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105-461: SES Americom was a major commercial satellite operator of North American geosynchronous satellites based in the United States . The company started as RCA Americom in 1975 before being bought by General Electric in 1986 and then later acquired by SES in 2001. In September 2009, SES Americom and SES New Skies merged into SES World Skies . RCA American Communications (RCA Americom)

210-495: A science fiction film ; he portrayed himself in the film Without Warning , an American production about an apocalyptic alien first-contact scenario presented in the form of a faux newscast. Clarke also became active in promoting the protection of gorillas and became a patron of the Gorilla Organization , which fights for the preservation of gorillas. When tantalum mining for mobile phone manufacture threatened

315-859: A wheelchair most of the time thereafter. Clarke was for many years a vice-patron of the British Polio Fellowship . In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours , Clarke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for services to British cultural interests in Sri Lanka". The same year, he became the first chancellor of the International Space University , serving from 1989 to 2004. He also served as chancellor of Moratuwa University in Sri Lanka from 1979 to 2002. In 1994, Clarke appeared in

420-434: A 22-year-old American divorcee with a young son. They separated permanently after six months, although the divorce was not finalised until 1964. "The marriage was incompatible from the beginning", said Clarke. Marilyn never remarried and died in 1991. Clarke also never remarried, but was close to a Sri Lankan man, Leslie Ekanayake (13 July 1947 – 4   July 1977), whom Clarke called his "only perfect friend of

525-632: A commentator on science and technology, especially at the time of the Apollo space program . On 20 July 1969, Clarke appeared as a commentator for the CBS News broadcast of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Clarke lived in Sri Lanka from 1956 until his death in 2008, first in Unawatuna on the south coast, and then in Colombo . Initially, he and his friend Mike Wilson travelled around Sri Lanka, diving in

630-485: A cosmos once thought to be province only of gods." A few days before he died, he had reviewed the manuscript of his final work, The Last Theorem , on which he had collaborated by e-mail with contemporary Frederik Pohl . The book was published after Clarke's death. Clarke was buried in Colombo in traditional Sri Lankan fashion on 22 March. His younger brother, Fred Clarke, and his Sri Lankan adoptive family were among

735-455: A data network aiming to provide a „Lunar Internet for cis-lunar spacecraft and Installations. The Moonlight Initiative is an equivalent ESA project that is stated to be compatible and providing navigational services for the lunar surface. Both programmes are satellite constellstions of several satellites in various orbits around the Moon. Other orbits are also planned to be used. Positions in

840-639: A flat in Gray's Inn Road , where he got the nickname "Ego" because of his absorption in subjects that interested him, and later named his office filled with memorabilia as his "ego chamber". During the Second World War from 1941 to 1946, he served in the Royal Air Force as a radar specialist and was involved in the early-warning radar defence system, which contributed to the RAF's success during

945-408: A lifetime" in the dedication to his novel The Fountains of Paradise . Clarke is buried with Ekanayake, who predeceased him by three decades, in Colombo's central cemetery. In his biography of Stanley Kubrick , John Baxter cites Clarke's homosexuality as a reason why he relocated, due to more tolerant laws with regard to homosexuality in Sri Lanka . Journalists who enquired of Clarke whether he

1050-518: A medium Earth orbit satellite is about 16,000 kilometres (10,000 mi) above Earth. In various patterns, these satellites make the trip around Earth in anywhere from 2 to 8 hours. To an observer on Earth, a satellite in a gestationary orbit appears motionless, in a fixed position in the sky. This is because it revolves around the Earth at Earth's own angular velocity (one revolution per sidereal day , in an equatorial orbit ). A geostationary orbit

1155-591: A more precise match for the capabilities of geosynchronous comsats. Two satellite types are used for North American television and radio: Direct broadcast satellite (DBS), and Fixed Service Satellite (FSS). The definitions of FSS and DBS satellites outside of North America, especially in Europe, are a bit more ambiguous. Most satellites used for direct-to-home television in Europe have the same high power output as DBS-class satellites in North America, but use

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1260-468: A novella in 1948. It was very popular and considered ground-breaking work for some of the concepts it contained. Clarke revised and expanded the novella into a full novel, which was published in 1953. Clarke later rewrote and expanded this work a third time to become The City and the Stars in 1956, which rapidly became a definitive must-read in the field. His third science fiction novel, Childhood's End ,

1365-687: A number of satellites for various purposes; for example, METSAT for meteorological satellite, EUMETSAT for the European branch of the program, and METOP for meteorological operations. These orbits are Sun synchronous, meaning that they cross the equator at the same local time each day. For example, the satellites in the NPOESS (civilian) orbit will cross the equator, going from south to north, at times 1:30 P.M., 5:30 P.M., and 9:30 P.M. There are plans and initiatives to bring dedicated communications satellite beyond geostationary orbits. NASA proposed LunaNet as

1470-621: A period (time to revolve around the Earth) of about 90 minutes. Because of their low altitude, these satellites are only visible from within a radius of roughly 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from the sub-satellite point. In addition, satellites in low Earth orbit change their position relative to the ground position quickly. So even for local applications, many satellites are needed if the mission requires uninterrupted connectivity. Low-Earth-orbiting satellites are less expensive to launch into orbit than geostationary satellites and, due to proximity to

1575-545: A radio signal to a telephone system. In this example, almost any type of satellite can be used. Satellite phones connect directly to a constellation of either geostationary or low-Earth-orbit satellites. Calls are then forwarded to a satellite teleport connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network . As television became the main market, its demand for simultaneous delivery of relatively few signals of large bandwidth to many receivers being

1680-529: A series of articles written by him on spacecraft and space travel. Clarke also contributed pieces to the "Debates and Discussions Corner", a counterpoint to a Urania article offering the case against space travel, and also his recollections of the Walt Disney film Fantasia . He moved to London in 1936 and joined the Board of Education as a pensions auditor. He and some fellow science fiction writers shared

1785-469: A simple dive shop near Trincomalee. He dived often at Hikkaduwa , Trincomalee, and Nilaveli . The Sri Lankan government offered Clarke resident guest status in 1975. He was held in such high esteem that when fellow science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein came to visit, the Sri Lanka Air Force provided a helicopter to take them around the country. In the early 1970s, Clarke signed

1890-785: A superior alien intelligence. In the cases of Childhood's End , and the 2001 series, this encounter produces a conceptual breakthrough that accelerates humanity into the next stage of its evolution. This also applies in the far-distant past (but our future) in The City and the Stars (and its original version, Against the Fall of Night ). In Clarke's authorised biography, Neil McAleer writes: "many readers and critics still consider Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke's best novel." But Clarke did not use ESP in any of his later stories, saying, "I've always been interested in ESP, and of course, Childhood's End

1995-523: A tactical necessity, and the ultimate goal of this project was the creation of the longest communications circuit in human history, with the Moon, Earth's natural satellite, acting as a passive relay. After achieving the first transoceanic communication between Washington, D.C. , and Hawaii on 23 January 1956, this system was publicly inaugurated and put into formal production in January 1960. The first satellite purpose-built to actively relay communications

2100-534: A teenager, he joined the BIS, British Interplanetary Society . In 1945, he proposed a satellite communication system using geostationary orbits . He was the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society from 1946 to 1947 and again in 1951–1953. Clarke emigrated to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1956, to pursue his interest in scuba diving . That year, he discovered the underwater ruins of

2205-559: A three-book publishing deal, a record for a science fiction writer at the time. The first of the three was Rendezvous with Rama in 1973, which won all the main genre awards and spawned sequels that along with the 2001 series formed the backbone of his later career. In 1986, Clarke was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America . In 1988, he was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome , having originally contracted polio in 1962, and needed to use

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2310-430: A video message to his friends and fans bidding them good-bye. Clarke died in Colombo on 19 March 2008, at the age of 90. His aide described the cause as respiratory complications and heart failure stemming from post-polio syndrome. Just hours before Clarke's death, a major gamma-ray burst (GRB) reached Earth. Known as GRB 080319B , the burst set a new record as the farthest object that can be seen from Earth with

2415-553: Is also possible to offer discontinuous coverage using a low-Earth-orbit satellite capable of storing data received while passing over one part of Earth and transmitting it later while passing over another part. This will be the case with the CASCADE system of Canada's CASSIOPE communications satellite. Another system using this store and forward method is Orbcomm . A medium Earth orbit is a satellite in orbit somewhere between 2,000 and 35,786 kilometres (1,243 and 22,236 mi) above

2520-565: Is carried out under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). To facilitate frequency planning, the world is divided into three regions: Within these regions, frequency bands are allocated to various satellite services, although a given service may be allocated different frequency bands in different regions. Some of the services provided by satellites are: The first and historically most important application for communication satellites

2625-492: Is highly inclined, guaranteeing good elevation over selected positions during the northern portion of the orbit. (Elevation is the extent of the satellite's position above the horizon. Thus, a satellite at the horizon has zero elevation and a satellite directly overhead has elevation of 90 degrees.) The Molniya orbit is designed so that the satellite spends the great majority of its time over the far northern latitudes, during which its ground footprint moves only slightly. Its period

2730-558: Is known as a satellite constellation . Two such constellations, intended to provide satellite phone and low-speed data services, primarily to remote areas, are the Iridium and Globalstar systems. The Iridium system has 66 satellites, which orbital inclination of 86.4° and inter-satellite links provide service availability over the entire surface of Earth. Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX , that aims for global satellite Internet access coverage. It

2835-409: Is more or less the way it worked out, though toward the end, novel and screenplay were being written simultaneously, with feedback in both directions. Thus, I rewrote some sections after seeing the movie rushes – a rather expensive method of literary creation, which few other authors can have enjoyed." The novel ended up being published a few months after the release of the movie. Due to

2940-576: Is one half day, so that the satellite is available for operation over the targeted region for six to nine hours every second revolution. In this way a constellation of three Molniya satellites (plus in-orbit spares) can provide uninterrupted coverage. The first satellite of the Molniya series was launched on 23 April 1965 and was used for experimental transmission of TV signals from a Moscow uplink station to downlink stations located in Siberia and

3045-497: Is revived by advanced medical science . The novel details the threat posed to humanity by the alien monoliths, whose actions are not always as their builders had intended. Clarke's first venture into film was 2001: A Space Odyssey , directed by Stanley Kubrick . Kubrick and Clarke had met in New York City in 1964 to discuss the possibility of a collaborative film project. As the idea developed, they decided to loosely base

3150-410: Is that a MEO satellite's distance gives it a longer time delay and weaker signal than a LEO satellite, although these limitations are not as severe as those of a GEO satellite. Like LEOs, these satellites do not maintain a stationary distance from the Earth. This is in contrast to the geostationary orbit, where satellites are always 35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi) from Earth. Typically the orbit of

3255-485: Is useful for communications because ground antennas can be aimed at the satellite without their having to track the satellite's motion. This is relatively inexpensive. In applications that require many ground antennas, such as DirecTV distribution, the savings in ground equipment can more than outweigh the cost and complexity of placing a satellite into orbit. By 2000, Hughes Space and Communications (now Boeing Satellite Development Center ) had built nearly 40 percent of

SES Americom - Misplaced Pages Continue

3360-517: The Battle of Britain . Clarke spent most of his wartime service working on ground-controlled approach (GCA) radar, as documented in the semiautobiographical Glide Path , his only non-science fiction novel. Although GCA did not see much practical use during the war, after several years of development it proved vital to the Berlin Airlift of 1948–1949. Clarke initially served in the ranks and

3465-516: The British Interplanetary Society from 1946 to 1947 and again from 1951 to 1953. Although he was not the originator of the concept of geostationary satellites , one of his most important contributions in this field was his idea that they would be ideal telecommunications relays. He advanced this idea in a paper privately circulated among the core technical members of the British Interplanetary Society in 1945. The concept

3570-569: The Earth-Moon-Libration points are also proposed for communication satellites covering the Moon alike communication satellites in geosynchronous orbit cover the Earth. Also, dedicated communication satellites in orbits around Mars supporting different missions on surface and other orbits are considered, such as the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter . Communications Satellites are usually composed of

3675-532: The Inner Solar System and a spaceship crash on the Jovian moon Europa . The whereabouts of astronaut Dave Bowman (the "Star Child"), the artificial intelligence HAL 9000 , and the development of native life on Europa, protected by the alien Monolith , are revealed. Finally, in 3001: The Final Odyssey , astronaut Frank Poole 's freeze-dried body, found by a spaceship beyond the orbit of Neptune ,

3780-547: The Mirror subsequently published an apology, and Clarke chose not to sue for defamation . The Independent reported that a similar story was not published, allegedly because Clarke was a friend of newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch . Clarke himself said, "I take an extremely dim view of people mucking about with boys", and Rupert Murdoch promised him the reporters responsible would never work in Fleet Street again. Clarke

3885-595: The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Later, at the home of Larry Niven in California, a concerned Heinlein attacked Clarke's views on United States foreign and space policy (especially the SDI), vigorously advocating a strong defence posture. Although the two later reconciled formally, they remained distant until Heinlein's death in 1988. 2001: A Space Odyssey , Clarke's most famous work,

3990-565: The geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres (22,000 mi) above the equator is officially recognised by the International Astronomical Union as the Clarke Orbit . His 1951 book, The Exploration of Space , was used by the rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun to convince President John F. Kennedy that it was possible to go to the Moon. Following the 1968 release of 2001 , Clarke became much in demand as

4095-467: The moniker "Prophet of the Space Age". His science fiction writings in particular earned him a number of Hugo and Nebula awards, which along with a large readership, made him one of the towering figures of the genre. For many years Clarke, Robert Heinlein , and Isaac Asimov were known as the "Big Three" of science fiction. Clarke was a lifelong proponent of space travel . In 1934, while still

4200-413: The naked eye . It occurred about 7.5 billion years ago, the light taking that long to reach Earth. Larry Sessions, a science writer for Sky and Telescope magazine blogging on earthsky.org, suggested that the burst be named the "Clarke Event". American Atheist Magazine wrote of the idea: "It would be a fitting tribute to a man who contributed so much, and helped lift our eyes and our minds to

4305-540: The satellite television services from 19.2° East , serving Germany , the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland . After the acquisition of GE Americom by SES, all the satellites previously named with the GE-# prefix were renamed AMC-# (i.e., GE-1 renamed AMC-1, and so on). The President and CEO of the new SES Americom was Dean Olmstead. He left the company in 2004 and was succeeded by Edward Horowitz. SES Americom

SES Americom - Misplaced Pages Continue

4410-456: The Americom unit to GE American Communications (GE Americom). From 1996 new satellites were named in the GE-# series, i.e. GE-1 in 1996, GE-2 in 1997 etc. In November 2001, GE sold its GE Americom unit to SES for US$ 5 billion in cash and stock. As a result of the sale, GE Americom was renamed SES Americom and SES Global was formed as the parent company. SES's existing operations were moved to

4515-423: The Earth faster, they do not remain visible in the sky to a fixed point on Earth continually like a geostationary satellite, but appear to a ground observer to cross the sky and "set" when they go behind the Earth beyond the visible horizon. Therefore, to provide continuous communications capability with these lower orbits requires a larger number of satellites, so that one of these satellites will always be visible in

4620-415: The Earth's surface. MEO satellites are similar to LEO satellites in functionality. MEO satellites are visible for much longer periods of time than LEO satellites, usually between 2 and 8 hours. MEO satellites have a larger coverage area than LEO satellites. A MEO satellite's longer duration of visibility and wider footprint means fewer satellites are needed in a MEO network than a LEO network. One disadvantage

4725-467: The July 1986 issue of Playboy magazine, when asked if he had had a bisexual experience, Clarke stated, "Of course. Who hasn't?" In his obituary, Clarke's friend Kerry O'Quinn wrote: "Yes, Arthur was gay ... As Isaac Asimov once told me, 'I think he simply found he preferred men.' Arthur didn't publicise his sexuality – that wasn't the focus of his life – but if asked, he

4830-451: The K u band. The Intelsat Americas 5 , Galaxy 10R and AMC 3 satellites over North America provide a quite large amount of FTA channels on their K u band transponders . Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke CBE FRAS (16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008) was a British science fiction writer , science writer, futurist , inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote

4935-765: The Lincoln Laboratory on behalf of the United States Department of Defense . The LES-1 active communications satellite was launched on 11 February 1965 to explore the feasibility of active solid-state X band long-range military communications. A total of nine satellites were launched between 1965 and 1976 as part of this series. In the United States, 1962 saw the creation of the Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT) private corporation, which

5040-596: The November 1928 issue of Amazing Stories in 1929; Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon in 1930; and The Conquest of Space by David Lasser in 1931. In his teens, he joined the Junior Astronomical Association and contributed to Urania , the society's journal, which was edited in Glasgow by Marion Eadie. At Clarke's request, she added an "Astronautics" section, which featured

5145-800: The Russian Far East, in Norilsk , Khabarovsk , Magadan and Vladivostok . In November 1967 Soviet engineers created a unique system of national TV network of satellite television , called Orbita , that was based on Molniya satellites. In the United States, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) was established in 1994 to consolidate the polar satellite operations of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). NPOESS manages

5250-511: The United States and Sri Lanka. Clarke and Asimov first met in New York City in 1953, and they traded friendly insults and gibes for decades. They established an oral agreement, the "Clarke–Asimov Treaty", that when asked who was better, the two would say Clarke was the better science fiction writer and Asimov was the better science writer. In 1972, Clarke put the "treaty" on paper in his dedication to Report on Planet Three and Other Speculations . In 1984, Clarke testified before Congress against

5355-460: The ancient original Koneswaram Temple in Trincomalee . Clarke augmented his popularity in the 1980s, as the host of television shows such as Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World . He lived in Sri Lanka until his death. Clarke was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989 "for services to British cultural interests in Sri Lanka". He was knighted in 1998 and

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5460-441: The book The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001). For much of the later 20th century, Clarke, Isaac Asimov , and Robert A. Heinlein were informally known as the "Big Three" of science fiction writers. Clarke and Heinlein began writing to each other after The Exploration of Space was published in 1951, and first met in person the following year. They remained on cordial terms for many years, including during visits to

5565-403: The completion of a fully global network with Intelsat 3 in 1969–70. By the 1980s, with significant expansions in commercial satellite capacity, Intelsat was on its way to become part of the competitive private telecommunications industry, and had started to get competition from the likes of PanAmSat in the United States, which, ironically, was then bought by its archrival in 2005. When Intelsat

5670-487: The coral waters around the coast with the Beachcombers Club. In 1957, during a dive trip off Trincomalee , Clarke discovered the underwater ruins of a temple, which subsequently made the region popular with divers. He described it in his 1957 book The Reefs of Taprobane . This was his second diving book after the 1956 The Coast of Coral . Though Clarke lived mostly in Colombo, he set up a small dive school and

5775-462: The curve of the Earth. The purpose of communications satellites is to relay the signal around the curve of the Earth allowing communication between widely separated geographical points. Communications satellites use a wide range of radio and microwave frequencies . To avoid signal interference, international organizations have regulations for which frequency ranges or "bands" certain organizations are allowed to use. This allocation of bands minimizes

5880-619: The dipoles properly separated from each other, the project was able to successfully experiment and communicate using frequencies in the SHF X band spectrum. An immediate antecedent of the geostationary satellites was the Hughes Aircraft Company 's Syncom 2 , launched on 26 July 1963. Syncom 2 was the first communications satellite in a geosynchronous orbit . It revolved around the Earth once per day at constant speed, but because it still had north–south motion, special equipment

5985-455: The edges of Antarctica and Greenland . Other land use for satellite phones are rigs at sea, a backup for hospitals, military, and recreation. Ships at sea, as well as planes, often use satellite phones. Satellite phone systems can be accomplished by a number of means. On a large scale, often there will be a local telephone system in an isolated area with a link to the telephone system in a main land area. There are also services that will patch

6090-439: The effect of making the book into a novelisation , and that Kubrick had manipulated circumstances to play down Clarke's authorship. For these and other reasons, the details of the story differ slightly from the book to the movie. The film contains little explanation for the events taking place. Clarke, though, wrote thorough explanations of "cause and effect" for the events in the novel. James Randi later recounted that upon seeing

6195-692: The equator and therefore appear lower on the horizon as the receiver gets farther from the equator. This will cause problems for extreme northerly latitudes, affecting connectivity and causing multipath interference (caused by signals reflecting off the ground and into the ground antenna). Thus, for areas close to the North (and South) Pole, a geostationary satellite may appear below the horizon. Therefore, Molniya orbit satellites have been launched, mainly in Russia, to alleviate this problem. Molniya orbits can be an appealing alternative in such cases. The Molniya orbit

6300-473: The first artificial satellite used for passive relay communications in Echo 1 on 12 August 1960. Echo 1 was an aluminized balloon satellite acting as a passive reflector of microwave signals. Communication signals were bounced off the satellite from one point on Earth to another. This experiment sought to establish the feasibility of worldwide broadcasts of telephone, radio, and television signals. Telstar

6405-412: The first privately sponsored space launch. Another passive relay experiment primarily intended for military communications purposes was Project West Ford , which was led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology 's Lincoln Laboratory . After an initial failure in 1961, a launch on 9 May 1963 dispersed 350 million copper needle dipoles to create a passive reflecting belt. Even though only about half of

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6510-479: The following subsystems: The bandwidth available from a satellite depends upon the number of transponders provided by the satellite. Each service (TV, Voice, Internet, radio) requires a different amount of bandwidth for transmission. This is typically known as link budgeting and a network simulator can be used to arrive at the exact value. Allocating frequencies to satellite services is a complicated process which requires international coordination and planning. This

6615-512: The form of recorded addresses. In July 2007, he provided a video address for the Robert A. Heinlein Centennial in which he closed his comments with a goodbye to his fans. In September 2007, he provided a video greeting for NASA 's Cassini probe 's flyby of Iapetus (which plays an important role in the book of 2001: A Space Odyssey ). In December 2007 on his 90th birthday, Clarke recorded

6720-511: The gorillas in 2001, he lent his voice to their cause. The dive shop that he set up continues to operate from Trincomalee through the Arthur C Clarke Foundation. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Clarke presented his television programmes Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World , Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers , and Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious Universe . On a trip to Florida in 1953, Clarke met and quickly married Marilyn Mayfield,

6825-404: The ground, do not require as high signal strength (signal strength falls off as the square of the distance from the source, so the effect is considerable). Thus there is a trade off between the number of satellites and their cost. In addition, there are important differences in the onboard and ground equipment needed to support the two types of missions. A group of satellites working in concert

6930-410: The hectic schedule of the film's production, Kubrick and Clarke had difficulty collaborating on the book. Clarke completed a draft of the novel at the end of 1964 with the plan to publish in 1965 in advance of the film's release in 1966. After many delays, the film was released in the spring of 1968, before the book was completed. The book was credited to Clarke alone. Clarke later complained that this had

7035-515: The late 20th century. Satellite communications are still used in many applications today. Remote islands such as Ascension Island , Saint Helena , Diego Garcia , and Easter Island , where no submarine cables are in service, need satellite telephones. There are also regions of some continents and countries where landline telecommunications are rare to non existent, for example large regions of South America, Africa, Canada, China, Russia, and Australia. Satellite communications also provide connection to

7140-631: The local cable TV headends using the satellite. Additionally, it was the first satellite used by broadcast TV networks in the United States, like American Broadcasting Company (ABC), NBC , and CBS , to distribute their programming to all of their local affiliate stations. Satcom 1 was so widely used because it had twice the communications capacity of the competing Westar 1 (24 transponders as opposed to Westar 1's 12), which resulted in lower transponder usage costs. 14 more (increasingly sophisticated) Satcom satellites would enter service from 1976 to 1992. In 1986, General Electric acquired RCA and renamed

7245-566: The more than one hundred satellites in service worldwide. Other major satellite manufacturers include Space Systems/Loral , Orbital Sciences Corporation with the Star Bus series, Indian Space Research Organisation , Lockheed Martin (owns the former RCA Astro Electronics/GE Astro Space business), Northrop Grumman , Alcatel Space, now Thales Alenia Space , with the Spacebus series, and Astrium . Geostationary satellites must operate above

7350-464: The newly created SES Astra subsidiary. SES formerly bought a satellite from failed Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) company Crimson Satellite Associates and GE Americom while still under construction by GE AstroSpace (as Satcom K3 ). Renamed Astra 1B and modified for use as a European direct broadcasting satellite and a part of the Astra DBS constellation, it was launched to add extra capacity to

7455-470: The northern hemisphere. This orbit provides a long dwell time over Russian territory as well as over Canada at higher latitudes than geostationary orbits over the equator. Communications satellites usually have one of three primary types of orbit , while other orbital classifications are used to further specify orbital details. MEO and LEO are non-geostationary orbit (NGSO). As satellites in MEO and LEO orbit

7560-564: The other hand, amplify the received signal before retransmitting it to the receiver on the ground. Passive satellites were the first communications satellites, but are little used now. Work that was begun in the field of electrical intelligence gathering at the United States Naval Research Laboratory in 1951 led to a project named Communication Moon Relay . Military planners had long shown considerable interest in secure and reliable communications lines as

7665-506: The political environment in America in the 1980s, the film presents a Cold War theme, with the looming tensions of nuclear warfare not featured in the novel. The film was not considered to be as revolutionary or artistic as 2001 , but the reviews were still positive. Clarke's email correspondence with Hyams was published in 1984. Titled The Odyssey File: The Making of 2010 , and co-authored with Hyams, it illustrates his fascination with

7770-413: The premiere of 2001 , Clarke left the theatre at the intermission in tears, after having watched an eleven-minute scene (which did not make it into general release) where an astronaut is doing nothing more than jogging inside the spaceship, which was Kubrick's idea of showing the audience how boring space travels could be. In 1972, Clarke published The Lost Worlds of 2001 , which included his accounts of

7875-429: The production, and alternative versions of key scenes. The "special edition" of the novel A Space Odyssey (released in 1999) contains an introduction by Clarke in which he documents the events leading to the release of the novel and film. In 1982, Clarke continued the 2001 epic with a sequel, 2010: Odyssey Two . This novel was also made into a film, 2010 , directed by Peter Hyams for release in 1984. Because of

7980-487: The risk of signal interference. In October 1945, Arthur C. Clarke published an article titled "Extraterrestrial Relays" in the British magazine Wireless World . The article described the fundamentals behind the deployment of artificial satellites in geostationary orbits to relay radio signals. Because of this, Arthur C. Clarke is often quoted as being the inventor of the concept of the communications satellite, and

8085-1047: The same linear polarization as FSS-class satellites. Examples of these are the Astra , Eutelsat , and Hotbird spacecraft in orbit over the European continent. Because of this, the terms FSS and DBS are more so used throughout the North American continent, and are uncommon in Europe. Fixed Service Satellites use the C band , and the lower portions of the K u band . They are normally used for broadcast feeds to and from television networks and local affiliate stations (such as program feeds for network and syndicated programming, live shots , and backhauls ), as well as being used for distance learning by schools and universities, business television (BTV), Videoconferencing , and general commercial telecommunications. FSS satellites are also used to distribute national cable channels to cable television headends. Free-to-air satellite TV channels are also usually distributed on FSS satellites in

8190-507: The screenplay for the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey , widely regarded as one of the most influential films of all time. Clarke was a science fiction writer, an avid populariser of space travel, and a futurist of a distinguished ability. He wrote many books and many essays for popular magazines. In 1961, he received the Kalinga Prize , a UNESCO award for popularising science. Clarke's science and science fiction writings earned him

8295-408: The signal coming from the source, toward the direction of the receiver. With passive satellites, the reflected signal is not amplified at the satellite, and only a small amount of the transmitted energy actually reaches the receiver. Since the satellite is so far above Earth, the radio signal is attenuated due to free-space path loss , so the signal received on Earth is very weak. Active satellites, on

8400-402: The sky for transmission of communication signals. However, due to their closer distance to the Earth, LEO or MEO satellites can communicate to ground with reduced latency and at lower power than would be required from a geosynchronous orbit. A low Earth orbit (LEO) typically is a circular orbit about 160 to 2,000 kilometres (99 to 1,243 mi) above the Earth's surface and, correspondingly,

8505-404: The story on Clarke's short story, " The Sentinel ", written in 1948 as an entry in a BBC short-story competition. Originally, Clarke was going to write the screenplay for the film, but Kubrick suggested during one of their brainstorming meetings that before beginning on the actual script, they should let their imaginations soar free by writing a novel first, on which they would base the film. "This

8610-590: The term 'Clarke Belt' is employed as a description of the orbit. The first artificial Earth satellite was Sputnik 1 , which was put into orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. It was developed by Mikhail Tikhonravov and Sergey Korolev , building on work by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky . Sputnik 1 was equipped with an on-board radio transmitter that worked on two frequencies of 20.005 and 40.002 MHz, or 7 and 15 meters wavelength. The satellite

8715-736: The thousands in attendance. Clarke's papers were donated to the National Air and Space Museum in 2014. On 8 January 2024, a portion of Clarke's ashes were launched on the Peregrine Mission One to the Moon. The Peregrine spacecraft failed to land on the moon, and the spacecraft disintegrated in the Earth's atmosphere on 19 January 2024. While Clarke had a few stories published in fanzines , between 1937 and 1945, his first professional sale appeared in Astounding Science Fiction in 1946: " Loophole "

8820-515: Was Project SCORE , led by Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) and launched on 18 December 1958, which used a tape recorder to carry a stored voice message, as well as to receive, store, and retransmit messages. It was used to send a Christmas greeting to the world from U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower . The satellite also executed several realtime transmissions before the non-rechargeable batteries failed on 30 December 1958 after eight hours of actual operation. The direct successor to SCORE

8925-696: Was a corporal instructor on radar at No.   2 Radio School, RAF Yatesbury in Wiltshire. He was commissioned as a pilot officer (technical branch) on 27 May 1943. He was promoted to flying officer on 27 November 1943. He was appointed chief training instructor at RAF Honiley in Warwickshire and was demobilised with the rank of flight lieutenant . After the war, he attained a first-class degree in mathematics and physics from King's College London . After this, he worked as assistant editor at Physics Abstracts . Clarke served as president of

9030-598: Was about that. But I've grown disillusioned, partly because after all this time, they're still arguing about whether these things happen. I suspect that telepathy does happen." A collection of early essays was published in The View from Serendip (1977), which also included one short piece of fiction, " When the Twerms Came ". Clarke also wrote short stories under the pseudonyms of E. G. O'Brien and Charles Willis. Almost all of his short stories can be found in

9135-529: Was also published in 1953, cementing his popularity. Clarke capped the first phase of his writing career with his sixth novel, A Fall of Moondust , in 1961, which is also an acknowledged classic of the period. During this time, Clarke corresponded with C. S. Lewis in the 1940s and 1950s and they once met in an Oxford pub, the Eastgate , to discuss science fiction and space travel. Clarke voiced great praise for Lewis upon his death, saying The Ransom Trilogy

9240-429: Was another ARPA-led project called Courier. Courier 1B was launched on 4 October 1960 to explore whether it would be possible to establish a global military communications network by using "delayed repeater" satellites, which receive and store information until commanded to rebroadcast them. After 17 days, a command system failure ended communications from the satellite. NASA 's satellite applications program launched

9345-694: Was awarded Sri Lanka's highest civil honour, Sri Lankabhimanya , in 2005. Clarke was born in Minehead , Somerset, England, and grew up in nearby Bishops Lydeard . As a boy, he lived on a farm, where he enjoyed stargazing , fossil collecting , and reading American science fiction pulp magazines . He received his secondary education at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton . Some of his early influences included dinosaur cigarette cards , which led to an enthusiasm for fossils starting about 1925. Clarke attributed his interest in science fiction to reading three items:

9450-509: Was extended well beyond the 1968 movie as the Space Odyssey series. In 1982, Clarke wrote a sequel to 2001 titled 2010: Odyssey Two , which was made into a film in 1984. Clarke wrote two further sequels which have not been adapted into motion pictures: 2061: Odyssey Three (published in 1987) and 3001: The Final Odyssey (published in 1997). 2061: Odyssey Three involves a visit to Halley's Comet on its next plunge through

9555-412: Was founded in 1975 as an operator of RCA Astro Electronics -built satellites. The company's first satellite; Satcom 1 , was launched on 12 December 1975. Satcom 1 was one of the earliest geostationary satellites. Satcom 1 was instrumental in helping early cable TV channels (such as Superstation TBS and CBN ) to become initially successful, because these channels distributed their programming to all of

9660-403: Was gay were told, "No, merely mildly cheerful." However, Michael Moorcock wrote: Everyone knew he was gay. In the 1950s, I'd go out drinking with his boyfriend. We met his protégés, western and eastern, and their families, people who had only the most generous praise for his kindness. Self-absorbed he might be and a teetotaller , but an impeccable gent through and through. In an interview in

9765-428: Was in intercontinental long distance telephony . The fixed Public Switched Telephone Network relays telephone calls from land line telephones to an Earth station , where they are then transmitted to a geostationary satellite. The downlink follows an analogous path. Improvements in submarine communications cables through the use of fiber-optics caused some decline in the use of satellites for fixed telephony in

9870-492: Was launched, the United States was the only launch source outside of the Soviet Union , who did not participate in the Intelsat agreements. The Soviet Union launched its first communications satellite on 23 April 1965 as part of the Molniya program. This program was also unique at the time for its use of what then became known as the Molniya orbit , which describes a highly elliptical orbit , with two high apogees daily over

9975-562: Was made a Knight Bachelor "for services to literature" at a ceremony in Colombo. The award of a knighthood had been announced in the 1998 New Year Honours list, but investiture with the award had been delayed, at Clarke's request, because of an accusation by the tabloid the Sunday Mirror of paying boys for sex. The charge was subsequently found to be baseless by the Sri Lankan police. According to The Daily Telegraph ,

10080-493: Was needed to track it. Its successor, Syncom 3 , launched on 19 July 1964, was the first geostationary communications satellite. Syncom 3 obtained a geosynchronous orbit, without a north–south motion, making it appear from the ground as a stationary object in the sky. A direct extension of the passive experiments of Project West Ford was the Lincoln Experimental Satellite program, also conducted by

10185-500: Was not placed in orbit to send data from one point on Earth to another, but the radio transmitter was meant to study the properties of radio wave distribution throughout the ionosphere. The launch of Sputnik 1 was a major step in the exploration of space and rocket development, and marks the beginning of the Space Age . There are two major classes of communications satellites, passive and active . Passive satellites only reflect

10290-460: Was one of the few works of science fiction that should be considered literature. In 1948, he wrote " The Sentinel " for a BBC competition. Though the story was rejected, it changed the course of Clarke's career. Not only was it the basis for 2001: A Space Odyssey , but "The Sentinel" also introduced a more cosmic element to Clarke's work. Many of Clarke's later works feature a technologically advanced but still-prejudiced mankind being confronted by

10395-485: Was open and honest." Clarke accumulated a vast collection of manuscripts and personal memoirs, maintained by his brother Fred Clarke in Taunton, Somerset, England, and referred to as the "Clarkives". Clarke said some of his private diaries will not be published until 30 years after his death. When asked why they were sealed, he answered, "Well, there might be all sorts of embarrassing things in them." On 26 May 2000, he

10500-523: Was published in Wireless World in October of that year. Clarke also wrote a number of nonfiction books describing the technical details and societal implications of rocketry and space flight. The most notable of these may be Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics (1950), The Exploration of Space (1951), and The Promise of Space (1968). In recognition of these contributions,

10605-504: Was published in April, while " Rescue Party ", his first sale, was published in May. Along with his writing, Clarke briefly worked as assistant editor of Science Abstracts (1949) before devoting himself in 1951 to full-time writing. Clarke began carving out his reputation as a "scientific" science fiction writer with his first science fiction novel, Against the Fall of Night , published as

10710-644: Was subject to instruction by the US Government on matters of national policy. Over the next two years, international negotiations led to the Intelsat Agreements, which in turn led to the launch of Intelsat 1, also known as Early Bird, on 6 April 1965, and which was the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit. Subsequent Intelsat launches in the 1960s provided multi-destination service and video, audio, and data service to ships at sea (Intelsat 2 in 1966–67), and

10815-567: Was subsequently placed under Robert Bednarek, the President and CEO of SES New Skies. In September 2009, SES Americom and SES New Skies were re-branded SES World Skies . Before being merged into SES World Skies in 2009 (which expanded coverage to Middle East and Africa ), SES Americom operated the following North American satellites in geosynchronous orbit: Communications satellite The radio waves used for telecommunications links travel by line of sight and so are obstructed by

10920-591: Was the first active, direct relay communications commercial satellite and marked the first transatlantic transmission of television signals. Belonging to AT&T as part of a multi-national agreement between AT&T, Bell Telephone Laboratories , NASA, the British General Post Office , and the French National PTT (Post Office) to develop satellite communications, it was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral on 10 July 1962, in

11025-510: Was then duly knighted. Although he and his home were unharmed by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake tsunami , his "Arthur C. Clarke Diving School" (now called "Underwater Safaris") at Hikkaduwa near Galle was destroyed. He made humanitarian appeals, and the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation worked towards better disaster notification systems. Because of his post-polio deficits, which limited his ability to travel and gave him halting speech , most of Clarke's communications in his last years were in

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