MSAT ( Mobile Satellite ) is a satellite -based mobile telephony service developed by the National Research Council Canada (NRC). Supported by a number of companies in the US and Canada, MSAT hosts a number of services, including the broadcast of CDGPS signals. The MSAT satellites were built by Hughes (now owned by Boeing ) with a 3 kilowatt solar array power capacity and sufficient fuel for a design life of twelve years. TMI Communications of Canada referred to its MSAT satellite as MSAT-1, while American Mobile Satellite Consortium (now Ligado Networks ) referred to its MSAT as AMSC-1, with each satellite providing backup for the other.
5-558: MSAT-1 and MSAT-2 have had their share of problems. Mobile Satellite Ventures placed the AMSC-1 satellite into a 2.5 degree inclined orbit operations mode in November 2004, reducing station-keeping fuel usage and extending the satellite's useful life. On January 11, 2006, Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSVLP) (changed name to SkyTerra , then became by acquisition LightSquared , then after bankruptcy Ligado Networks ) announced plans to launch
10-481: A new generation of satellites (in a 3 satellite configuration) to replace the MSAT satellites by 2010. MSV has said that all old MSAT gear would be compatible with the new satellites. The following services are singularly dependent upon the continued operation of the MSAT satellite: Inclined orbit A satellite is said to occupy an inclined orbit around Earth if the orbit exhibits an angle other than 0° to
15-560: Is a special case of geosynchronous orbit with no inclination, and therefore no apparent movement across the sky from a fixed observation point on the Earth's surface. Due to their inherent instability, geostationary orbits will eventually become inclined if they are not corrected using thrusters. At the end of the satellite's lifetime, when fuel approaches depletion, satellite operators may decide to omit these expensive manoeuvres to correct inclination and only control eccentricity. This prolongs
20-463: The equatorial plane . This angle is called the orbit's inclination . A planet is said to have an inclined orbit around the Sun if it has an angle other than 0° to the ecliptic plane. A geosynchronous orbit is an inclined orbit with an altitude of 37,000 km (23,000 mi) that completes one revolution every sidereal day tracing out a small figure-eight shape in the sky. A geostationary orbit
25-442: The life-time of the satellite as it consumes less fuel over time, but the satellite can then only be used by ground antennas capable of following the north–south movement, satellite-tracking Earth stations. A polar orbit has an inclination of 90 degrees passing over the poles of the planet on each pass. These types of orbits are often used for earth observation and weather services. This is a special type of orbit that precesses at
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