Page 14 - Communications Satellites Global Change Agents

Preface

The field of satellite communications is overcrowded. We are not talking about
the problem of a crowded spectrum or crammed geosynchronous orbit, although
this is now packed with a gaggle of high-tech machinery. No, the crowding of the
satellite field we address here refers to the presence of so many disciplines.
Satellite systems actually involve many advanced technologies (from rocket
science and orbital mechanics to transmission and multiplexing systems as well as
material sciences and power systems), and this is just the start. Satellite operations
include economics, marketing and business, news and entertainment, interna-
tional law and regulation, international politics, military applications, education,
health, sociology, and culture. Any serious attempt to explain and interpret the
past, present, and future of satellite communications should recognize the inter-
disciplinary nature of the task.
Far more than technical knowledge is needed to understand the "why," "how,"
and "wherefore" of space communications. In fact over the past 40 years, satel-
lites have created or stimulated a multitude of changes and innovations in our
world. These impacts or breakthroughs have come in diverse arenas such as tele-
education in China, Indonesia, and India; and health care in the Caribbean and
East Africa. Then there are the political and cultural changes stimulated by inter-
national treaties and executive agreements as well as satellite TV news, entertain-
ment, and intelligence gathering all over the world. E-businesses driven by satel-
lite links to emerging markets have changed patterns of trade and brought
innovations in international law and business. In one sense, it could be said that
satellites have had a major role in redefining the nation-state. Satellites, by creat-

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