Communications satellites: global change agents

Joseph N. Pelton, Robert J. Oslund, Peter Marshall0805849629, 9780805849622, 0805849610, 9780805849615

Over the past 40 years, satellites have played a key role in creating a global culture, spreading worldwide entertainment, stimulating technological interchange, and promoting trade around the world. Communications Satellites: Global Change Agents addresses communications satellites not only in terms of the technology and the services they provide, but also with consideration of the technology’s impact in socio-political, security, economic, policy, news, entertainment, and cultural spheres. Editors Joseph N. Pelton, Robert J. Oslund, and Peter Marshall bring together contributions that place satellites into a broad context and examine how they influence and define today’s world. Written in a non-technical, reader-friendly style, chapters investigate how satellite communications work and explore the role of satellites in such arenas as: *news and entertainment systems around the world; *Internet, E-business, and the new global economy; *global television and radio channels; *military operations; and *education, health services, economic development, and electronic immigration. Communications Satellites: Global Change Agents examines what satellites have been and projects how they will evolve in the future, articulating what they mean to the world today and forecasting what they will mean tomorrow. As the definitive source on communications satellites and their role in today’s world, this volume serves as a valuable, unique, and timely resource for scholars and students in telecommunications, communication and technology, mass communication and society, and broadcasting.

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Contents……Page 6
Foreword……Page 10
Preface……Page 14
Dedication……Page 22
1 Satellites as Worldwide Change Agents……Page 26
II. TECHNOLOGY……Page 54
2 Satellite Technology: The Evolution of Satellite Systems and Fixed Satellite Services……Page 56
3 The “New” Satellite Services: Broadcast, Mobile,and Broadband Internet Satellite Systems……Page 78
4 Launch Vehicles and Their Role……Page 106
III. HISTORY AND POLITICS……Page 132
5 The Geopolitics and Institutions of Satellite Communications……Page 134
6 Regulating Communications Satellites on the Way to Globalism……Page 170
7 Dual Use Challenge and Response: Commercial and Military Uses of Space Communications……Page 198
IV. BUSINESS, MEDIA, AND ECONOMICS……Page 220
8 Satellites, Internet, and IP Networking……Page 222
9 Benefits of Satellite Telecommunications……Page 242
10 The World of Satellite TV: News, the Olympics,and Global Entertainment……Page 266
V. IMPACT ON SOCIETY……Page 286
11 New Opportunities and Threats for 21st-century Life……Page 288
12 Satellites and the Promise of Teleeducation and Telehealth……Page 304
13 Satellites and Global Diversity……Page 322
VI. FUTURE TRENDS……Page 338
14 The Future of Satellite Communications Systems……Page 340
VII. SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSIONS……Page 362
15 Trends for the Future: Telepower Opportunities and Teleshock Concerns……Page 364
Glossary……Page 382
Biographies of the Authors……Page 386
Author Index……Page 394
Subject Index……Page 398