Twelve Advantages of Stationary Satellite Systems for Point-to-Point Communication

With the exception of those systems which are intended to satisfy special military requirements, passive satellite communication systems will not be economically competitive with high-capacity, active satellite systems because of greater terminal costs. There are twelve reasons why stationary orbit systems should become the backbone of future global communications, and these are discussed in detail. Seven of these are based on economic and system advantages, while the remaining five arise from interference coordination advantages in frequency sharing among satellite systems and with surface services. Stationary satellites present space technology and propagation delay problems, but these are rapidly being overcome. It is therefore recommended that more planning and regulatory emphasis be focused on stationary satellite communication systems, since nonstationary, nonmilitary systems will only be interim or supplementary systems.