Earth-space propagation above 10 GHz

Summary form only given. Commercial satellite communications began in 1965 with the launch of Intelsat I (Early Bird), which was a geostationary satellite operating at 4 and 6 GHz. C-band satellite communications (satcom) continues today. As higher frequency bands were explored to expand capacity, problems were encountered with weather effects on the earth-space links, mainly rain attenuation. Many years of research was required to understand the influence of weather on signals above 10 GHz and to develop techniques to mitigate the effects. X-band, Ku-band, and Ka-band satcom links are in wide use today.