- Satcom (satellite)
:"Satcom" is also an acronym of, and generic term for,
satellite communications ."The Satcom series was a family ofcommunications satellites originally developed and operated by the RCA American Communications (RCA Americom ). Satcom was one of the firstgeostationary satellites . The first satellite, Satcom 1 was launched onDecember 13 ,1975 . The last satellite, Satcom K2, was placed into orbit onNovember 27 1985 and was de-orbited in February 2002. Satcom was first superseded and then replaced by the GE series of satellites.The Satcom system passed to
General Electric with its purchase ofRCA in 1986. RCA Americom became GE American Communications (GE Americom) and the satellite construction division became GE Astro Space. GE Astro Space was sold to Martin Marietta (nowLockheed Martin Space Systems ) in 1993. In 2001 GE sold GE Americom to SES Global, creatingSES Americom .History
Most early commercial communications satellites were built for and operated by telecoms companies. RCA, with its own
RCA Astro Electronics satellite construction business, identified a role for itself as a satellite owner/operator.Satcom 1 was used as the launching ground for many cable TV services including Superstation TBS and the CBN cable network (now
ABC Family ). The Weather Channel also was launched on Satcom 1 in 1982. A notable legal battle involvedTed Turner suing RCA to get a Satcom 1 transponder in 1980 for the launch ofCNN on June 1, 1980. CNN had been scheduled for a Satcom 3 transponder but that satellite had been destroyed upon launch onDecember 7 ,1979 .Satcom was the first satellite used by broadcast TV networks in the United States, like ABC,
NBC , andCBS , to distribute their programming to all of their local affiliate stations. The reason that Satcom 1 was so widely used is that it had twice the communications capacity of the competingWestar 1 (24 transponders as opposed to Westar 1’s 12), which resulted in lower transponder usage costs.The domestic communication satellite spurred the cable television industry to unprecedented heights with the assistance of a company known as
Home Box Office (HBO). Cable television networks relay signals to ground-based stations using satellites. This allowed cable television to enter into the suburban and metropolitan markets, thus allowing HBO to accumulate 1.6 million subscribers by the end of 1977.atellite details
ources
*http://www.astronautix.com/project/satcom.htm
*http://www.skyrocket.de/space/doc_sdat/satcom-1.htm
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