Government Departments and Agencies Graphnet Inc.

99 West Sheffield Avenue, Englewood, New Jersey 07631
Telephone: (201) 837 5100 (TOC)
Department of State
Washington, DC 20520 GTE Service Corporation
Telephone: (202) 655 4000 Telex: ITI SEC STATE 440080; One Stamford Forum, Stamford, Connecticut 06904
RCA SEC STATE 248346 STATE UR Telephone: (203) 357 2000 (TOC) Telex: 965821 GTE STD

Department of Commerce- National Telecommunications and GTE Spacenet Corporation

Information Administration (NTIA)
1800 G Street NW, Washington DC 20545
Telephone: (202) 395 6161
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
1919 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20554
Telephone: (202) 632 7100 Telex: TWX (710) 822 0160
Fax: (202) 632 6975
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Federal Building 6, 400 Maryland Avenue SW,
Washington DC
Telephone: (202) 755 2320
Telecommunications
1700 Old Meadow Road, McLean. Virginia 22102
Telephone: (703) 790 7700 Telex: 710 833 0309
GTE Telenet Communications Corporation
8229 Boone Boulevard, Vienna, Virginia 22180
Telephone: (703) 442 1000 (TOC) Telex: 24812 TCC UR
Hawaiian Telephone Company
PO Box 2200, Honolulu, Hawaii 96841
Telephone: 808 546 3000 (TOC) Telex: (773) 5375734
HOWTEL
(lSI) International Satellite Inc.
c/o TRT Telecommunications, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW, Washington DC 20004
Telephone: (202) 296 6822

Aeronautical Radio Inc. ITT World Communications Inc.

2551 Riva Road, Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Telephone: (301) 224 4000 Telex: 710867 8553 ARINC
BDG
American Satellite Corporation
20301 Century Blvd, Germantown, Maryland 20767
Telephone: (301) 428 6040
AT&T
195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007
Telephone: (212) 393 9800 Telex: (710) 581 0310
Brightstar Communications Ltd
International Bldg, 22nd Floor, Rockefeller Centre, 630 Fifth
Avenue, New York, NY 10111
Telephone: (212) 582 8578 Telex: 642494 WU BRTSTR NY
Comsat
950 !'Enfant Plaza SW. Washington DC 20024
Telephone: (202) 863 6000 Telex: 892668 COMSAT TWX
(710) 822 9575
FTC Communications Inc.
90 John Street, New York, NY 10038
Telephone: (212) 669 9700 (TOC) Telex: 82660 FTCC INTL
67 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004
Telephone: (212) 797 3300 Telex: 42 3400 EXCA UI
MCI Telecommunications Corporation
115017 Street NW, Washington DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 872 1600
Orion Satellite Communications
2000 L Street NW, Suite 200, Washington DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 862 3434
Panamsat
460 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036
Telephone: (212) 429 8970
Satellite Business Systems (SBS)
8283 Greensboro Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102
Telephone: (703) 442 5000 Telex: TWX 710 833 0322
TRT Telecommunications Corporation
1747 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20006
Telephone: 202 862 4500 Telex: 197600 TRT; 8 9439 TRT;
EXECWSH

246

Tymshare Inc.
20705 Valgreen Drive, Cupertino, California 95014
Telephone: 408 446 6000
Western Union International Inc.
One WUI Plaza, New York, NY 10004
Telephone: 212 363 6400 Telex: 62100
Western Union Corporation
1 Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Telephone: (201) 825 5000 Telex: 126088
Tele-Pacific Communications
PO Box 31328, Honolulu, Hawaii 96820
Bell Operating Companies
AMERITECH
30 South Wacker Drive, Chicago Illinois 60606
Telephone: (312) 750 5000
Fax: (312) 207 160111602
(Telex contact: (312) 726 2348)
Bell Atlantic Corp
1600 Market Street. Philadelphia PA 19103
Telephone: (215) 963 6000 Fax: (215) 963 6038
Bell South Corp
675 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta Georgia 30375
Telephone: (404) 420 8600 Fax: (404) 688 377113679
NYNEXCorp
355 Madison Avenue, New York NY 10017
Telephone: (212) 370 7400 Fax: (212) 370 7615
(Telex contact: (212) 370 7618)
Pacific Telesis Group
140 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco California 94105
Telephone: (415) 542 9000 Fax: (415) 823 4679
Southwestern Bell
1 Bell Center, StLouis, Missouri 63101
Telephone: (314) 235 9800 Fax: (314) 235 4687
US WEST
7800 East Orchard Road, Englewood CO 80111
Telephone: (303) 793 6500 Telex: 5106011224
Fax: (303) 793 6654
Broadcasting
ABC Inc.
1330 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019
Telephone: (212) 581 7777 Telex: TWX (212) 640 4848 ABC
NYC
CBS Inc.
51 West 52 Street, New York, NY 10019
Telephone: (212) 975 4321 Telex: 12435 CBSINC NYK
United States of America
National Broadcasting Co. Inc.
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020
Telephone: (212) 664 4444 Telex: RCA 232 346 NBC UR
TWX 710 981 4623
Voice of America
International Communication Agency, Washington DC
20547
Telephone: (202) 755 4711 Telex: 710 822 0013
Satellite Manufacturers
Fairchild Space Company
20301 Century Blvd, Germantown, Maryland 20874
Telephone: (301) 428 6000 Telex: 89 2468
Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation
20th Floor, 300 Renaissance Center, PO 43342 Detroit,
Michigan 48243
Telephone: (313) 568 7708 and Ford Aerospace Space
Services Corporation, Suite 708, 1140 Connecticut Avenue
NW, Washington DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 785 4000
Hughes Aircraft Company
Electron Dynamic Division, 3100 W, Lomita Boulevard,
PO Box 2999, Torrance, California 90590
Telephone: (213) 517 6000 Telex: 67 704
Martin Marietta Corporation
6801 Rockledge Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20817
Telephone: (310) 897 6006
RCA Corporation
Room 1125,50 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004
Telephone: (212) 248 7634
RCA Global Communications Inc.
60 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004
Telephone: (212) 806 7000 Telex: 232765 RCA UR
RCA Astro-Eiectronic
PO Box 800, Princeton, NJ 08540
Telephone: (609) 426 3400 Telex: 84 3458
Satellite Operators and Other Companies
(see also previous list)
Advanced Business Communications Inc (ABCIP)
8729 Belmart Road, Potomac, Maryland 20854
Telephone: (703) 827 8282
Alascom, Inc.
210 Bluff Road, PO Box 6607, Anchorage, Alaska
99502-7649
Telephone: (907) 264 7388
247
United States of America
American Satellite Company (ASC) GTE Satellite Corporation
1801 Research Boulevard, Rockville, Maryland 20850 One Stamford Forum, Stamford, Connecticut 06904
Telephone: (301) 251 8300 Telephone: (203) 965 2000

Comsat Technology Products Inc. GTE Spacenet Corporation

PO Box 430, 22300 Comsat Drive, Clarksburg, Maryland
20871
Telephone: (301) 428 5000
Comsat Telesystems, Inc.
2700 Prosperity Avenue, Fairfax, Virginia 22031
Telephone: (703) 876 3000
Comsat Communications Services Division
950 )'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington DC 20024
Telephone: (202) 863 6010 Telex: 892668
Cygnus Satellite Corporation
523 East 14 Street, New York, NY 10009
Telephone: (212) 254 6569
1700 Old Meadow Road, McLean, Virginia 22102
Telephone: (703) 734 2388 Telex: 710 833 0309
Hughes Communications Galaxy Inc.
1990 Grand Avenue, El Segundo, California 90245
Telephone: (213) 615 1000 Telex: 664480
International Satellite Inc.
1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20004
Telephone: (202) 296 6892
National Exchange Inc.
11726 San Vicente Boulevard, Suite 244, Los Angeles,
California 90049
Telephone: (213) 820 54 54

Digital Telesat Inc. Orion Satellite Corporation

4250 Perimeter Park South, Suite 131, Atlanta, Georgia 2000 L Street NW, Suite 200, Washington DC 20036
30341 Telephone: (202) 466 7700
Telephone: (404) 455 8618
Pan American Satellite Corporation (PanAmSat)
Digital Telecom 460 West 42 Street, 4th floor, New York, NY 10036
4250 Perimeter Park South , Suite 131, Atlanta, Georgia Telephone: (212) 429 8970
30340
Telephone: (404) 455 8618 Rainbow Satellite Inc. (RSI)
25200 La Paz Road, Laguna Hills, California 92653
Satellite Systems Engineering- Direct Broadcast Satellite Telephone: (714) 855 1756
Corporation
7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 520E, Bethesda, Maryland
Satellite Business Systems (SBS)
20814 8283 Greensboro Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102
Telephone: (301) 652 4663 Telephone: (703) 422 5000

Dominion Video Satellite Inc. Systematics General Corporation

PO Box 7609, Naples, Florida 33940 1606 Old Ox Road, PO Box 28, Sterling, Virginia 22170
Telephone: (813) 262 1433 Telephone: (703) 471 2200

Equatorial Communications Company Tele-Pacific Communications

300 Furguson Drive, Mountain View, California 94043 350 Ward Avenue, PO Box 31328, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
Telephone: (415) 969 9500 Telephone: (808) 5381981

Ford Aerospace Satellite Services Corporation TRW Space and Technology Group
1140 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 201, Washington DC One Space Park, Redondo Beach, California 90278
20036 Telephone: (213) 535 0856
Telephone: (202) 785 4000

United States Satellite Broadcasting Company Inc. (USSB)

Graphics Scanning 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
329 Alfred Avenue, Teaneck, New Jersey 07666 Telephone: (612) 646 5555
Telephone: (201) 569 7711

Western Union Telegraph Company

Graphic Scanning Corporation 1 Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Richard Vega and Associates, PO Box 191, Pasedena, Telephone: (201) 825 5000
Maryland 21126
Telephone: (301) 437 7000

248
 United States of America

Membership of International Organizations Current operators and spacecraft

AMSAT
Organization Date of Joining %Share
ITU 1908 7.63 The American Satellite Company (AMSAT) is developing a
Intelsat 1971 22.46 system to provide leased line and private services. ASC-1 was
Inmarsat 1979 28.91 launched in 1985 and ASC-2 is due to be launched in 1989.

ASC-1
Space Segment Orbital position 128°W
Launch date August 1985
Launcher NASA
The US is the world's largest user of satellite services both Design life (years) 8.5
domestically and internationally. It has a large number of Number of channels C-band 18
domestic systems, all privately-owned. It is also a significant Ku-band 6
user of Intelsat and Inmarsat. In addition, US companies are 1WTA power (watts) C-band 8.5-16.2
active in satellite communications in other countries as Ku-band 16.2
suppliers and operators. Antenna coverage us
The US launched its first satellite in 1958, four months after ITUregion 2
Sputnik. Since then it has developed a wide range of Primary use telecommunications
launchers and spacecraft, and the associated electronics for
all kinds of techniques and applications. Key events have AT&T COMMUNICATIONS (AT&T)
been the Satellite Communications Act (1962) and the White
House declaration in 1972 of an 'open skies' policy to AT&T owns and operates the Telstar system to supplement
encourage an entrepreneurial approach to domestic systems its extensive terrestrial communications network. In addition,
(subject to FCC authorization). This approach has resulted in AT&T lease two Com star satellites owned and operated by
a large number of companies offering competitive channel Com sat.
capacity. The Telstar space segment is composed of three satellites:
In addition, several US companies are seeking to set up Telstars 301, 302 and 303. The system is used for the
trans-Atlantic and regional systems that would compete with following services:
Intelsat (and with undersea cables). Among the main • long-distance telephony, data and facsimile transmission;
contenders are lSI and Orion in the Atlantic region, and • leased television network feeds to affiliate television
Panamsat in Central America. Orion would be at 37.5° West stations;
and 47° west. lSI would be at 46° west and 58° west. • occasional news and sports feeds.
Panamsat's single RCA satellite would be at 45° west.
Most civilian US satellites carry telephony and/or video
(see list below). However, there are several other systems. Telstar 301
Orbital position 96°W
Launch date 1983
US Domestic Satellite System Operators Launcher NASA
Design life (years) 10
Number of channels 24
Company Name of system 1WTApower (watts) 8.5
American Satellite Company ASC Antenna coverage us
AT&T Comstar; Telstar ITU region 2
Comsat Comstar; STC Status main
Cygnus Satellite Corporation Cygnus Primary use TV
(subsidiary ofM/ACom) Lease services 1H CBS feeds
Federal Express Fedex or ExpresS tar 2H ABC feeds
Ford Aerospace Ford sat 3H Occasional video feeds
GTE Spacenet; G-Star 4V CBS feeds
NASA TDRS 4H Telephony
Hughes Galaxy 5V World communications
Martin Marietta MMC feeds; radio
(Communications Systems) 5H ABC feeds
RCA American Satcom; Aurora 6V ABC feeds
Communications (including 6H ABC feeds
RCA Alascom Services) 7V Hughes TV Network
MCI SBS 9V Occasional video feeds
US Satellite Broadcasting USSB 9H Occasional video feeds
Western Union We star lOY Occasional vide6 feeds
lOH Occasional video feeds
12V Wold communications
feeds

249
United States of America
11 V Telephony
Telstar 302 llH Telephony
Orbital position 86°W ·owned hy Com>at and lca>ed hy AT&T
Launch date September 1984
Launcher NASA Comstar D4*
Design life (years) 10 Orbital position 76°W
Number of channels 24 Launch date 1981
TWTA power (watts) 8.5 Launcher NASA
Antenna coverage us Design life (years) 7
!TV region 2 Number of channels 24
Status main TWTA power (watts) 5 or 5.5
Primary use Telephony/TV Antenna coverage us
Lease services 5H ABC feeds !TV region 2
6V CBS feeds Status main
8H Occasional video feeds Primary use Telephony
9V CBS feeds Lease services 2V Telephony
lOY Occasional video feeds 2H Telephony
lOH Occasional video feeds 4V Telephony
11 V Occasional video feeds 8V Telephony
8H Telephony
Telstar 303 9H Country Music Television
Orbital position 125°W lOY American Extasy
Launch date June 1985 lOH US Satellite Corp
Launcher NASA lOY The Playboy Channel
Design life (years) 10 llH Telephony
Number of channels 24 11 V KTVT (Dallas)
TWTA power (watts) 8.5 12H Telephony
Antenna coverage us 12V Telephony
/TV region 2 *Owned hy Com,at and lca>ed hy AT&T
Status main
Primary use Telephony/TV
GTE
COMSAT GTE Satellite Communications (GTE) owns and operates a
satellite network which currently consists of five satellites:
The Comsat General Corporation (Comsat) is the US Space nets I, II and III and G-Stars A 1 and A2.
signatory to Intelsat. Comsat owns and operates a domestic This space segment is used for the following purposes:
satellite communications system composed of five satellites. • Sprint Digital Satellite Network, GTE's long-distance
Three of the five were launched in 1976 and have been leased telephony service;
since then by Inmarsat. The other two satellites, Comstars D3 • occasional use booked on an hourly basis by customers;
and D4, are leased by AT&T. • occasional news and sports feeds;
Comsat has received permission from the FCC to own and • the relay of cable television services to cable networks;
operate a Ku-band satellite system. This system would consist • general communications services.
of two satellites with 40 watts of TWT A power per channel.
Comsat may acquire its own satellites, or re-use other
satellites (eg, SB-5). Spacenet I
Orbital position 120°W
Launch date June 1984
Comstar D3* Launcher Ariane
Orbital position 127°W Design life (years) 10
Launch date June 1983 Number of channels C-hand 18
Launcher NASA K-band 6
Design life (years) 7 (exceeded) TWTA power (watts) C-hand 8.5
Number of channels 24 K-band 16
TWTA power (watts) 5 or 5.5 Antenna coverage N. America, Alaska and Hawaii
Antenna coverage us /TV region 2
!TV region 2 Status main
Status main Primary use Telephony/TV
Primary use Telephony Lease services 2H Bonneville Communications
Lease services 2V Telephony 5H Occasional video feeds
2H Telephony 6H Hospital Satellite Network
3H Telephony 7H Occasional video feeds
4V Telephony 8H American Christian TV
7V Telephony Service
7H Telephony llH Baptist
8V Telephony Telecommunications
8H Telephony Network (BTN)
9V Telephony 14VSCPC

250
 United States of America
16V Spanish International operate two Ku-band satellites with TWT A power of 50 watts
Network feeds per channel (there will be 16 channels).
20H SCPC In the long term, Hughes has applied for permission to
22H SCPC operate two Ka-band satellites with 32 channels of 20 watts
23H SCPC each. These satellites would be available in 1988 and 1989.
Spacenet II Galaxy I
Orbital position 69°W Type FSS
Launch date November 1984 Orbital position 134°W
Launcher Ariane Launch date June 1983
Design life (years) 10 Launcher NASA
Number of channels C-hand 18 Design life (years) 9
K-band 6 Number of channels 24
TWTA power (watts) C-hand 8.5 TWTA power (watts) 9
K-band 16 Antenna coverage North America
Antenna coverage us /TV region 2
Caribbean Status main
ITU region 2 Primary use TV
Status main Lease services 1 The Nashville Network
Primary use Telephony 2 2 WGN (Chicago); radio
Lease services 20H Florida News Network 2 The Disney Channel (East)
3 Showtime (East)
G-Star AI 3 SIN
Orbital position 13°W 4 Cable News Network
Launch date May 1985 4 CNN Headline News
Launcher Ariane 5 ESPN
Design life (years) 10 5 The Movie Channel (East)
Number of channels 16 6 CBN Cable Network
TWTA power (watts) 14 at 20; 2 at 27 6 Home Team Sports
Antenna coverage N. America, Hawaii, Alaska 7 C-SPAN
!TV region 2 7 The Movie Channel (West)
Status main 8 WOR-TV Superstation; radio
Primary use Telephony 9 PTL Satellite
Lease services Not known 9 WTBS Superstation
10 Cinemax (East)
10 Gala Vision
G-Star A2 11 The Discovery Channel
Orbital position l05°W 12 Home Box Office (East)
Launch date March 1986 12 The Disney Channel (West)
Launcher Ariane
Design life (years) 10 Galaxy II
Number of channels 16 Type FSS
TWTA power (watts) 14 at 20; 2 at 27 Orbital position 74°W
Antenna coverage N. America, Hawaii, Alaska Launch date September 1983
ITU region 2 Launcher NASA
Status mam Design life (years) 9
Primary use Telephony Number of channels 24
Lease services Not known TWTA power (watts) 9
Antenna coverage 48 US States
/TV region 2
Hughes Galaxy Communications Status main
Primary use Telephony
Hughes Galaxy Communications has been a US common Lease services 8 News & sports feeds
carrier since 1983. It operates three satellites, Galaxy I, II and 9 News & sports feeds
III, which offer virtually total coverage of the US. 19 channels are inactive
Galaxy I is a famous satellite for several reasons:
• 18 of its 24 transponders were sold to the highest bidders in
1983 (the other six are leased on a pre-emptible basis); Galaxy Ill
• Galaxy I regroups most of the successful US cable Type FSS
networks, which has proved a key marketing point to cable Orbital position 93.SOW
operators and home TYRO installations. Launch date September 1984
Galaxy II is primarily used for telephony and other Launcher NASA
communications services for private telecommunications Design life (years) 9
companies like MCI and Equatorial communications Inc. Number of channels 24
Hughes Galaxy Communications plans to launch Galaxy TWTA power (watts) 9
IV. Its transponders will also be available for sale. Antenna coverage us
Hughes has also been granted permission by the FCC to /TV region 2

251
United States of America
Status main
Satcom F4
Primary use Telephony
Orbital position 83°W
Lease services 4 News & sports feeds
Launch date January 1982
I2 News & sports feeds
Launcher NASA
IS channels are inactive
Design life (years) 10
Number of channels 24
TWTA power (watts) 6 at 8.5; IS at 5.5
RCA
Antenna coverage North America
RCA American Communications Inc. was formed by RCA /TV region 2
Communications in I976 to own and operate RCA's domestic Status main
telecommunications system. Earlier RCA had leased chan- Primary use Cable TV
nels on Anik F2 (Canada). Lease services 1 News & Sports feeds
RCA curently operates five Satcom series satellites: Sat- 2 Bravo
corns F3R, F4, FIR, F2R and Satcom F5 (aka Aurora 1). 4 Nickelodeon
Sat corns F3R and F4 cary a large number of cable television 5 ABC feeds
services, while Satcom FIR is mostly used for video feeds and 6 Madison Square Garden
Satcom F2R is devoted to telephony. Satcom F5 provides 7 National Christian
telecommunications services to Alaska. Network; Prime of Life
RCA launched two Ku-band Satcom in late I985 and I986. Network; radio
The Satcom K-series is designed to offer I6 transponders with 9 Sports Vision
47-watt tubes per satellite. 10 American Movie Classics
RCA is planning to launch Satcom F6 and Satcom F7 in 11 Home Sports
I988 and I989, respectively. RCA hopes to offer interna- Entertainment
tional television trasmission across the Atlantic with Satcom 12 The Playboy Channel
F6. 14 Occasional video feeds
16 The Silent Network
Satcom F3R 17 Trinity Broadcasting Net,
Orbital position 13I W
0
radio
Launch date November I98I 19 WPIX-NY Superstation
Launcher NASA 20 NBC Contract Channel
Design life (years) 10 21 Occasional video feeds
Number of channels 24 22 ABC feeds
TWTA power (watts) 6 at 8.5; IS at 5.5 23 Odyssey Music
Antenna coverage North America and Hawaii
/TV region 2
Satcom-Kl
Status main
Primary use Cable TV
Orbital position sse
Launch date November I985
Lease services I Nickelodeon
Launcher NASA Shuttle
2 The PTL Network; radio
Design life (years) 10
4 Financial News Network;
Number of channels 16
Cable Sports Network
6 SPN; radio
Antenna coverage us
/TV region 2
7 ESPNfeeds
Status Operational
8 CBN; radio
Primary use Video distribution
9 USA Cable Network
IO Showtime (West)
I1 MTV Satcom-K2
I3 Home Box Office (West) Orbital position 8I0

15 Video Hits One Launch date January I986

16 Home Theatre Network Launcher NASA Shuttle
16 The Learning Channel; Design life (years) 10
Professional Education Number of channels I6
Network Antenna coverage us
17 Lifetime /TV region 2
18 Eternal Word Network; Status Operational
Reuters; National Jewish Primary use Video distribution
Television
19 C-Span
SatcQm FJR
20 Black Entertainment
Orbital position I39°W
Television
Launch date I983
21 The Weather Channel
Launcher NASA
22 MSN -The Information
Design life (years) 10
Channel; USA Cable
Number of channels 24
Network
TWTA power (watts) Solid State Power
23 Cinemax (West) (S)
Amplifiers Power:
24 Arts & Entertainment
8.5 watts

252
 United States of America
Antenna coverage North America and Hawaii Status mam
/TV region 2 Primary use Telephony
Status main Lease services 1V Wideband digital service
Primary use TV 2H Telephony
Lease services 1 ONTV (West) (S) 3V Telephony
3 Wide band digital service 4H SCPC
6 Occasional video feeds 5V Telephony
8 NBCfeeds 6H Occasional video feeds
9 Occasional video feeds 7V Telephony
11 Occasional video feeds 8H SCPC
12 Netcom International 9V SCPC
15 Yonkers Horse Racing 10H Telephony
19 Wideband digital service 11 V RCA Americom
20 American Forces Radio & 12H SCPC
Television Service; AFRTS 14H Telephony
Radio 15V SCPC
22 Netcom International 16H Telephony
23 Wide band digital service 17V Telephony
24 Radio Televisione Italiana 19V Occasional video feeds
feeds 20H Learn/ Alaska TV
Network
Occasional video feeds
Satcom F2R 22H Telephony
Orbital position now 23V RCA Americom
Launch date 1983 24V Alaska Satellite TV
Launcher NASA project
Design life (years) 10
Number of channels 24
TWTApower (watts) 8 Satellite Business Systems (SBS)
Antenna coverage North America
ITU region 2 SBS was the first US satellite operator to operate Ku-band
Status main satellites. It was authorized by the FCC in February 1977 and
Primary use Telephony became operational in 1981.
Lease services 1V 6 SCPC Channels SBS currently operates four Hughes-built SBS series
2H Wide band digital service satellites: SBS I, II, III and IV. The space segment is used
3V Telephony for:
4H Telephony • time division multiple access {TDMA) business com-
5V Telephony munications services;
6H Wide band digital service • high-speed telephony to customers linked by SBS-operated
7V Telephony earth stations;
9H Telephony • television network feeds and occasional news and sports
10H 14 SCPC Channels feeds;
11 V Telephony • Videolink, an interactive video teleconferencing service.
12H Telephony SBS plans to launch an enhanced version of its SBS satellite
14H Voice of America (SBS V) some time in 1986 or 1987. SBS has also been
15V 17 SCPC Channels authorized by the FCC to launch SBS VI by 1987 or 1988.
16H 13 SCPC Channels SBS VI will offer four times the communications capacity as
17V Telephony the first four SBS spacecraft and three times that of SBS V.
18H Wide band digital Each of the 19 transponders will have a TWT A power of 41
19V Telephony watts.
20H American Forces Radio
and Television Service; SBS I
AFRTS Radio Orbital position 99oW
21 V Telephony Launch date November 1980
22H Telephony Launcher NASA
23V Telephony Design life (years) 7
24V Wide band digital service Number of channels 10
TWTA power (watts) 20
Antenna coverage North America
Satcom FS (Aurora I) /TV region 2
Orbital position 143°W Status main
Launch date October 1982 Primary use TDMA Service
Launcher NASA Lease services 2H TDMA Business Service
Design life (years) 10 5H TDMA Business Service
Number of channels 24 6H TDMA Business Service
TWTApower (watts) 8.5 7H Preemptible leased
Antenna coverage Alaska, Hawaii, US transponder
/TV region 2

253
United States of America

8H TDMA Business Service TDRS Spacecom

9H TDMA Business Service Spacecom is the NASA subsidiary which owns and operates
10H Preemptible leased the TORS-A (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) spacecraft
transponder launched in 1983.
Spacecom is expected to complete the TORS system with
SBS II two_ further TORS satellites in 1987 or 1988. This system was
Orbital position 9rw destgned to be used for the following purposes:
• tracking and monitoring satellites during the launch phase
Launch date September 1981
NASA and after positioning in orbit;
Launcher
Design life (years) 7 • relaying of data from space experiments;
10 • high-speed digital transmissions of video, telephony, facsi-
Number of channels
TWTA power (watts) 20 mile ~nd data; possibly for US government purposes;
Antenna coverage North America • certam commercial applications if capacity is available.
/TUregion 2
Status main TDRS A
Primary use TDMA Service Orbital position 41°W
Lease services 1H TDMA Business Service Launch date April 1983
2H TDMA Business Service Launcher NASA
3H TDMA Business Service Design life (years) 10
5H TDMA Business Service Number of channels: C-band 12
6H TDMA Business Service K-band 8
7H TDMA Business Service TWTA power (watts): C-band 5
8H TDMA Business Service K-band 25 or 30
9H TDMA Business Service Antenna coverage North America and Europe
10H TDMA Business Service ITU region 2
Status main
Primary use Tracking satellites
SBS /II
Orbital position 95°W
Launch date November 1982
Launcher NASA
Design life (years) 7 Western Union
Number of channels 10
TWTA power (watts) 8 at 20; 2 at 40 Western Union became a satellite operator in 1974 with the
Antenna coverage North America launch of the first of the Westar series. The first three Westar
2 satellites (1, II and III) carried 12 transponders. Westars IV,
ITUregion
main V and VII can accommodate 24 transponders per satellite.
Status
Television Western Union currently operate Westars III, IV, V and VII
Primary use
1H Digital service (Westar VI failed to reach orbit). The main uses of the space
Lease services
2H Occasional video feeds segment are:
3H NBC Network feeds • the transmission of Public Broadcasting Service program-
4H NTU Classes mes to public television stations across the US;
5H NBC Control station • the ~istribution ~f cable television signals to cable systems;
6H NBC Control station • the mterconnectwn of the radio stations belonging to the
7H Teleconferencing and National Public Radio system;
occasional video feeds • long-distance telephony and data services.
8H NBC Network and other Western Union has been granted permission by the FCC to
video feeds operate two Ku-band satellites. These satellites are desig-
9H NBC Control station nated Westar A and Westar B and may be launched in 1988.

Westar Ill
SBS IV Orbital position 91°W
Orbital position 101°W Launch date August 1979
Launch date August 1984 Launcher NASA
Launcher NASA Design life (years) 7
Design life (years) 9 Number of channels 12
Number of channels 10 TWTA power (watts) 5
TWTA power (watts) 5 at 20; 5 at 40 Antenna coverage us
Antenna coverage North America ITUregion 2
ITU region 2 Status main
Status Spare for system Primary use TV
Primary use Lease service 1 Radio
Lease services 2 Radio
3 CNN news feeds
4 Radio
5 American Satellite Corp
(ASC)

254
 United States of America

6 ASC Westar VII

7 ASC Type
8 ASC Orbital position 144°W
9 ASC Launch date November 1985
10 News and sports feeds Launcher NASA
11 News and sports feeds Design life (years) 10
12 News and sports feeds Number of channels 24
TWTA power (watts) 9.6
Westar IV Antenna coverage us
Orbital position 99oW ITU region 2
Launch date April1982 Status main
Launcher NASA Primary use Not Known
Design life (years) 10 Lease service Not Known
Number of channels 24
TWTA power (watts) 7.5
Antenna coverage us
ITU region 2 Earth Station Facilities
Status main
Primary use Radio/TV
Lease service lD Radio Location Standard Coverage Date Operational
2D Radio Andover 1 A AS 28 June 1965
3X Alantic City Horse Andover2 A AS 14 January 1972
Racing; World of Faith Andover 3 A A1 11 December 1975
Network Andrews B AI 1986
5X News and sports feeds Bren Mar B A March 1986
6D Catholic TV Network of Brewster A pp 8 December 1966
America Coram 1 B AS 1 January 1987
8D PBS Coram2 B AI 1 January 1987
8X CNN Etam 1 A A2 6 January 1969
9D PBS Etam2 A AP 2 November 1975
9X Dow Jones Etam 3/Lenox c AP 14 July 1981
10D Bonneville Houston Teleport B AI 16 June 1985
Communications Jamesburg A pp 1 December 1968
lOX ABC Contract Channel Roaring Creek 1 A A1 15 May 1984
liD PBS Roaring Creek 2A A AS I9 September 1984
12D PBS Roaring Creek 2C c AI 9 January 1985
Roaring Creek 3 c AI I2 November 1985
Westar V Santa Paula 3 B PS 2I July 1984
Orbital position 122.5°W Santa Paula 4 B PS 19 November 1982
Launch date June 1982 South Star Teleport B AS 1986
Launcher NASA Washington Amsat E AS 1986
Design life (years) 10 USA
Number of channels 24 American Samoa
Pago Pago B pp 19 October 1979
TWTA power (watts) 7.5
Antenna coverage us Guam
Finegayan B pp 17 March 1983
ITU region 2
Pulantat 1 A pp 2 November 1969
Status main
Primary use Pulantat 2 B pp 1986
TV
Lease service lD Hughes TV Net(S) Hawaii
Hickam B pp 17 March 1983
1X The University Network
Paumalu 1 A pp 8 December 1966
2X News and sports feeds
Paumalu 2 A pp I December 1968
3D JISO
3X Radio Marshall Island
Ebeye B pp 16 August 1983
4D CBS Contract Channel
Majuro B pp 28 February 1983
4X Pro AM Sports Service
(PASS) Micronesia
Kosrae B pp 10 September 1983
5 Radio
Ponape B pp 25 March 1983
6D News and sports feeds
Truk B pp 11 May 1983
7X PASS
Yap B pp 10 June 1983
8D News and sports feeds
9X Radio Palau
Palau B pp 1 December 1982
lOD Wide band digital service
11X Meadows Racing Puerto Rico
Network Cayey2 A AI 1986
12X Fantasy Un-restricted Saipan
Susupe B pp 27 October 1980
Network (FUN) (S)

255
Union of Soviet Socialist Republic

UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS

They were launched in 1971 and 1974. The Molnya system
Government Department and Telecommunications
operates with 12 metre earth stations of the Orbita type, over
a hundred being located in different parts of the country.
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications In 1975 the USSR launched the first Raduga communica-
7 rue Gorki, Moscow K 375 tions satellite which was given the international designation,
Telephone: (95) 925 5108 Telex: 412961 MTG SU Statsionar-1. Unlike Molnya, the Raduga spacecraft are
positioned in a geosynchronous orbit. The Raduga series are
used for multichannel telephone and telegraph; TV/radio
distribution; and remote printing of newspapers.
In 1978 a second Raduga series was launched (Statsionar-
Broadcasting 2). The Molnya and Raduga system give total coverage of the
Soviet Union.
In 1979 the USSR launched its first broadcasting satellite,
USSR State Committee for TV and Radio Broadcasting called Ekran or (Statsionar-T). This satellite was put in a
Piatnitskaia Utliza 25, Moscow 113 326 geosynchronous orbit of 99°East. It carried a 200-watt
Telephone: 233 6356 Telex: 411136 RADIO SU transmitter with a spot-beam antenna. The Ekran satellites
Technical Centre, Moscow now transmit to more than 1,500 TYROs.
Telephone: 215 6583 Telex: 411471 SC SU Because the frequency bands used by the Ekran system are
also used by terrestrial systems, expansion was limited.
Therefore, another system was set up using transponders on
the Gorizont satellites which were already being used by
Intersputnik. This additional system, called Moskva, uses a
Membership of International Organizations special 40 watt transmitter to serve antenna 2.5 metres in
diameter.
Organization Date of Joining %Share
ITU 1866 7.665877
Intersputnik 1972 $13,000 plus
additional Satellites Launched (1985)
contribution
based on
utilization of the Molnya-1 64
space segment Molnya-2 17
Inmarsat 1979 3.68737 Molnya-3 22
Raduga-1 2
Raduga-2 3
Raduga-3 2
Raduga-4 1
Space Segment Raduga-5 1
Ekran (Statsionar-T) 13
Gorizont 10
The world's first satellite was built and launched by the USSR
on 4 October 1957. Since then the USSR has developed a At the beginning of 1986 the Statsionar system consisted of
wide range of satellite techniques and applications. It has 11 satellites in geosynchronous orbit (the Gorizont, Raduga
been instrumental in setting up and maintaining the Inters- and Ekran spacecraft) and several which are not in geosyn-
putnik system and has also developed the world's largest chronous orbit (the Molnya spacecraft). The Gorizont
domestic satellite systems. spacecraft are used for domestic and Intersputnik television
The USSR started to develop its domestic satellite system service distribution, programme exchanges between members
in April 1965. To cover the country's enormous land mass, of the Organization Internationale de Radiodiffusion et
the satellites were launched into highly elliptical orbits. In Television (OIRT), radio transmission, telephony and
addition, to assist tracking and reception, the orbits took the various digital services.
satellite high over the Soviet Union during prime time The Raduga satellites have a much lower power than the
periods. In this way they appear to ground stations as if they Gorizont satellites. The Raduga spacecraft are believed to be
are very slowly moving. used primarily for domestic telephony. The Ekran satellite
The first domestic series was called Molnya (lightning), and presently in orbit is used to transmit domestic television and
consisted of four satellites, passing at intervals of 90°, and so radio services to Siberia. The Molnya spacecraft are used to
providing a continuous service. provide the Arctic regions of the USSR with television and
The Molnya-1 series was followed by Molnya-2andMolnya-3, radio services, as well as providing telecommunications
capable of handling higher frequencies (4 GHz to 6 GHz). capacity to these remote regions.

256
 Union of Soviet Socialist Republic
The Statsionar System Antenna coverage Indian/Pacific
Gorizont 7 (Statsionar-11) (ocean region)
Type FSS /TV region 3
Orbital position 11°W Status Main
Launch date 1983 Primary use TV/Radio/Telephony
Launcher USSR Services 6 II Programma TV,
Design life (years) 5 Moscow; Radio Mayak
Number of channels 6 7 Empty
TWTA power (watts) 5 at 15; 1 at 40 8 Telephony
Antenna coverage Atlantic 9 Inactive
(ocean region) 10 I Programma TV, Moscow;
lTV region 1 Soviet Radio
Status Spare for Gorizont-12 11 Inactive
Primary use
Services
Gorizont-9 (Statsionar-5)
Type FSS
Gorizont-6 (Statsionar-7) Orbital position 53°E
Type FSS Launch date 1984
Orbital position 140°E Launcher USSR
Launch date 1982 Design life (years) 3
Launcher USSR Number of channels 6
Design life (years) 3 (exceeded) TWTA power (watts) 5 at 15; 1 at 40
Number of channels 6 Antenna coverage Indian/Pacific
TWTA power (watts) 5 at 15; 1 at 40 (ocean region)
Antenna coverage Pacific /TV region 3
(ocean region) Status Intersputnik
/TV region 3 Pacific Ocean region
Status Main Primary use Telephony
Primary use Telephony/TV Services 6 I Programma TV, Moscow;
Services 6 II Programma TV, RadioMayak
Moscow; Radio Mayak 7 Wide band digital
8 Telephony & data 8 Telephony
10 I Programma TV, Moscow; 9 Wide band digital service
Soviet Radio 10 II Programma TV,
Moscow; Soviet Radio
11 Wide band digital
Gorizont-7 (Statsionar-4)
Type FSS
Orbital position ww Ruduga-7 (Statsionar-8)
Launch date June 1983 Type FSS
Launcher USSR Orbital position 25°W
Design life (years) 3 Launch date 1980
Number of channels 6 Launcher USSR
TWTA power (watts) 5 at 15; 1 at 40 Design life (years) NK
Antenna coverage Atlantic Number of channels NK
(ocean region) TWTA power (watts) NK
/TV region 1 Antenna coverage Atlantic
Status Intersputnik (ocean region)
Primary use TV lTV region 1
Services 6 I Programma TV, Moscow; Status NK
Radio Mayak Primary use Telephony
7 OIRTfeeds Services NK
8 Intersputnik radio, voice
and data
Raduga-17 (Statsionar-2)
9 Intersputnik TV unilaterals
Type FSS
10 Wide band digital service
Orbital position 35°E
11 Narrowband digital service
Launch date 1985
Launcher USSR
Design life (years) NK
Gorizont-8 (Statsionar-6) Number of channels NK
Type FSS TWTA power (watts) NK
Orbital position 900E Antenna coverage Northern Indian Ocean
Launch date 1983 (ocean region) region
Launcher USSR /TV region 1
Design life (years) 3 Status NK
Number of channels 6 Primary use Telephony
TWTA power (watts) 5 at 15; 1 at 40 Services NK
257
Uruguay

Raduga-13 (Statsionar-9)
Type
Earth Station Facilities
FSS
Orbital position 45°E
Launch date 1983 There are numerous earth stations for the Moskva and Ekran
Launcher USSR networks, including 5,000 TYROs. The Intersputnik system
Design life (years) NK has two earth stations at Dubna (Atlantic Region) and
Number of channels NK Vladimir (Pacific Region). Inmarsat is accessed through the
TWTA power (watts) NK Centre for International Maritime Satellite Communications
Antenna coverage Indian at Odessa. Another station, to be known as CIMSC-2, is
(ocean region) being built at Odessa.
/TV region 3
Status NK
Primary use Telephony
Services NK

Raduga-14 ( Statsionar-3)
Type FSS
Orbital position 85°E
Launch date NK
Launcher USSR
Design life (years) NK
Number of channels NK
TWTA power (watts) NK
Antenna coverage NK
(ocean region)
/TV region 3
Status NK
Primary use Telephony
Services NK
NK=Not Known

URUGUAY

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministerio de Communicaciones Organization Date of Joining %Share

Montevideo ITU 1902 0.1272264
Intelsat 1982 0.050000

Telecommunications
Space Segment
Administracion Nacional de Telecommunications (Antel)
Casilla de Correa 1477, Montevideo
Uses lntelsat.
Telephone: 28 1441 Telex: 398850 ANTEL UY

Earth Station Facilities

Broadcasting

Antenna Date
Associacon Nacional de Broadcasters Uruguayos (Andebu) type Coverage operational
System Location
Calle Yi 1264, Montevideo A1 18 December 1980
Intelsat Manga 1 B
Telephone: 900053 A Al 15 April1985
Intelsat Manga2

Servicio Oficial di Difusion Radioelectrica (Sodre)

Mercedes 823, Montevideo
Telephone: 90 7661

258
 Vatican City

VANUATU

Government Department Space Segment

Ministry of Communications and Public Works Uses Intelsat.

Port Vila
Telephone: 2000 Telex: 1025 GENTEL NH
Earth Station Facilities
Telecommunications
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Vanitel SARL Intelsat Port Vila B PP 29 May 1979
PO Box 164, Port Vila
Telephone: 2185 Telex: 1050

Membership of International Organizations

None.

VATICAN CITY

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

The Vatican Organization Date of Joining %Share

Vatican City, Rome ITU 1929 0.636132
Intelsat 1973 0.050000
Eutelsat 1985 0.050000
Telecommunications

Governatorato: Secretariat General Space Segment

Administration de PTI, Vatican City, Rome
Telephone: (6) 6982 Telex: 504 2024 DIRGENTEL VA
Via Italy.

Broadcasting Earth Station Facilities

Radio Vaticana
00120 Vatican City, Rome Via Italy.
Telephone: (6) 6982 Telex: 504 2023 SCVRADIO VA

259
Venezuela

VENEZUELA
Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministerio de Transporte y Comunicaciones Organization Date of Joining %Share

Direccion General, Sectorial de Comunicaciones, Apartado ITU 1920 0.5089058
17174, Caracas 1020 Intelsat 1973 1.149790
Telephone: (2) 509 1700 Telex: 29729 DITEL VC

Telecommunications Space Segment

Companha Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela Uses Intelsat.

(CANTV)
Apartado 1226, 1010 Caracas
Telephone: (2) 52 26 24 Telex: 21380 CANTY VC Earth Station Facilities
Fax: (2) 573 2408
Antenna Date
Broadcasting System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Camatagua-1 A A1 20 November 1970
Intelsat Camatagua-2 A AP 21 November 1980
Camara Venezolana de Ia Industria de Radiodifusion Intelsat Camatagua-4 B A1 11 August 1983
Apartado 3955, Caracas Intelsat Camatagua-5 A A2 1987

Venezola de Television
Apartado 3979, Caracas
Telephone: 2399811

VIETNAM
Government Department Broadcasting

Direction Generale des Postes et Telecommunications Vietnam Central Television

18 rue Nguyen du Handi, Hanoi Giang Vo, Hanoi
Telephone: 53583 and 9 Hong Thap Tu Street, Ho Chi Minh City

Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

Direction des Telecommunications Organization Date of Joining %Share

18 rue Nguyen du Handi, Hanoi ITU 1951 0.1272264
Telephone: 53583 Intelsat 1979 0.050000
Intersputnik 1979 $13,000 plus
additional
contribution
based on
utilization of the
space segment

260
 Yemen Arab Republic

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Uses lntersputnik. There is a USSR-built Lotus-type earth station at Hanoi for

access to Intersputnik.

WESTERN SAMOA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Department of Posts and Telecommunications None.

Apia
Telephone: 20 471
Space Segment

Telecommunications
Uses Intelsat.

General Post Office

Apia Earth Station Facilities
Telephone: 23 470 Telex: 779 220 PTRGMS SX
Fax:24000
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Broadcasting Intelsat Afiamalu B PP 15 October 1980

Samoa Broadcasting Service

PO Box 200, Apia

YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC

Government Department
Ministry of Communications and Transport
Sana'a
Telephone: (2) 71400 Telex: 2340 MOC YE
Cable and Wireless Ltd Co.
Gamal Abdul Nasser Street, PO Box 168, Sana'a
Telephone: 2139 Telex: 2293 CWOPS YE
Broadcasting

Radio Sana'a
Telecommunications Ministry of Information, Sana'a

Public Telecommunications Corporation

PO Box 17045, AI Jiraff, Sana'a
Telex: 2617 PTC YE

261
Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of

Membership of International Organizations Earth Station Facilities

Organization Date of Joining %Share Antenna Date

ITU 1931 0.0636132 System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat 1973 0.219888 Intelsat Sana'a-1 B 1P 29 September 1976
Intelsat Sana'a-2 A A2 16 February 1982

Space Segment

Uses Intelsat.

YEMEN, PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF

Government and Telecommunications Space Segment

Yemen Telecommunications Corporation Uses Intelsat and Intersputnik.

PO Box 1256, Tawahi, Aden
Telephone: 22454 Telex: 2300 YEMENTEL AD
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Democratic Yemen Broadcasting Service lntelsat Ras Boradli B 1P 23 June 1981
State Committee for Information, PO Box 1222, Aden Intersputnik under construction
Telephone: 22809 Arabsat under construction

Membership of International Organizations

Organization Date of Joining %Share

ITU 1968 0.0318066
Intersputnik 1980 $13,000 plus
additional
contribution
based on
utilization of the
space segment

262
 Zaire

YUGOSLAVIA
Nikolas Testa Tvornica Telekomunikacijskih Uredaja
Government Department Moskovska 45, Zagreb 41000
Telephone: (041) 565222
Ministry of Yugoslav Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones
Palmoticeva 2, 11001 Belgrade
Telephone: (11) 338921 Telex: 11421 YU GENTEL Membership of International Organizations
Fax: (11) 33 24 14
Organization Date of Joining %Share
ITU 1866 0.2544529
Telecommunications Intelsat 1973 0.217580
Eutelsat 1983 0.95712
Savezna Uprava 2a Radio Veze (SURV)- Federal Directorate
of Radiocommunications
Terazije 411111, 11000 Belgrade Space Segment
Telephone: (11) 34 60 41

Uses Intelsat and Eutelsat.

Broadcasting

Earth Station Facilities

Jugoslavian Radiotelevision
Borisa Kidrica 70/1, BP 284, 11001 Belgrade
Telephone: (11) 43 36 93 Telex: 11469 YURATE Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Yugoslavija-1 A Il 1 April1974
Satellite Companies Intelsat Yugoslavija-2 A AP 9 November 1983

Iskra Ljubljana
Trg Revolucije 3, 61000 Ljubljana
Telephone: (061) 213213

ZAIRE

Government Department Broadcasting

Department of Posts and Telecommunications La Voix du Zaire

BP 13798, Kinshasa 1 Station Nationale, BP 3171, Kinshasa-Gombe
Telephone: 23428 Telex: 21360 GENTEL

Membership of International Organizations

Telecommunications

Organization Date of Joining %Share

Directorate of Telecommunications ITU 1961 0.1272264
BP 13798, Kinshasa 1 Intelsat 1973 0.286292
Telephone: 23428 Telex: 21360 GENTEL

263
Zambia

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Uses Intelsat, including a leased transponder which provides Antenna Date

a Rezatelsat service to 13 standard Z stations (14.5m System Location type Coverage operational
antenna) and master stations at Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. Intelsat N'sele A AP 17 June 1971

ZAMBIA

Government Department Membership of International Organizations

Ministry of Power, Transport and Communications Organization Date of Joining %Share

PO Box RW 50005, Lusaka ITU 1965 0.0636132
Telephone: 21 32 11 Telex: MPTC ZA 41680 Intelsat 1973 0.098744

Telecommunications
Space Segment

Posts and Telecommunications Corporation

Uses Intelsat.
PO Box 71660, N'dola
Telephone: 2281 Telex: DGZA 33430
Earth Station Facilities
Broadcasting
Antenna Date
System Location type Coverage operational
Zambia Broadcasting Services
Intelsat Mwembeshi-1 A 1P 30 September 1974
PO Box 50015, Lusaka
Intelsat Mwembeshi-2 A AP December 1986
Telephone: 218517 Telex: ZBS ZA 41221

ZIMBABWE

Government Department Broadcasting

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation

PO Box 8061, The Causeway, Harare PO Box HG 444, Highlands, Harare
Telephone: 791711 Telex: 4444 TELINT ZW Telephone: 46501 Telex: 4175 ZBCHOV ZW

Telecommunications Membership of International Organizations

Posts and Telecommunications Corporation Organization Date of Joining %Share

PO Box 8061, The Causeway, Harare ITU 1981 0.1272264
Telephone: 72 8811 Telex: 4821 PTC HQ ZW

264
 Zimbabwe

Space Segment Earth Station Facilities

Uses Intelsat. Antenna Date

System Location type Coverage operational
Intelsat Mazowe A A2 9 July 1985

265