3.1 Introduction

What is the satellite communications business today? As already mentioned in Chapter 2, the satellite communications business is still the only commercially viable space-based activity. A surge in interest and activity in satellite-based applications is taking place in the late 1990s, driven by the increasing capability of digital technology to broaden the range of applications through complex circuit miniaturisation and high-volume production costs a familiar process throughout all sectors of electronics. Much of the recent activity is in the private, commercial sector with advanced, innovative, corporate and consumer digital services such as compressed digital television broadcasting (DVB), satellite newsgathering, business television, wideband multimedia applications, VSATs, asymmetric interactive services for the home and global mobile personal communications by satellite (GMPCS). To highlight the availability of consumer technology in a related area, global positioning system (GPS) satellite navigation receivers employing low-noise L-band front ends and spread-spectrum processing technology, once expensive equipment for professional users, are now very low-cost units, facilitated by developments in surface mount technology and ASICs, and the amortisation of their development costs over large production volumes. One can now buy GPS receivers and advanced digital direct-to-home television (DTH-TV) systems, with Ku-band LNB noise figures unheard of ten years ago, in many high street stores.

The industry is now well represented on stock exchanges around the world with a market capitalisation of tens of billions of US dollars invested in manufacturing, operating and media companies. Revenues from the global satellite communications market, including the launcher, space and...