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v. t. e. A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. Communications satellites are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military ...
A ground station, Earth station, or Earth terminal is a terrestrial radio station designed for extraplanetary telecommunication with spacecraft (constituting part of the ground segment of the spacecraft system), or reception of radio waves from astronomical radio sources. Ground stations may be located either on the surface of the Earth, or in ...
An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, cartography and others. The most common type are Earth imaging satellites, that take ...
Geosynchronous orbit. A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital period means that, for an observer on Earth's surface, an object in ...
Very low Earth orbit. Very low Earth orbit is a range of orbital altitudes below 400 km (250 mi), and is of increasing commercial importance in a variety of scenarios and for multiple applications, in both private and government satellite operations. Applications include earth observation, radar, infrared, weather, telecommunications, and rural ...
Earth–Moon–Earth communication. Earth–Moon–Earth communication (EME), also known as Moon bounce, is a radio communications technique that relies on the propagation of radio waves from an Earth -based transmitter directed via reflection from the surface of the Moon back to an Earth-based receiver.
The concept of using orbital satellites to relay communications predated space travel, first being advanced by Arthur C. Clarke in 1945. Experiments using the moon as a passive reflecting way station for messages began as early as 1946. [ 3 ] With the launching of Sputnik 1, Earth's first artificial satellite, in 1957, interest quickly ...
The satellites orbit in a circular low Earth orbit at about 500 km (310 mi) altitude [326] in a high-inclination orbit for a planned six to twelve-month duration. The satellites communicate with three testing ground stations in Washington State and California for short-term experiments of less than ten minutes duration, roughly daily. [321] [327]