Satellite Communications Systems

ALSO CALLED: Satellites Systems, Satellite Systems
DEFINITION: In general, a satellite is anything that orbits something else, as, for example, the moon orbits the earth. In a communications context, a satellite is a specialized wirelessreceiver/transmitter that is launched by a rocket and placed inorbit around the earth. There are hundreds of satellitescurrently in operation. They are used for such diverse purposesas weather forecasting, television broadcast,  … 
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SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS DEFINITION (continued): …  amateur radiocommunications, Internet communications, and the Global Positioning System, (GPS).The first artificial satellite, launched byRussia (then known as the Soviet Union) in the late 1950s, wasabout the size of a basketball. It did nothing but transmit asimple Morse code signal over and over. In contrast, modernsatellites can receive and re-transmit thousands of signalssimultaneously, from simple digital data to the most complextelevision programming.There are three types of communications satellitesystems. They are categorized according to the type of orbit theyfollow.A geostationary satellite … 
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