This initial Chapter provides an overview of the components of a satellite system and the major parameters for consideration in its design. It also attempts to give a brief review of the current status and position of satellite communications.

1.1 Satellite Systems

Although we shall deal with the communication aspects, satellite systems are in fact used for many different services as defined by the ITU and given in Chapter 4. Those specifically addressed in this book are:

• fixed satellite service (FSS);

• broadcast satellite service (BSS);

• mobile satellite service (MSS);

although communications clearly remains a major part of other satellite services as well.

FSS includes all of the current radiocommunication services operated via the major operators such as INTELSAT, EUTELSAT, PANAMSAT etc. (see Chapter 2), and operates essentially to fixed earth stations. BSS covers the area of direct broadcasting satellites (DBS), which are addressed in Chapter 17. This consists of much smaller earth stations on domestic premises together with fixed earth stations providing the uplink feeder to the satellite. MSS currently operates in the maritime mobile service (MMS), aeronautical mobile service (AMS), land mobile service (LMS) via INMARSAT, plus a number of regional operators e.g. AMSC, OPTUS etc. These services consist of earth terminals located on the mobiles as well as fixed base stations for connection back into major terrestrial networks. A number of global mobile satellite personal communication systems (GMPCS), e.g. Iridium, Globalstar and ICO, will start to operate in the 1998 2000 era (see Chapters 17, 18).

With...