Satellites and Telecommunications

A worldwide system of satellites has been created and it is possible to transmit signals around the globe by bouncing them from one satellite to an earth station and then to another satellite and soon.

Originally designed to carry voice messages, they are able to carry hundreds of thousands of separate simultaneous calls. These systems are being adopted to provide for business communications, including the transmission of voice and facsimile messages, data and video data.

One cannot doubt that the economic and social impact of these concepts will be very significant. Already, advanced systems of communication are affecting both the layman and the technician.

The new global satellite-communication systems offer three kinds of service.

The first one is voice messages. Satellite telephones are able to make calls from anywhere on the? Earth to anywhere else. That makes them especially useful to use in remote, third-world villages (some of which already use stationary satellite telephones), for explorers. Today's mobile phones depend on earth-bound transmitters, whose technical standards vary from country to country. Satellite telephones can solve this problem, but it is not a cheap service.

The second service is messaging. Satellite messages have the same global coverage as satellite telephones, but carry text alone, which is extremely useful for those with laptop computers. As we see, the Internet works in space too. The only problem for ordinary users is one-way transmissions. This problem is solved by using combine transmissions, when you make a call using land communications and receive ordered information through your satellite plate.

The third service is tracking. Voice and messaging systems also tell their users where they are to within a few hundred meters. Combined with the messaging service, the location service could help rescue teams, to find lost adventurers, the police to find stolen cars, exporters to follow the progress of cargoes and so on. Satellite systems provide better positioning information to anyone who has a receiver for their signals.

To my thinking, satellite method of communication is the future for all kind of telecommunications.